Brainerd committee approves MOA allowing employee placed at pay step 7 after voluntary demotion

The City of Brainerd Personnel and Finance Committee approved a memorandum of agreement on May 18 to allow an employee who accepted a voluntary demotion to be placed at step 7 of the pay scale, effective April 8, 2026.

Wilinski, finance director, told the committee that staff reviewed the employee's previous service — from August 2017 to November 2023 — and found that the contract's current language can penalize workers who accept a promotion and later determine the role was not a good fit. "Staff recommends the motion to approve the attached MOA between the city of Brainerd and IB heavy local 31 Brainerd Public Utilities unit, allowing Mitch Lookout to move to step 7 effective 04/08/2026," Wilinski said.

A motion to approve the memorandum of agreement was moved and seconded during the meeting. Committee chair Gabe Johnson voiced support for the change, saying, "This is absolutely the right move. ... we wanna encourage our employees to try that next position up. And if it doesn't work out, we don't wanna lose them." The committee voted by voice and the chair declared the motion carried; the transcript does not record a roll-call tally or the names of all voters.

The MOA as described in the meeting would set the employee's placement at step 7 effective April 8, 2026. Staff characterized the change as corrective to an unintended disadvantage in the contract language; no alternate proposals, amendments, or conditions were recorded in the transcript.

The committee adjourned after the vote. The meeting record does not include a formal roll-call vote or the full vote count.