Lori Hogstad was a good city clerk. She stepped in when they fired Debra Owen, leaving licensing and taking over a whole new department. While I disagreed with how Owen was let go, that had nothing to do with Hogstad, she was just stepping up. I also have NO doubt that she would be a fair juror on the ethics commission, but the conflicts with former employees could be an issue in which she would have to recuse herself.
But the conflicts are NOT the major issue here. We are a city of 200K+, why do we always pick the same people and former public officials for these positions? LAZINESS. The mayor and his staff don’t encourage board application and they don’t VET all the applicants, instead the mayor goes trolling for friends or friends of friends. A horrible way to govern, but no surprise from a guy who has NO leadership skills.