Nowthen, What Do We Have Here?Scott Lehner's Two Years Before Kenyon

Before he came to Kenyon, City Administrator Scott Lehner spent two years and four months as administrator of Nowthen, a city of about 5,000 in Anoka County. That record is public: 109 council recordings from June 2022 to June 2025, the city's posted minutes and packets, and the coverage of ABC Newspapers. This site read all of it. None of it appears in Kenyon's hiring record. What follows is what the record shows about how he was hired, how he ran the office, how he left, and what he arranged on the way out. Quotations from recordings come from the city's YouTube captions and carry timestamps so each one can be checked against the video.

No lawsuit, discipline, audit finding or news story naming Lehner as the subject of a complaint was found. The record does show an administrator hired without city experience, a year of fights over money he committed without approval, a staff complaint handled behind closed doors, a resignation delivered after he had already signed with Kenyon, and a public account of his departure in which the fault lay entirely with others. Kenyon has since heard the same kind of account about Randy Eggert.

Nowthen before Lehner

Nowthen incorporated in 2008 and ran without a full-time administrator for its first fourteen years. In the fall of 2021 its whole three-person office quit. City Clerk/Treasurer Lori Streich gave notice on September 30, 2021, and the deputy clerk and the administrative assistant followed. Their letters named Mayor Jeff Pilon and Council Member Mary Rainville. Streich told ABC Newspapers: "It has just gotten to the point where we can't tolerate the harassment, intimidation and bullying," and said the two sent 50 to 80 emails a month "demanding information and belittling staff" (ABC Newspapers, October 2021).

Frank Boyles, a retired administrator, became Nowthen's interim on November 1, 2021, and held the job until Lehner was sworn in. Pat Melvin of David Drown Associates ran the search.

The hire, July 2022

The council interviewed three finalists on July 14, 2022. Three of the five members ranked Lehner first. One ranked him fifth of five and said they would not vote for "somebody with no experience," citing "zero experience" and "zero education" in city administration: "we went down this road last time and we had problems." Members noted he had been out of his prior employer, CenterPoint Energy, "for the last year plus," and that he had started a degree but not finished it. Lehner told the council that for "the last five years I've been looking at... what it would be like to be a city administrator... while I was still employed" 3:51. The final vote was 5-0 3:25:00.

The request for council action for July 25, 2022 set the terms: "A starting salary of $97,000 per annum has been negotiated with a performance evaluation and salary review in six months. Benefits are in accordance with the City Personnel Policy. The first workday is Monday, August 1, 2022" (July 25, 2022 packet, p. 2). He was sworn in on August 11, 2022. Boyles read the ICMA code of ethics at the ceremony.

The 2022 and 2023 record is routine: budgets, road projects, fire department staffing, permits. The six-month evaluation does not appear on any agenda as completed, then or later.

The 2024 conflict

Through 2024 the council and the administrator fought over three things: who could spend money, who could talk to the city's consultants and attorney, and who supervised staff. The council's Personnel Committee was Mayor Pilon and Council Member Shanni Fladebo.

1. June 11, 2024The council halts the code-compliance process with subcontractors and tells Lehner to instruct Rum River Consultants to close out no more permits (packet).
2. June 17, 2024Resolution 2024-77 requires council approval before any council member works with a consultant, 5-0. Resolution 2024-83 adds that no elected official may commit the city to a cost without approval, 4-1 (packet).
3. July 9, 2024Agenda item: "Address RCA regarding emails from Administrator Lehner to the city council," on whether staff needs approval to keep working with consultants. On the same agenda, Mayor Pilon is elected to the League of Minnesota Cities board.
4. August 20, 2024Lehner reports being asked "who authorized you, city administrator, to spend a bunch of money on this," over about $1,900 of Rum River work: "I never thought in a million years that I would be challenged on spending money with these folks" 1:30:00.
5. August 28, 2024Lehner's own request for council action, "Administrator and Staff need Clarification." He asks whether the council wants him to keep running day-to-day operations, says he no longer wants to be told in meetings "he wasn't working on priority, didn't have council approval," does not want to be "accused of spending money with the city attorney again," and asks: "What did CM Fladebo and Mayor Pilon communicate with the LMC?" The mayor submits an alternate organization chart (minutes).
6. September 10, 2024Fladebo moves to let council members reach the city attorney "without approval or knowledge of staff including [the] city administrator." Her example: "some harassment litigation or some wrongful termination... from one of your subordinates... while we're doing an investigation." The motion fails 4:29:00.

The complaint and the closed meeting

At an Employee Relations work session on September 17, 2024, Council Member Rainville brought a request titled "Administrative staff concerns regarding interactions between one or more members of the elected body and staff... and to possibly include the city attorney," asking whether Resolutions 2024-77 and 2024-83 had been violated. City Attorney Ruppe told the council that a matter "initiated by an employee" was pending, that he could not discuss it in public, and that he was obligated "to investigate... for the council to determine if disciplinary action" was warranted, in a closed session 1:48:36. The minutes record that Deputy Clerk Natalie Johnson then asked him "since when does overworked and understaffed turn into a 'hostile' work environment," and that he declined to answer (minutes, p. 6). The same night the council eliminated the Personnel Committee, formalized on October 8.

The minutes of the September 30, 2024 special session read: "6:30 pm Closed Meeting. Open Meeting immediately after the Closed Meeting is concluded." The open session was called to order at 8:00 p.m. with Lehner taking roll; Fladebo was absent (minutes). No posted minutes, packet or video states the subject of the closed portion, the statute relied on to close it, or its outcome. The meeting was not posted to YouTube.

The record supports more than one reading. The request that started it described staff concerns about council members. The attorney spoke of possible discipline, which a council can impose on its employees but not on its own members, and Minnesota Statutes 13D.05, subdivision 2(b) closes a meeting for allegations against "an individual subject to its authority." Lehner's later words, that he "didn't know where the council was going to go during that closed door deal" and had received "no apology," fit his being either the complainant or the subject. No record says which. Closed meetings under 13D.05 must be recorded, and the recording must be kept for at least three years, until September 30, 2027.

The resignation

Kenyon held a finalist meet-and-greet on October 28, 2024, interviewed on October 29, and approved Lehner's contract 5-0 on November 7, with the relocation window extended from eighteen months to twenty-four at signing (Kenyon special meeting minutes, November 7, 2024). At Nowthen's November 12 meeting he read a statement and handed in his resignation. He did not name Kenyon.

"Lack of clear leadership, direction, expectations and transparency... the absence of support and respect from some individuals... ongoing micromanage... since my arrival I have not received a performance evaluation... the breakdown of trust and respect reached the tipping point during the recent closed door meeting... I have not received an apology... I started this process just looking because I didn't know where the council was going to go during that closed door deal... I'm not welcome here any longer." 1:25:58

The minutes record that his concerns were "not the entire council, just the personnel committee members, which have now been disbanded," and that he had gone two and a half years without a review. Public Works Supervisor Joe Glaze asked for a motion that "when Administrator Lehner leaves, Jeff Pilon and Shanni Fladebo stay out of the office." A council member, by context Rainville, apologized on behalf of "a portion of the council." The minutes say "a copy of the resignation letter is attached," but none is attached to the posted minutes or the December 10 packet (minutes, pp. 7–8).

Earlier that evening the council paid a $19,620 Rum River Consultants bill for permit close-outs, noting that staff had committed the work in April "prior to council's awareness." A member said: "I would hope going forward we don't spend $19,000 without Council approval" 14:00.

Resolution 2024-112 accepted the resignation unanimously, effective December 12, 2024, named Johnson acting administrator, and paid out 239 hours of leave. Fladebo resigned effective December 2, citing health. Pilon left office in January 2025. At his last meeting on December 10, Lehner returned his keys and computer, and his final update told council members to stop using personal email for city business.

The Kenyon and Nowthen exchange

The interim who ran Nowthen's 2022 search was the interim who ran Kenyon's 2024 search, and after Lehner moved, the two cities hired the same people at the same prices.

1. Nov. 2021 – Aug. 2022Frank Boyles is Nowthen's interim administrator. DDA's Pat Melvin runs the search that selects Lehner.
2. April 2024Kenyon hires Boyles as interim at $100 an hour plus mileage. His contract includes "recruitment, screening and employment of a full time city administrator" (Kenyon special meeting packet, April 25, 2024).
3. June 20, 2024Kenyon hears search pitches from Mike Humpal of South Central Service Cooperative and from Pat Melvin of DDA. SCSC is approved at $14,500 on August 20.
4. Oct. 28 – Nov. 7, 2024Kenyon meet-and-greet, interviews with Boyles and Humpal present, and the contract, approved 5-0 after Boyles "outlined the process."
5. Dec. 2, 2024Lehner tells the Nowthen council he has had "multiple conversations" with Boyles, then still Kenyon's interim, about Boyles returning to Nowthen, and recommends the search firm: "I went through their process" 28:00.
6. Jan. 14, 2025Lehner's first Kenyon meeting and Boyles's last. Lehner to Boyles: "I love you like a brother." The two jointly present bringing Kenyon Municipal Utilities under city supervision. The same evening Nowthen approves Boyles as interim from January 15, at $100 an hour.
7. Feb. 11, 2025On Boyles's recommendation Nowthen hires SCSC at $14,500, 3-1. Boyles also brings Kenyon's purchasing policy to Nowthen.

No other staff or vendors were found moving between the two cities. Kenyon's October 29, 2024 interviews were held in open session but are not on the City of Kenyon's YouTube channel.

Nowthen after Lehner

In February 2025 Boyles wrote that under Acting Administrator Johnson, city work was getting done "in a more timely manner." On April 8, 2025, four months after he left, the council removed Lehner as primary contact on the city's 4M Fund account; his LinkedIn profile lists Nowthen through July 2025, while city records end his employment on December 12, 2024. In May 2025 Nowthen cancelled its administrator search for budget reasons. In ABC Newspapers' account, Johnson said Lehner "had taken a lot of the complaint calls, and had negotiated contracts." Council Member Ken Glaser told her: "I think you work a hell of a lot harder than he ever did for the city of Nowthen." Rainville said: "We never did the performance evaluation... Mr. Lehner never had any opportunity to have a discussion with council to hear that we thought he was faulting" (ABC Newspapers, May 2025). The June 10, 2025 minutes record that Lehner had approved all of Johnson's overtime before he left.

The same administrator in Kenyon

In Nowthen, Lehner's grievance was a two-member Personnel Committee that, in his account, micromanaged him and handled staff matters around him. At his first Kenyon meeting, on January 14, 2025, he took a seat on Kenyon's Personnel Committee himself. In Nowthen his other grievance was that no one ever evaluated him. In Kenyon the six-month evaluation, dated June 26, 2025, came from that same committee, with him as one of its three members. It rated him "exceeding expectations in all areas," moved him to grade 18, step 10, retroactive to June 14, and reached the council as a line on the consent agenda on July 8 (Resolution 2025-20; article 12).

In Nowthen the council fought him over who supervised staff. In Kenyon, with Boyles beside him at that first meeting, he brought Kenyon Municipal Utilities under the administrator, and on May 13, 2025 he presented the Administrative Staff Supervision Agreement that made it formal. In his first twenty months the finance director, the public works director and the utility superintendent each resigned or were separated. Whitney Kyllo's request to withdraw her resignation was sent to "the City Administrator and the personnel committee" (article 11). Wayne Ehrich's resignation, which Lehner announced, was rescinded a month later. Randy Eggert, 48 years with the utility, was placed on leave by Lehner on September 10, 2026 and separated on September 21.

In Nowthen, Lehner's public account of his exit put the fault on two council members. In Kenyon, on October 13, 2026, his account of the industrial-park power problem put it on "one person," the superintendent he had just removed. The City's own files, released October 26, do not support that account (article 31).

Questions the record raises

No public record this site has found answers any of these. Scott Lehner can answer every one of them.

1. Was he the subject of the complaint closed on September 30, 2024? The Nowthen attorney said a matter "initiated by an employee" was pending and that he would investigate "for the council to determine if disciplinary action" was warranted. Discipline is something a council imposes on its employees, not its own members. Lehner called that closed meeting the "tipping point" and said he started looking elsewhere because he "didn't know where the council was going to go." If he was not the subject, he can say so. If he was, the data are his to release: Minnesota law lets the subject of personnel data authorize its release, and 13.43, subdivision 2(e) makes complaint data on a chief administrative officer public if he resigned while it was pending.

2. Did he tell Kenyon? He interviewed in Kenyon on October 29, 2024, a month after that closed meeting, and signed on November 7. Did he tell the Kenyon council, or SCSC, about the pending complaint, the closed meeting, or the fact that he was leaving Nowthen because he did not know what its council would do?

3. Who committed the $19,620? The Rum River close-out work was committed by staff in April 2024 "prior to council's awareness," on the same consultant program over which, he said in August, he was asked "who authorized you, city administrator, to spend a bunch of money on this." He was the administrator. Did he approve that commitment?

4. What was the arrangement with Frank Boyles? Boyles ran the search that brought Lehner to Kenyon. Within a month of being hired, Lehner told Nowthen he had held "multiple conversations" with Boyles, then still Kenyon's paid interim, about Boyles taking over Nowthen, and recommended the firm that had just placed him: "I went through their process." Nowthen hired both, at the prices Kenyon paid. When did those conversations start, before or after Boyles recommended him to Kenyon?

5. Why did he sit on the committee that evaluated him? In Nowthen he said he went two and a half years without a review. In Kenyon he joined the Personnel Committee at his first meeting, and six months later that committee rated him "exceeding expectations in all areas" and moved him to grade 18, step 10. Did he take part in his own evaluation?

6. Why is the fault always someone else's? In Nowthen, his public account of his departure blamed two council members and asked for an apology he never received. In Kenyon, his account of the industrial-park power problem blamed "one person," the superintendent he had placed on leave five weeks earlier. The City's own files show the load figure in his inbox on December 17, 2025, and no failure by Eggert (article 31). Will he correct what he told the council about Randy Eggert?

7. Where do the numbers come from? In Nowthen the council fought him over money committed without its approval. In Kenyon he told the council a transformer would cost "upwards of a million dollars" and a substation three to five million, then five to six. The City's production holds no quote or estimate behind any of those figures, and the transformer that was ordered costs about $31,000. What document stands behind his numbers?

8. Why did he stay listed in Nowthen? Nowthen's records end his employment on December 12, 2024. He remained the primary contact on the city's 4M Fund account until the council removed him on April 8, 2025, and his LinkedIn profile still lists Nowthen through July 2025, overlapping his first seven months as Kenyon's administrator. Why?

9. Why did he leave CenterPoint Energy? Nowthen council members said in 2022 that he had been out of CenterPoint "for the last year plus" and that they looked for the reason and found none. He told the Kenyon council he worked in utilities for 30 years; his LinkedIn profile shows 28 years at CenterPoint, ending in December 2021, nearly all of it in gas. Why did that career end, and what did he do in the months before Nowthen hired him?

10. Will he live in Kenyon? His Kenyon contract was extended at signing to give him twenty-four months to relocate. His LinkedIn profile, as of October 22, 2026, lists Claremont. Has he moved, or does he intend to?

Records requested

On October 27, 2026 this site sent the City of Nowthen a Data Practices request for twenty categories of records covering August 2022 through December 2024, including the September 30, 2024 closed-meeting recording and a request to preserve it, the staff complaint and the attorney's investigation, the resignation letter, any evaluations, the hiring file, the employment agreement and pay history, correspondence with the League of Minnesota Cities and with Kenyon, any reference requests from Kenyon or SCSC, and the Rum River records. The city acknowledged it the same morning and said staff would be in touch "within a reasonable time." Kenyon's own production of October 26 is posted at kenyonminnesota.com/records. When Nowthen's records arrive, they will be posted and checked against everything above.

Sources

109 Nowthen council recordings, June 2022 to June 2025, read from the city's YouTube captions; quotations carry timestamps for checking against the video. 162 agendas, minutes and packets from the Nowthen Document Center, 110 of them scanned and read page by page, and the 2025 packets from the city's Agenda Center. 42 ABC Newspapers and Hometown Source articles on Nowthen. Kenyon council packets, minutes and recordings, every one since 2019. Gaps: the September 30, 2024 closed-session recording, the staff complaint, the resignation letter, and any evaluation are not public; a Star Tribune article on Nowthen spending is behind a paywall and was not read. ABC Newspapers ran no Nowthen story between the October 2024 election previews and January 10, 2025.