mm The Desk of

Bob Fletcher

 

Jack Serier October 10, 2017
Ramsey County Sheriff?s Office

425 Grove Street

St. Paul, MN 55101

I am writing to you on behalf of the men and women of the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office who
have contacted me over the past nine months of your tenure. They are desperate for leadership
that respects and trusts them. On their behalf, I am asking you to resign your temporary
appointment and allow another temporary sheriff to revive the sunken morale of the Ramsey
County Sheriff Office before the fabric of the department is torn beyond repair.

Your nine-month term has been a disaster. The list of managerial problems includes: extreme
staffing shortages, slow ?hiring practices, unfounded and costly discipline, detrimental shift
changes, your emotional outbursts at staff, low priority on preventing terrorism, your lack of
crime knowledge, unsafe jail conditions, unwise financial decisions and your ridiculous policy on
critical incidents.

The core of the problem is that your employees do not trust your character. They do not believe
that you are truthful in part because of the deception you used to acquire the office.

Character Fraud

On January 3, 2017 you interviewed with the Ramsey County Board for the appointment to
become interim Sheriff. On January 10th you were appointed Sheriff. At this time you did not
reside in Ramsey County. You did not have an approved sublease to rent Matt Bostrom?s
townhouse at . Payne. Your lease was approved later in January. By law you had not
established residency in Ramsey County and were not eligible to be appointed Ramsey County
Sheriff. Your deception to acquire the appointment demonstrated a lack of character and
substantial fraud.

From January to August of 2017 you continued to make your home in Stillwater your primary
abode. You defrauded the people of Ramsey County by pretending to live on Payne Avenue
while you and your family resided in Washington County. There is even a legal question as to
whether or not the official decisions you made during this time were lawful.

In August of 2017, one month before you announced your campaign, you purchased Matt
Bostrom?s townhouse. On September 13, 2017 your campaign material stated that you and
your wife were homeowners on the east side of St. Paul. However, you fail to mention that you
have only owned your home in Ramsey County for the past month. Your misleading statements
demonstrate deception and a lack of character.

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Management Incompetence

In announcing your candidacy on September 13th you stated that your primary accomplishment
was convincing the County Board to hire a large number of additional detention division staff.
The hypocrisy of this claim is driven home by the fact that your inactions and mismanagement
over the past three years were directly responsible for creating the staffing crisis in the first
place. It is incredulous that you would take credit for working on the problem when you were
responsible for its creation during your term as Chief Deputy and Sheriff.

After watching your performance, the employees of the Sheriff?s Office have come to the
conclusion that you simply don?t have the foggiest idea what your doing. Your lack of true
management experience and your lack of significant policing experience are likely factors in
your failing as interim sheriff.

You have more employee grievances than ever in the history of the Sheriff?s Office.

The morale is at an all time low with 70% of the detention division staff signing a letter of no
confidence in your leadership.

Your staffing shortages are driven in part by your failure to adequately hire and train new
personnel.

Your failure to staff the jail properly has resulted in dangerous work conditions for employees.

Your overtime expenditures are significantly over budget and your budget staff is in a continual
state of disarray as evidenced by your most recent removal of your accountant.

You have made spending decisions that are inconsistent with the main mission of the
department and detract from resources available to help address staffing shortages.

You have reduced resources dedicated to proactively fighting crime which have contributed to
the growing crime rates over the past three years.

You have stated that fighting terrorism is ?pretty low on our radar?.

You have given sex offenders and rapists for use in the PRIME unit of the detention
division.

A Fresh Approach is Needed

There are several candidates who could finish off the remaining 15 months of the Sheriff?s term
and give the employees a sense of hope. Those candidates have actual community ties and
the benefit of not being seen as a ?carpetbagger? from another county.

in closing, your campaign website states that ?My goal as sheriff is to make sure that I am living
out these traits (honor and truth) everyday.? Unfortunately, the foundation of your service did not
begin from truth and honor. It began from deception and fraud. Please do the right thing for the
department and the community and step aside so that others may restore confidence in the
direction of the Sheriff?s Office.

Sincerely,

Bob Fletcher
Former Ramsey County Sheriff