The job of city manager in most any city invites some level of controversy. Embroiled Albert Lea City Manager Jim Norman was no exception when he was city manager in the western Minnesota city of Montevideo.

He took the job in the seat for Chippewa County in October 1994. The Montevideo City Council had sought a manager since July of that year when the prior leader took the top job in the Savage city government.

Two years later, residents in Montevideo sought to expel their entire council.

The reason? This story from the Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper of Sept. 8, 1996, tells: “One of Jim Norman’s first assignments after being hired by the city of Montevideo two years ago was to get the liquor out of the town fire hall.”

“‘It was quite a social club,’ the Montevideo city manager said last week. ‘It was more than a couple of friendly beers after a training session. It became a place to stop after work. It became the hangout, and quite often, it was night after night.’

“Despite grousing and resistance from some of the city’s longtime volunteer firefighters, Norman got rid of the booze and the brass rail bar. Today, Montevideo’s fire hall is alcohol-free.

“But anger and bitterness over the issue still linger in the western Minnesota community of 5,500, and the fallout could cost Norman and the City Council their jobs.”

The story said 22 disgruntled residents met in the garage of Harland and Karen Nieuwbeerta to organize a larger meeting aimed at getting support for a recall vote of the council members who backed Norman.

According to a story in the West Central Tribune on Sept. 4, 1996, more than 400 people gathered at the National Guard building to launch their campaign to recall the council.

“More than a dozen residents took the podium to charge that their taxes are too high,” the West Central Tribune of Willmar reported, “that city government ignores their concerns and is not accountable, and to take aim at City Manager Jim Norman.”

The effort meant they needed 25 percent of people who voted in the prior city election, or 579 names, the West Central Tribune said.

The Star Tribune story described a few other issues people had a beef with: “They contend that Norman and the council have largely ignored their perspectives on a variety of issues in recent years, among them the merger of the fire and emergency rescue departments, the appointment of a public safety leader, the remodeling of City Hall and the transfer of police and fire dispatch services from city to county offices.”

The story went on to say: “Supporters say the criticism is unfair. Much of what Norman has pushed — the fire hall liquor ban, a merger of the fire and rescue squads, the hiring of a public safety director and remodeling of City Hall — was discussed or initiated by previous managers or approved by the City Council, they say. Norman, they say, merely was tenacious enough to take it on.

“’Unfortunately, I believe, he has become the target for that action,’ said Diane Weick, a former council president.”

The former city manager stood up for Norman’s actions, according to the Star Tribune:

“’Some of the changes [he’s making] are consistent with the professionalization of local government,” said Steve King, city manager in Savage. ‘They really are not radical at all.’”

The next month, a petition with 900 names was turned in, but the city clerk determined it failed to meet legal requirements, citing the petitions did not allege malfeasance. Even so, the City Council did not vote yes or no. The West Central Tribune story said the council and the residents debated the petitions for 11 hours that evening. While Norman said he doesn’t recall any meeting that long, the story did say 11 hours.

A lawyer for the petitioners told the West Central Tribune he was troubled by the clerk’s determination.

“(Walt) Libby said the petitions allege that Norman governs by intimidation, and that council members allow him to do so. Libby said the allegation should meet the legal standards.”

Then the next week, a meeting was called at the urging of Norman in response to the accusations of the petitioners.

“I’ve been declared guilty by innuendo,” he told the West Central Tribune.

Here is the lead in the newspaper’s story dated Oct. 15, 1996: “Montevideo City Council members will meet in a closed session at noon today to consider allegations against City Manager Jim Norman.”

At the meeting, the council members found the allegations to be “groundless.”

Norman said that he felt very good about how the meeting went, and the city attorney said the petitioners’ allegations about the city leaders did not qualify as misconduct.

On Friday, Norman spoke with the Albert Lea Tribune about the fire hire controversy. He noted a city manager’s job is to work at the behest of the council, and removing the liquor was what the council requested. The insurance company felt it was a liability.

“We went on to work well with the fire department, we were able to save our downtown in the 1997 floods,” Norman said.

Another controversy arose in September 1997, when the mayor and the chairman of the police commission were at odds. The mayor, Jim Curtiss, was seeking contributions toward a legal challenge of the city’s hiring of a new police chief using the signature of the prior mayor. The chairman said the mayor could not accept contributions.

Curtiss stated intentions to file a lawsuit anyway, noting the funds do not benefit him, and said he “also intends to continue his demand that City Manager Jim Norman resign,” according to a Sept. 19, 1997, story in the West Central Tribune.

A week later, all parties put their disagreements over the hiring of the new police chief behind them and toned down their hostilities.

“Part of my job is to resolve conflict,” Norman said Friday. “And the police department is much better today.”

Norman ran for auditor of Renville County in 1994, prior to becoming the city manager in Montevideo. In fact, at the start of his campaign, he ran 84 miles in a route that took him through the 10 communities in that county and ending at the courthouse. People honked and waved along the way. Some runners and cyclists joined him for portions of the route, the West Central Tribune reported.

His campaign then took a more conventional door-to-door method. At the time, he was the city administrator for Renville and had previously been the administrator for Dodge County.

Still, Norman lost to the incumbent, Jim Terseeg. The tally was Terseeg 5,539 votes, Norman 1,708 votes.

It was during the auditor campaign that he was approached about the position in Montevideo. Renville and Chippewa counties border each other.

Norman’s wife at the time, Nancy, gave birth to twins in October 1997. He was 43. In December, he turned 44 and about that time the West Central Tribune penned a story on how he intended to leave Montevideo to begin as city manager in another city.

“Norman, the sometimes controversial Montevideo city manager who is used to a little stress anyway, is headed to the Anoka County city of Ramsey,” the newspaper reported.

He was slated to begin Feb. 2, 1998. He had turned down an offer from North St. Paul.

The West Central Tribune story said: “Before going to Montevideo, Norman was Renville’s city manager for four years, and accepted the Montevideo post in September 1994. He said he arrived in a city which had built the foundation for solid economic growth. Montevideo added 500 new jobs in the last 18 months alone.

“Being a witness to that growth, and helping the city respond to it, has been among the highlights of his years in Montevideo, he said. He also pointed to the development of a trail system, an orderly annexation agreement with Sparta Township, and efforts to deal with the aftermath of flooding as among the major projects.

“His biggest disappointment in the last four years was seeing a proposed senior citizen center project fall to defeat at the polls.”

He stayed in Ramsey for nine years.

“I had my greatest accomplishments in Ramsey,” Norman said Friday, adding that there is not a local newspaper to detail the ups and downs of the suburb. It was during this time he served as president of the Minnesota City/County Management Association.

After Ramsey, he went into private practice as a consultant, and his main client was former Transportation Commissioner Elwyn Tinklenberg’s consulting business. Tinklenberg ran for Congress in 2006 and 2008, which harmed his client-base, and the Great Recession arrived in 2007. These factors drove him out of business, and he took the job in Afton.

In March, he accepted the job of city manager for Albert Lea. Presently, Norman faces two felony counts and one gross misdemeanor count for allegedly abusing the city credit card.

Norman, of course, could not comment on the charges, but he did say he wishes he could because he wants people to know his side of the story. He presently is suspended with pay.

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