A small Minnesota municipality was pressed for time on Monday night.
Goodhue, Minnesota, won’t have a police force on August 24 after all seven of its officers, including the chief, submitted their resignations.
Monday night’s special city council meeting was attended by members who were unhappy and trying to decide what to do next. The resignations, according to Mayor Ellen Anderson Buck, “blindsided” her. She has scheduled a Wednesday meeting with the Goodhue County Sheriff’s Office to discuss short-term coverage options.
Lydia Strusz, a local business owner, stated, “I was floored.” I only considered one; I did not consider all of them.
The council would talk about the remuneration for its officers since it said that was why they left.
According to Anderson Buck, we were working extremely hard to raise those figures because we were aware that we were on the low side.
Here is a tweet confirming the news:
The city of Goodhue is in turmoil after its police force resigned last week. https://t.co/PPpCMreLoi
— Star Tribune (@StarTribune) August 15, 2023
The council is currently working to reform the city’s budget to compete with larger communities. According to the mayor, the city awarded its police a 5% pay increase and the chief a $13,000 boost at the beginning of the year. According to the Office of the State Auditor, Goodhue had a $375,000 public safety budget in 2022.
This has crushed us all, Anderson Buck added. We make the most extraordinary effort possible to get through this and serve our community.
Goodhue has a population of about 1,200, and the council reports that it is considering hiring the Goodhue County Sheriff’s Office for temporary security while its own deputies are on vacation until the next week. The board was certain that it intended to rebuild its future and force ultimately.
βI think we could do OK with three (officers) and feel protected,β said resident Roxanne Fischer. βOur town is pretty quiet.β
βThis is a great place to live and to work and I think weβll get them back here. Itβs just going to take some time and rebuilding,β said Anderson Buck, who acknowledged there are more than 200 openings for police officers across the state.
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