NOTE: Itasca Patriots should attend the next Itasca Commissioner work session on June 18th and the next Commissioner Board Meeting is June 25th. Both are on Tuesday at 2:30 PM at the Itasca Courthouse.
On Tuesday, June 11th, the Itasca County Commissioners met at 2:30PM with four Commissioners present and District 2’s Terry Snyder being absent. Although there were several interesting items on the agenda, almost all attendees were there to discuss the nomination of Antifa Keith lawyer James Austad to Itasca County Attorney. Action 4 Liberty is proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with common sense Americans in Itasca.
WATCH VIDEO
To fully understand the pretext of this story, be sure to read our previous reporting on this.
With only two days' notice of our story breaking, over 30 Patriots attended the event, with many speaking at the microphone directly to the Commissioners. Notably missing from this public job interview was “candidate” James Austad. There was also not a single individual from the public who spoke positively about Austad. Itascans made it clear that they want nothing to do with carpetbagging liberal lawyers in their County Government.
Austad was truthfully attacked for:
- Not living in Itasca County
- Demanding $185K a year
- Endorsing Antifa Keith Ellison in 2022 for Attorney General
- Quitting his job as Lake of the Woods Co. Attorney to work for Ellison
- Nominated for office illegitimately
While Commissioners decided to table the discussion until their next meeting, Austad saw the writing on the wall and withdrew his nomination for Itasca Attorney! See below:
This is thanks to the grassroots conservatives in Itasca who care deeply about their local government. This was an example of We The People taking back our government. Action 4 Liberty exposed a little known story that led to grassroots conservatives unifying against an Ellison outsider. This is proof that pressuring politicians to do the right thing works! Telling the truth ALWAYS works!
Itasca County Patriots must continue to stay active in the selection of their new county attorney. Several options may be underway so it will be massively important for the grassroots to continue to make their voices clear in this process. The Itasca Commissioners were fair to deal with during the public meeting on Tuesday, June 11th and if they continue to operate in a way that allows citizen input to shape their decisions then Itasca will be a model County for Minnesota.
Congratulations to Itasca County Patriots on this massive WIN and stay vigilant within local government!
For those interested in further reading on what took place during Tuesday's meeting:
All GOP Legislators from Itasca were contacted before the meeting to inform them of Austad's nomination. Despite enormous grassroots energy, Representative Ben Davis was the ONLY Legislator to reply and support the conservatives opposing Austad. Note: Rep. Matt Bliss also contacted the author since the Commissioner meeting showing interest in this fight.
At the beginning of the meeting, Chair Johnson laid out a policy that laid out some rules that were more about etiquette than law. The very first speaker, Itasca GOP Chair Ken Haubrich informed Johnson that his policy was in violation of the First Amendment. There was no mention or enforcement of these rules after that time.
Commissioner Casey Venema spoke on joining Sheriff Joe Dasovich and local attorney Chad Sterle in interviewing Co. Attorney candidates. Venema stated in the meeting that he could not give the County Attorney candidate scorecards/rubrics out to other Commissioners until the meeting was underway because of open meeting laws. Venema is absolutely correct on that front. With a five member Board, Itasca Commissioners must be careful to not conduct business in a way that is not public. It was wisest to conduct this move in a public fashion.
However, this does not discredit the violation described in our previous article on MN Statute 375.08 which REQUIRES one day notice to Commissioners for appointing candidates and that it must be served personally. This was admittedly not met by Commissioners, which is not to allege bad faith in this procedure but a mistake nonetheless. It should go without saying, a County Attorney should be nominated and selected within the bounds of the law. However, with Austad's withdrawal, this is now irrelevant.
Commissioner Corey Smith took the boldest stance at the meeting, telling the citizens of Itasca that he stood with his constituents and that he is opposed to Austad’s nomination 100%. Smith made sure to note this was not an insult on the interviewing committee, but rather opposition to Austad. Commissioner Burl Ives raised concerns with the salary but also claimed it would cost up to $30K to try to find and recruit a new attorney. This is despite THREE other candidates who also applied for the job! That said, it would likely be easy to find a smart, Constitutionally-driven attorney who would happily take $185K and live in beautiful Itasca County! Now that the nominations may be re-opened, they may choose to require a candidate live in Itasca County.
Chair John Johnson noted that some of the comments about Austad were “political” and the role is to be non-partisan, along with his role of non-partisanship as a Commissioner. However, it is in fact Jim Austad that has used his “non-partisan” title to endorse Antifa Keith Ellison.
While the meeting was run respectfully by Commissioners, it was clear the citizens were not happy. Following the meeting in conversation with Commissioner Venema, he stated that he was not aware of Austad’s endorsement of Ellison in 2022. It appears some of the background research of Austad was not completely done and his deep Democrat ties are coming to the surface. Now that the air has been cleared, it is time for Venema and crew to go back to the drawing board and select an individual who will restore and protect our Constitutional and God-Given Rights!
Again, a big thank you to the Patriots of Itasca who stood up for freedom. The Grassroots beat the System!
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