Greenwood: There’s light at the end of tunnel on financials

Board selects new treasurer as its first hire following the passage of Option B by voters last month.

By Terry Carlson – April 16, 2025

Witnessing a two-year quagmire of financial irregularities and question marks, largely by former treasurer Jeff Maus, the people in Greenwood Township said enough is enough and voters overwhelmingly passed Option B in March, after twice rejection in previous elections.

Option B, as you may recall, allows the town board to hire for the positions of treasurer and clerk as opposed to having them stand for election in what this year’s treasurer candidate Paul Thompson (an Option B supporter who simultaneously was elected treasurer by an equally large margin, but was not seated) accurately characterized “a popularity contest.”

Priority Number One for the 2025 town board, then, was to hire a treasurer. In the month following the election, the board fielded four highly-qualified candidates for the position of treasurer, and at the April 15^th regular meeting unanimously selected Tammy Mortaloni.

Mortaloni, a University of Minnesota-Duluth graduate in marketing and finance with an extensive financial background and, in addition to serving as interim treasurer, has previously served Greenwood in grant writing, as deputy treasurer and as administrative assistant in the fire department.

As interim treasurer, Mortaloni had already been untangling Greenwood’s financial past, working backwards reconciling records from 2024 and now tasked with balancing 2023 and 2022 in order to do a Schedule 1. As a result, the board has been unable to approve an audit since February and has now been allowed an extension from the State of Minnesota to May 15 to file the Board of Audit.

The light at the end of the tunnel? Based on her report of her work to-date on the financials, Mortaloni observed, “We know where we are now … [and] we are doing okay.”

Echoes of past (and recent past) controversies

With an eye on improved security on the town hall premises, the board has been looking to bring the willy-nilly door lock “policy” under better management. To that end, the township entertained two quotes for electronic systems involving key fobs and/or cards—but found them to be rather pricey, so the board opted (4-1) to table the decision until June when the township receives the first half of the 2025 tax levy payments.
The board is also acutely concerned after revisiting the problem of information potentially missing from the town’s personnel files. A box of files mysteriously showed up under the desk of Clerk Debby Spicer, which Chair Lois Roskoski flatly called “alarming.”
It was then that former firefighter Jet Galonski spoke up and pointed out that he knew information was missing from his file, especially his letter of termination, adding that he and other former firefighters were “thinking about coming back” and that the termination letters would document that they “were fired illegally” which they would use to submit “a grievance.”
Galonski was referring to when former fire chief Maus and the board alleged that Galonski and other firefighters “voluntarily quit” the fire department, a claim which the firefighters have—and still—vehemently maintain was untrue.

Chair Roskoski reported a skirmish that occurred between Clerk Spicer and former deputy treasurer JoAnn Bassing in March, which ultimately turned out to be a tempest in a teapot.

According to the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Police Report filed on March 17th, Bassing had called alleging that Spicer had threatened to shoot her on March 14^th. Bassing was in the office trying to access a computer, but couldn’t because her password no longer was valid. Spicer informed her that since she was no longer deputy treasurer she had no business even being in the office, and the argument began.

At one point, Bassing started to record the conversation and, after speaking with both parties and listening to Bassing’s own recording, the officer concluded that Bassing “completely baited” Spicer into saying something about possibly shooting, asking Spicer, “Why don’t you just shoot me?” and “Are you going to shoot me?” to which an exasperated Spicer finally replied, “Yeah, I should have.”

The officer reported that Spicer’s reply was “very tongue-in-cheek and not a comment delivered with a threatening tone.” The officer filed no charges. In the ensuing board discussion, Chair

Roskoski commented that she was “fed up” with “this type of behavior,” adding that “It really needs to stop. It’s okay to disagree but it must be respectful.” Roskoski further promised that in future township meetings, any disruptor will be warned twice, then asked to leave, followed by a 9-1-1 call if necessary.

As to the password issue, Supervisor John Bassing claimed the password cannot be changed, but offered no reference to any supporting statute, policy, or rule.

Supervisor Steve Bradach, however, stated that he did consult legal counsel “who said supervisors can have passwords changed on any township computer at any time.”

In other business:

For the fire department, the board approved having SCBA equipment tested, annual pump testing, authorized the repair of a portable pump, and annual service on the three fire boats.
Supervisor Craig Gilbert reported that the department should replace outdated wildfire fighting gear. Bois Forte could cover the costs of the three sets needed for band members, but the department would still need to buy three additional sets at a cost of $975 each. The department will also need to look at updating interior firefighting gear.
The board approved adding Brianna Lofquist as a new firefighter. The hiring of Lofquist, who is already an EMR with Greenwood, is conditional to passing a background check and taking the required firefighter training classes.
The board agreed to seek bids to reroof the four town hall structures. Supervisor Gilbert and the owner of Vermillion Roofing conducted an inspection which revealed one roof is in immediate need to be re-shingled, and another is in need of immediate patching. Gilbert said a rough estimate of the cost to do all four roofs is anywhere from $90,000 to $115,000 for 35-year shingles. He also said the board needs to soon deal with replacement or repair of several windows in the town hall.
The board drew attention to the state’s recent dismissal of two of Maus’s OSHA complaints.
Supervisor Gilbert reported that the arsenic filtration system substrate was now in the process of being replaced.