By Joe Skurzewski
MINOT, N.D. (Valley News Live) – Minot Mayor Tom Ross submitted a letter of resignation, according to a spokesperson for the city.
The news comes after the city of Minot released the findings of an internal investigation into a complaint filed against Ross.
According to the report, City Attorney Stefanie Stalheim filed a formal harassment complaint on Jan. 28 against Ross.
The report states Stalheim received a sexually explicit video over text on Jan. 14.
The report states Ross called Stalheim, asking her to delete the video and not view it, saying he had made a “sexy video” for his girlfriend.
According to the report, when interviewed about the incident, Ross confirmed it was him in the video, and he had recorded the video during his lunch break, prior to sending it to Stalheim. The report writer says Ross intended to send it to his romantic partner, whose name begins with ‘C’ but mistakenly sent it to the contact ‘City Attorney.’
The report states Monica Porterfield, another HR employee for the city, eventually deleted the video on Stalheim’s phone, but wound up viewing part of it while attempting to delete the video.
On Jan. 19, Stalheim and Porterfield met with then-HR Director Lisa Jundt and discussed the incident, and they decided to bring it to the attention of Assistant City Manager Tom Joyce. Joyce, in turn, chose to bring it to the attention of City Manager Harold Stewart.
The investigative report was conducted by Christina Sambor, with Sambor & Law Consulting, P.C.
A meeting on the matter was scheduled for 4 p.m. Tuesday at Minot City Hall.
