Fertile community members had a Community Town Hall meeting on Wednesday night in the Knutson Community Center in support of Angie Letting.
RESIGNATION OF ANGIE LEITING
53 concerned community members attended Wednesday’s meeting regarding the unexpected resignation of Angie Leiting. Angie had been an employee of Fair Meadow nursing home in Fertile for 34 years, 10 of which she served as the nursing home administrator. This resignation was explained by the community as a “forced resignation” due to the Fertile City Council allegedly giving Leiting the option to resign or ultimately be fired. No public statements have been released on the reasonings for this decision because it is a closed performance review. This information was posted in the Fertile Journal on Wednesday.
Those that attended the community meeting showed their appreciation for Leiting. “The support has been overwhelming,” said Leiting. “It started a couple of days after I got let go. People have supported me through emails, letters, and stuff like that. But now there are signs all over Fertile. When I drove back into town this weekend, I was so overwhelmed.” Fertile community members have manufactured signs supporting Leiting in hopes of her reinstatement. The signs are placed throughout Fertile city limits, with the image of a fist and a statement saying, “We stand with Angie.”
“I’ve always liked my job as Administrator, but I would never do it if there weren’t residents involved,” said Leiting. “So the residents themselves, the direct care, and the relationships we’ve formed. Just that personal connection.”
Like her fellow community members and supporters, Lieting hopes for future reinstatement. “It would mean the world to me. I pictured my life retiring at Fair Meadow,” said Listing. “This caught me off guard, I was very surprised and hurt, but I would want nothing more than to get my job back.”
FERTILE COMMUNITY MEMBERS DISCUSS ISSUES WITHIN THE COUNCIL
Fertile community members expressed their frustrations with the lack of transparency the council has shown recently. The lack of data was a talking point during the meeting because the city reportedly hasn’t posted the agendas or personnel present at the latest City Council meetings. “Knowing the situation right now, if there were people involved that probably shouldn’t have been involved, that would be a reason the city hasn’t posted,” said Fertile resident Becky Hall. “I don’t think our city administrator is doing their job by not posting these. Because I think they only have two weeks to post them legally.”
Fertile community members believe the decision to force the resignation of Leiting was made privately and without her present. “It’s tearing the community apart, the churches, the businesses, and this should have never happened,” said Hall. “We have everything we need in this town, and now we have this situation we have to deal with.”
Many community members expressed their frustrations with Mayor Daniel Wilkins, who (like Angie Leiting) cannot make public statements about this case. “We don’t know how one person in a council has so much power,” said Hall. “They think they can go behind our backs. And we, as taxpayers, own a section of that nursing home,” said Hall. “So, we should have every right to speak and have them listen to what we want them to hear, he’s been the mayor for a while, and he should know what’s right and wrong.”
The Fertile City Council allowed five minutes for community members to speak at the recent city council meeting and the residents that spoke held the town hall meeting to discuss the issue more in-depth.
Fair Meadow Nursing Home is one of the top Nursing homes in Northwest Minnesota, and the community believes its reputation is important. However, having a firm administrator at the facility is essential to their success. “If we lose our nursing home, we lose our drug store, people will be moving,” said Hall. “It will impact the school, it just needs to get back on track the way it used to be.”