north metro

So let me get this straight, the Mayor is technically a Minnesota and City of Ramsey Resident, however he works in Minot, North Dakota. Presumably he works at least a 5 day work week which means that he spends most of his time in North Dakota. I would also assume that he has some form of household in North Dakota whether it be an appartment, house, etc. Explain to me, how this man can maintain his residence and more importantly maintain his status as Mayor of Ramsey. Sounds to me like he is a North Dakota resident at this point. It must be nice to be in charge of making decisions for a city, but those decisions have little impact on him personnally as his income and housing are secure in another state. Sounds like the city of Ramsey needs a new leader. While in today's day and age one can do alot of business over the phone and internet, there is just something that irks me about leaders taking elected positions and not actually living in the area they are elected to serve.

@ timzimmerman: Instead of attacking the man who is, at it seems to me, making some pretty hefty personal sacrifices to act responsibly by pointing out some of the issues that led to this dilemma? How is it that ND has so many jobs while MN can't seem to do the same? Why are we not praising anyone who won't simply accept unemployment, but will act responsibly? Maybe a leader who is demonstrating these types of traits is what we really need to show the rest of us how to confront adversity rather than turn to government for all of the answers.

As a resident of Ramsey, this article upsets me a little bit. Bob is a fantastic mayor and has done wonderful things for Ramsey. I commend him for doing what he needs to do to support his family and still uphold his commitment to the city of Ramsey. @timzimmerman, it specifically states that he rents a home from relatives in ND. He OWNS a home in the city of Ramsey, so he is in fact affected by the decisions the city council makes. Why does this even matter to you, unless you live in Ramsey? Furthermore, he lived in Ramsey for almost his entire tenure as mayor - this whole ND is a relatively new development. Don't sit and attack people who are willing to make great sacrifices to take care of their families.

I and no doubt others do commend the mayor for fully accepting responsibility for the wellbeing of his family, but that doesn't erase the responsibilities he has to the community. If he misses work at his new job he will eventually lose that job because of his inability to meet the job requirements. The mayor has missed one council session and admittedly will miss council work sessions. How can he fairly and honestly say that he is properly representing our city when he can't be present on a consistent basis as most any job would require. How can he thoughtfully vote on issues when he isn't here to gain the full knowledge about the subject. Nothing can replace face to face interactions in the quest to learn about these matters. I believe he should step aside and let someone else run for the office of mayor.

My understanding is that the mayor rents his current Ramsey home from another member of the city council or a former member. The home he was a resident of at the time of his election went into foreclosure. So he doesn't even technically pay property taxes to the city. So it is an even bigger concern to me that your article states he rents a home in North Dakota from a relative. I think he should resign as mayor and allow someone that is present daily and weekly and a resident to take control. When the time comes that he can find gainful employment in Minnesota he could run again for election. Isn't there a 6 month one day rule of residency rule?