During the Ramsey County Commission meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 18, Commissioner Blaine Volk announced that fellow Commissioner Lee Gessner resigned his position in a very brief letter which was submitted on Nov. 4 at 1:35 p.m. Gessner was not present at the meeting nor the prior one although he had been serving for the past year as commission chair; Volk chaired those meetings in Gessner’s absence.

Gessner came to the offices of the Devils Lake Journal for an interview on Nov. 20, to explain his motivations for stepping down. He said there were a number of reasons, both personal and professional, when reflecting on his decision to resign from the Commission, and chief among them was his own mental health.

Gessner said it was around 25 years ago, when he was first started struggling with de

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