On Safe Airplane Landings and Bad Apples

The problem is, in this job, my good days are usually someone else’s very bad days.

For weeks now, I’ve been the only person in the state covering the deep-seated problems in Minot.

City Manager Tom Barry has been out of control, lashing out at city employees with bullying and threats of termination, all to find out who might be speaking critically of him to me.

On Monday, city leaders – some trying to write off my work as a “social media wind up” as mayor and Barry loyalist Shaun Sipma put it – finally took action. They voted 5-2 in favor of securing outside counsel to pursue an investigation into whether there is a hostile work environment at the city.

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