Healthy Community Initiative announced yesterday that Sandy Malecha has accepted the position of permanent Executive Director. Malecha has served as Interim Executive Director since August 2022 when former Executive Director Zach Pruitt left to become the Director of Community Education for the Faribault School District.
Last year when Malecha accepted the interim position, a statement released by HCI said she and the Board of Directors would work to “refine” the role of Executive Director. A statement issued yesterday described the new role as the head of a “distributed leadership model,” and new positions have been created for a Finance Manager and a Human Resources Manager.
Board Co-Chair Ellen Iverson praised Malecha in the statement for her “skills, knowledge, and relationship-building approach,” and said she believes the new leadership structure sets the organization on a good and productive path.
Formed in 1992, HCI provides support to more than 30 initiatives in Faribault and Northfield. The organization, with its staff and partners has helped to raise more than $20 million in funding from outside Rice County to benefit local youth and families.
The statement said the board conducted a nationwide search for a new Executive Director and interviewed more than 40 candidates during the process. Malecha was selected as the person best suited to lead HCI moving forward.
As Interim Executive Director she has guided the organization to top designations for the services they provide and HCI has garnered praise for its transparency and accountability under her leadership.
Malecha joined HCI in 2014 and served as a Senior Director from 2017 until 2022, when she was named interim executive director. She has a Master’s Degree in Human Resources and Industrial Relations from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management. She has a bachelor’s degree in Hispanic Studies and Family Studies from St. Olaf College.
She said in the statement that she has great enthusiasm for the organization, the changes in the leadership team, and HCI’s future.
Goodhue police situation illustrates problems in law enforcement
Last week saw some upheaval in Goodhue County, as the police force in the City of Goodhue, which included one full-time officer and five part-time officers resigned after the Chief of Police resigned to take a position in Lake City.
While the City of Goodhue Mayor and City Council said the mass resignation came as a surprise, Northfield Chief of Police Mark Elliott said the same thing is happening with smaller police forces around the country.
Chief Elliott, Rice County Sheriff Jesse Thomas and before him, Sheriff Troy Dunn have been talking about the problems with labor shortages in Law Enforcement for nearly three years. Coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic, more and more law enforcement officers are leaving the profession, and it has become difficult to recruit new people into the profession.
In Minnesota, Elliott said, the number of open jobs for law enforcement patrol officers is a substantial one.
“We’re seeing that not only statewide, but nationwide, too. In Minnesota I’ve heard numbers in the area of about 1000 cops short. So, we have about 1000 openings, and I think it’s actually a little higher than that. We’re talking about a reduction of more than 10% in the number of officers out there.”
There are several reasons for the shortage, he said. Police reform has been an issue since the murder of George Floyd. The market scale for a police officer has risen quite a bit as well. And, Elliott said, the generational shift that has been seen across the entire workforce, not just in policing, has taken a toll.
“That’s not something that happened just in the last two years. I’ve seen it throughout my career, especially in the past 15 years. We’ve had a generation leave the workforce, primarily Boomers, they just had a different attitude, and they would be happy to give 50 to 60 hours a week to their company. Now a new generation has arrived that says ‘You know what? Time and work/life balance is important.’ And this isn’t just in policing. This is workforce wide. “
The problem in Goodhue, he said, came down to pay and staffing levels. The starting wage for a police officer in Goodhue is reportedly $22 an hour. In contrast, Elliott said, Northfield’s starting wage is $38 an hour. That sort of disparity creates more competition for officers between agencies, he said. As in any other profession, police officers will make a lateral move, or in the case of former Goodhue Chief of Police Josh Smith, take what amounts to a demotion, in order to be paid what they are worth according to the market.
Last month, the Northfield City Council made adjustments to police wages, increasing Northfield Police officers by three steps on the city pay scale, and Elliott said the increase has made the department competitive in the recruitment and retention markets.
The StarTribune is reporting that the City of Goodhue has agreed to a deal in principle with Goodhue County to have the Goodhue Sheriff’s office temporarily act as the city’s police force. Members of the Goodhue City Council have indicated they would like to see that agreement be a temporary one.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Northfield Chief of Police Mark Elliott can be heard here
Northfield Public Library will host a quinceañera exhibit
And the Northfield Public Library has announced that it will host an exhibit entitled, Quinceañera: Past and Present beginning Monday.
The exhibit will highlight the latine tradition of celebrating a girl’s 15th birthday, known as a quinceañera, which is an important coming-of-age event. A statement issued by the library said the exhibit will demonstrate the joy of the quinceañera celebratory traditions in the U.S. and explore popular cultural representations. The exhibit will feature quinceañera dresses, shoes, tiaras and more. The statement went on to say the quinceañera dresses will be provided by Ana Quintero owner of Sueños de Quinceañera in Faribault.
The Quinceañera exhibit will run at the Northfield Public Library through August 28th.
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
