The race card in St. Louis County

Posted at 12:47 PM on September 5, 2007 by Bob Collins

St. Louis County commissioners have gotten themselves into the political hot water now.

Steve Raukar is facing allegations of sexual harrassment. County public information officer Ellen Quinn, alleges he made inappropriate phone calls. He has apologized and says his family has forgiven him.

Apparently, according to the Timberjay News, Rauker asked Quinn to get together with him at a hotel room early one morning. "He says it was for a drink. She says he made it clear he had more on his mind than that. Either way, it was a stupid thing for a commissioner to do. No one is disputing that."

Ummm... yeah.

A secretary to Commissioner Dennis Fink also alleges sexual harrassment. She says " she was subjected to sexual comments or ogled by Fink or others in his presence." The paper cites a stack of receipts from a trip Fink took that he gave her for reimbursement. These included a grocery store receipt for some "sexual lubricant" and a hotel receipt for an "explicit movie" that had been ordered. (For now, let's set aside the discussion on whether taxpayers should pay for a politician's jelly.)

Whether that's harrassment is worthy of debate. But the commissioner are staying away from it.

The Duluth News Tribune today, in an editorial, reports that County Commissioner Mike Forsman contends

The investigations were biased and the board's critics "seem to hate white males," he complained, adding: "This reminds me of the mob mentality that lynched three black men in Duluth."

The link is Polinaut's.

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