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Hennepin County chair withdraws two elected-official pay items after resident opposition
Summary
Chair Irene Fernando moved to return two agenda items that would have set salaries for nine elected county officials, citing strong public feedback and a desire for governance transparency; the board approved the amendment to remove the items from today’s agenda.
Irene Fernando, chair of the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners and district 2 commissioner, moved Aug. 6 to withdraw and return items 9Q and 10B — two proposals she introduced last week to establish salary levels for the county’s nine elected officials. Fernando said the action responds to strong opposition from residents and allows colleagues to develop alternative compensation methodologies.
"It is clear from the feedback that we've received that even though these actions passed in committee last week, the pronounced feedback results in strong opposition by many residents," Fernando said as she described her motion to return the items to the author. Fernando told colleagues the move would "allow a bit of a reset with open meeting law" and help the board demonstrate stronger governance on the topic.
The board approved the amendment removing 9Q and 10B from the agenda by voice vote, and then approved the remainder of the agenda as amended. The chair framed the withdrawal as a procedural step to encourage further deliberation and to let other commissioners propose compensation approaches they believe will be more palatable to the public.
