Pine County Board votes to censure Waldhalm, remove him from out-of-county committee assignments after investigation

The Pine County Board voted to censure commissioner J.J. Waldhalm and remove him from out-of-county committee assignments until he completes commissioner training at Tuesday's meeting.

According to attorney Laura Kingsbeck, who conducted the investigation, former county administrator David Minke reached out to the law firm of Ratwik, Roszak, and Maloney in July.

Kingsbeck said two county employees brought forward claims regarding Waldhalm's conduct.

"In particular, the claims alleged that commissioner Waldhalm attempted to improperly exert his authority over county staff in regard to a resident's property tax status, and then also in regard to signage posted on utility poles by a staff member's family member," Kingsbeck said.

Kingsbeck explained that she interviewed seven individuals and reviewed documentation provided by county staff that was relevant to the allegations.

She added that she contacted Waldhalm about participating in an investigative interview several times, starting with an email to his county email address on Aug. 18.

After not receiving a response, Kingsbeck sent a letter to Waldhalm's address on Aug. 25 to notify him about the investigation.

"The letter also stated that if I did not receive a response from him by Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, I would presume that he was declining to participate in the investigation," Kingsbeck said.

Kingsbeck said she never received a response from Waldhalm, and completed her investigation report on Oct. 1 without any input from him.

"The report substantiated that commissioner Waldhalm attempted to use his position as an elected official to pressure a county assessor's office staff member to change the property tax classification of a parcel owned by a third party," Kingsbeck said.

Kingsbeck explained that on or about June 25, Waldhalm called a staff member in the county assessor's office regarding the property tax classification of a parcel owned by one of his constituents.

She said the request was for the property to be classified for agricultural use.

According to the investigation, the staff member had already spoken with the property owner, and said the county would review the parcel for errors in the tax classification.

If no errors were found, the property owner would have to submit a new agricultural use application. If approved, the tax benefit wouldn't be applicable until taxes payable in 2027.

Kingsbeck said Waldhalm questioned why the property owner would have to wait until 2027 to see the tax benefit, and repeatedly asked the staff member to "do the right thing."

"The staff member understood that comment to mean that commissioner Waldhalm wanted the staff member to change the property tax classification to agricultural use and apply the tax benefit immediately," Kingsbeck said.

Kingsbeck said that during the call, Waldhalm identified himself as a county commissioner and questioned how long the staff member had been employed by the county.

According to the investigation, a comment made by Waldhalm about the staff member still being in their probationary period was perceived as a threat.

"During this phone call, commissioner Waldhalm continued to pressure the staff member to change the tax classification of the parcel, despite being informed by the staff member that this would be inconsistent with state property tax guidelines, and that there was no approved agricultural use application on file for this parcel," Kingsbeck said.

Kingsbeck said the staff member felt that Waldhalm asked them to violate the tax code by continuing to insinuate that the tax classification should be changed.

"The report also substantiated an allegation that commissioner Waldhalm used his status as an elected official to seek criminal charges against a former coworker and the coworker's family member, who is a county employee," Kingsbeck said.

According to the investigation, Waldhalm identified himself as an elected official when making complaints to other entities regarding signage posted on utility poles by a county employee's family member to advertise a business.

"The commissioner specifically mentioned the county employee's recent employment with the county when making a complaint about the signage to the county sheriff," Kingsbeck explained.

Kingsbeck said the county employee perceived that as an attempt to potentially get them fired, and informed county officials that they were worried about their employment due to Waldhalm's comments.

She added that Waldhalm made a complaint about the signage to county attorney Reese Frederickson, who declined to prosecute on the basis that he believed the complaint was targeting a former coworker.

According to Kingsbeck, Frederickson noted that Waldhalm made a comment to a county sheriff's officer who took his complaint that the county employee related to the individual who posted the signage was recently hired and "that they would not make it through their probationary period."

Pine County's consulting labor attorney Margaret Skelton said it's likely that Waldhalm's actions would be found to meet the statutory definition of malfeasance.

"The conduct is concerning as there was, as determined by the investigation, an attempt to use the status as an elected official for favorable treatment to himself and others," Skelton said. "There's also a concern about the implicit or implied threat, particularly to two different probationary staff members regarding their employment, and what could happen to that employment if certain actions were not taken."

Waldhalm shared a prepared response, which started with: "It has come to my attention that one of our employees thinks their job description is to declare war on the county board. Issues were brought before this board to the county administrator, who failed to act, and the employees responsible to find a resolution. Rather than addressing the issues and concerns, they chose to fabricate a response by orchestrating a biased investigation for the purposes of damaging the reputation of a commissioner. This should not be tolerated by this board."

Waldhalm also denied making threats, called the investigation an "epic waste of county taxpayers' money," and decried the creation of a hostile work environment.

"I was not elected to make friends," Waldhalm said. "I was elected to represent my constituents, and I will do so until I no longer hold this position."

Skelton described a censure as a resolution that acts as a public reprimand, distancing the county board from the actions of an individual commissioner.

Commissioner Steve Hallan made the motion to censure Waldhalm and remove him from out-of-county committee assignments until he completes commissioner training through the Association of Minnesota Counties, which is not available until January of 2027.

The motion passed in a 4-1 vote, with Waldhalm voting no.