School ties don’t bind Pogemiller in effort to oust McElroy

Dan McElroy, Larry Pogemiller

State Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller’s desire for an early end to Dan McElroy’s tenure as commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) got a fresh airing last week by Minnesota Public Radio. One thing keeping the spat civil: The pair attended high school together in the 1960s.

DFLer Pogemiller has kind words for the man he now wants out of the state’s Republican-led administration: “I like him. He’s a good guy. I just don’t think he’s an effective leader of the agency.”

The state Senate could make McElroy the third member of Pawlenty’s cabinet to be removed, following Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau (as transportation commissioner) and Cheryl Yecke (as education commissioner).

For his part, McElroy, a former Republican state legislator, refuses to engage the majority leader — beyond saying that he  ”doesn’t understand where Pogemiller’s coming from,” according to MPR.

But there’s at least one place Pogemiller comes from that McElroy knows well: DeLaSalle High School. Pogemiller (Class of ’69) was three years behind McElroy at the Catholic school near downtown Minneapolis.

Proving, it seems, that a friend in need is not necessarily a friend in DEED.