Former Metro Diversion Authority director makes first public comments since resigning

FARGO (KVRR-KFGO) – The former executive director of the Metro Diversion Authority says he resigned reluctantly after he refused to be placed on administrative leave.

Joel Paulsen left the authority in April after he was informed by Moorhead mayor Shelly Carlson that he would be placed on paid leave while an investigation was conducted. Paulsen, on KFGO News and Views, said the leave-request came without warning.

“I asked, ‘why is this occurring?’ Nobody gave me any answers,” Paulsen says. “So I said, ‘for my family and my career, I can’t sign this.’ I can’t have the board I’m working for investigating me for something I have no idea what I’m being investigated for. I said, ‘unfortunately, you’re forcing me to resign.’ I didn’t want to resign.”

As part of the leave proposal, Paulsen says he was told that he’d have to stay at home from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. during work hours.

Nearly two months after he resigned, Paulsen says he’s still looking for an explanation.

“I obviously was taken by surprise. I had no idea what this was all about,” Paulsen says. “I’m starting to piece things back together. I still have never received any sort of answers from the Authority on what their concerns are. Let me be clear, [it’s] not the Authority, because the Board of Authority speaks for itself. This is one or two individual board members who took this action.”

Some of the dispute centers around construction methods on the more than $3-billion flood control project.

Members of the Diversion Authority voted 11-2 to accept Paulsen’s resignation with Fargo City commissioners John Strand and Dave Piepkorn citing frustration with the process.

Paulsen, a former Moorhead City Council member, was hired as the Authority’s first executive in 2019. He announced that he’s running for Clay County Commission late last month.