New allegations hit Minnesota's U.S. attorney at federal level

New complaints against Minnesota’s U.S. Attorney B. Todd Jones have surfaced in Washington, D.C., alleging mismanagement, abuse of authority and reprisal against an assistant U.S. attorney for engaging in whistleblowing “or other protected” activity.

The charges are being investigated by the U.S. Special Counsel, an independent agency that examines whistleblower cases, according to documents obtained by the Star Tribune.

Jones, acting director of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives (ATF), is President Obama’s choice to become permanent director, but has come under fire in recent months for his work with the ATF and his leadership of the U.S. attorney’s office in Minneapolis.

The assistant U.S. attorney who alleges he was unfairly disciplined is Jeff Paulsen, sources with direct knowledge of the case have told the Star Tribune.

Paulsen, a well-regarded prosecutor, was among recipients of the St. Paul Police Chief’s Award in 2011 for the conviction of two men in a brutal 2007 triple homicide. He was the first assistant under former U.S. Attorney Rachel Paulose.

Paulsen has been reassigned from prosecuting high-profile criminal cases to spending a large amount of time on cases under appeal. He declined to comment on the whistleblower case.

Jones declined to comment on the allegations Wednesday. “Todd is not making any public statements pending his confirmation hearings,” said Jeanne Cooney, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office.

Cooney declined to confirm that Paulsen was suspended or that he filed allegations with the Special Counsel. She said the office does not comment on personnel issues as a matter of policy.

Letter mentions allegations

The whistleblower allegations are mentioned in an April 12 letter to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, which is weighing Jones’ nomination. Carolyn Lerner, who heads the office of the Special Counsel, wrote the letter in response to an inquiry by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. Grassley is the ranking Republican on the committee and a critic of Jones’ work with the ATF.

Lerner wrote that an assistant U.S. attorney, whom she does not name, alleged that a member of Jones’ staff was suspended and received a “lowered performance appraisal … in retaliation for protected whistle-blowing or other protected activity.”

The allegation was lodged March 12. After an initial review, the counsel decided on April 12 to conduct an investigation.

Lerner wrote that her office is also reviewing a second allegation by the same attorney, who “alleges gross mismanagement and abuses of authority in the Narcotics Violent Crime Section” of the Minneapolis office.

She said no decision had been made whether to refer the case for investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Her letter mentions Grassley’s inquiry about an anonymous letter critical of Jones dated July 20, 2012, and signed by “Employees of the U.S. attorney’s office, District of Minnesota.”

Lerner wrote that her office turned the letter over to an analyst, then closed the case on Aug. 30 because it “did not have enough information to initiate a substantive inquiry into the concerns raised by the letter.”

Cooney said, “We will not comment on the anonymous letter which may or may not have been written by anyone in this office.”

Nomination all but on hold

The latest disclosure deepens Jones’ problems in the Senate, where GOP resistance has all but put his nomination on hold.

An aide to Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said he is “making an assessment of the merits of the claims” so the committee can move forward.

But three months after Obama nominated Jones to the ATF post, the committee has yet to schedule a hearing on the nomination.

Both Democratic senators from Minnesota who serve on the Judiciary Committee remained noncommittal Wednesday.

A spokesman for Al Franken said he “plans to review any information that comes from the Office of Special Counsel’s investigation, along with any additional information provided to the Committee about Mr. Jones.”

Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s spokeswoman Brigit Helgen said, “While Senator Klobuchar is not aware of all the details of the investigation, she hopes it’s resolved soon and would like to see the nomination hearing move forward.”

Paulsen has been with the U.S. attorney’s office for 24 years. Over the past two years, he and his supervisor, Carol Kayser, have been at odds over the prosecution of narcotics and gang cases, sources said, and their working relationship deteriorated to the point where Paulsen felt he was being unfairly targeted.

The allegations being investigated by the Special Counsel were first reported Tuesday in Roll Call, a Washington, D.C., online news publication. It did not name Paulsen.

Cooney said the Minneapolis U.S. attorney’s office, like others around the country, has been ordered by the U.S. attorney general to tighten internal controls and heighten scrutiny after the heavy criticism the attorney general’s office received over the Operation Fast and Furious gun scandal in Arizona.

Previously, assistant U.S. attorneys had more autonomy, Cooney said. “Whenever there is change, there is some resistance,” she said. “It’s common.”

In an interview in December, Jones had characterized complaints about his office as a reaction to his decision to shift priorities away from street-level crimes to more complex crimes involving drug cartels and to time-consuming white-collar crimes and terrorism cases.

In January, the Judiciary Committee received a letter from Donald Oswald, former director of the Minneapolis office of the FBI, who said Jones was “a significant impediment for federal law enforcement to effectively protect the citizens of Minnesota from violent gang, drug and gun activities.”

Source: startribune.com

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How to Gain and Maintain Customer Loyalty for Your Business

Today, it is almost guaranteed that every business has competition, whether it's from someone working out of their garage, home, or in a traditional storefront business. The Internet has made it extremely easy to find and compare businesses online, and this means it's very important to work hard to continue to improve both your promotional methods and your customer service approaches, to gain and maintain stronger customer loyalty for your business.

While it is important to generate new customers, it is even more important to maintain strong relationships with the ones you already have, especially in today's competitive market. In fact, it often costs much less to keep a current customer than it does to gain a new one, or, in the worst case, to try to win back a customer from a competitor. In this article, I will provide tips on how you can optimize your promotional and customer service approaches to convert both of your new and current customers, into loyal ones. Let's get started.

First, when a new customer comes to you, politely ask them how they found out about your business and keep a list of their responses. Review this list often to identify the common channels that generate majority of new customers for you, and try to promote your business more on those channels; whether it is through word-of-mouth, websites, social media referrals, etc. Depending on your type of business, you'll get new customers through different lead-generating channels. Knowing where your target customers usually go to find your type of business will allow you to position yourself in front of them effectively. This is a smart way to make a good impression, and without a good first impression, you may never get a chance to gain their trust. Always remember that trust plays a big part in gaining customer loyalty.

Today, many customers use the Internet to find and learn about business providers before making the phone call or driving to the store. This is reasonable enough for you to consider establishing a professional website to let potential customers learn about your business 24-7, at their convenience.

Second, always make very clear to your customers what you provide, and what it will do for them. Work hard to try to avoid negative comments about your business or brand. As you know, bad words often travel farther and faster than good ones. And since social media (Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, etc.) are THE customers' social spaces, bad comments and stories will spread fast and are very hard for you to resolve. Being clear, honest, and sincere are the best ways to avoid having your reputation harmed, so that you can continue to work to gain your customers' trust.

Third, try to exceed your customers' expectations, repeatedly. In today's competitive market, meeting your customer's expectations may no longer be enough. In fact, it might create opportunities for competitors to take away your customers. So go the extra mile to delight your customers. It will help build customer loyalty while costing you much less than trying to win back customers you've lost to competitors.

Fourth, while your customers are delighted, if possible, ask them to write up a couple paragraphs of feedback on your customer service. The process of writing you feedback allows customers to reflect on the good experience they had with you, which naturally makes your service more memorable. Better yet, you can post customers' testimonials on your website to help you continue to build a good reputation for your business over time.

Fifth, keep a close pulse on your competitor's promotions and provide offers that would interest your current customers to visit your business, or buy your products and services. If you can't compete directly with a competitor on a particular promotion or deal, put together a different offer or bundle that would attract your customers. The offer doesn't have to be so good that you take a loss, but it should help differentiate you and keep the attention of your current customers on you. Reminding customers of your new business offers will also help maintain their loyalty to your brand.

Sixth, a few weeks before the New Year approaches, send out a greeting/thank you letter to each of your current customers. Hand-written letters are often the most effective and personal. While sending out a thank you letter may not be feasible for all businesses, it is an important step for many. This task may be a time consuming, but it's worth it to remind your current customers how much you appreciate the fact that they chose you, and your business. This is one of the keys to customer relationship management which will help you convert your current customers into loyal ones.

The market today is much more competitive and businesses that have yet optimize their promotion and customer services approaches to gain and retain customer loyalty will soon realize that this can have a negative impact on their bottom line. Above are six important tips to help you build a strong relationship with your current customers and convert those relationships into customer loyalty.

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