CAD Staff: We’d rather have Community Action Duluth fail than see Classie Dudley succeed
Classie Dudley
DULUTH, Min. – FOX21 has obtained a 2022 document from the Minnesota Department of Human Services where staff members at Community Action Duluth (CAD) allegedly said they wanted to see Classie Dudley fail as the organization’s Executive Director.
It described CAD in late 2022 as a “chaotic organization.”
The report says, “[Two staff members used] company time to gather staff, write emails and try to stir up emotions to sabotage [Executive Director Classie Dudley]. Some staff said.. in front of the Human Resources Director, that they would rather see CAD fail and be swallowed up by [Arrowhead Economic Opportunity Agency} than see the [Dudley] succeed. Staff with this attitude should not be able to continue to damage the agency which provides important programming to the community.”
The report was released in December of 2022 following a visit by a member of the Department of Children, Youth, and Families’ (DCYF) Office of Economic Opportunity.
The report was created because the CAD receives grant money from Department of Children, Youth, and Families. Their Office of Grants Management guidance says DCYF staff must make one “monitoring visit” each year to groups that receive state money. The visit was conducted in early November 2022. Dudley was hired just months earlier in June 2022.
The report said of a Board of Directors meeting DCYF staff attended, “lacked structure and order, which contributed to an adversarial atmosphere and drama during the meeting.”
The report explained the seating layout of board members and staff members in the Board of Directors meeting. It also mentioned one staff and one board member attended the meeting via laptop. The report from the DCYF continued, “The staff on the laptop began the meeting with judgmental statements aimed at myself, board members and the Executive Director. With this opening, other attendees became stirred up. I reminded them that I was there to provide a training, not to argue.”
The report also alleged of board member Alanna Oswald, “it appears… has violated her role by going against the board’s recommendations to hire the Executive Director. She used her friendships and personal preferences to push for the hire of the current ED. This same member is now leading the charge to terminate the current ED without cause which is not in accordance with a clear and fair hiring process and may put the entire board at personal risk.”
The report continued to say Oswald, “has also conspired with CAD staff to undermine the current Executive Director by means of intimidation, slander and withholding pertinent information.”
The report also suggested staff was making up complaints against Dudley. It said, “it appears that some are inciting other staff to file frivolous complaints against the current ED.” An example of an alleged frivolous complaint was, “we never know where she is or what she is doing”.
The report said, “The Board chair and members need training and support on facilitating and participating in an effective and respectful board meeting.” The report said staff members in general should not be attending board meetings, “Attending board meetings should be by invitation of the Board Chair, to give information or a report on a program only. Staff have no other role or purpose in attending these business meetings.”
The report added the board had “not supported” Dudley to effectively manage the agency.
Alanna Oswald provided a statement to FOX21 saying she was not conspiring with staff, but simply passing on information to the full board. Oswald said, “I was one of a few people explicitly targeted for removal by the Executive Director of CAD Classie Dudley, who used her connections to try to discredit and silence me from speaking out. Some employees at the time brought forward evidence and I forwarded those concerns to the board as a board member. These concerns included leadership issues, work environment hostilities, and financial deficits that mirror exactly what the current employees’s issues are today. I sincerely support current employees concerns, and recognize the validity of their experiences under the ED, based on the similar issues I tried to voice in 2022.”
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FOX21 has obtained the subsequent monitoring reports from DCYF in 2023, 2024 and 2025.
The 2023 report noted some turnover in staff, “the newer staff are learning about their service areas, its changes and challenges. The agency’s work plan continues to be guided by the needs of the community.” The report mentions the organization is looking for “better efficiency” in its software usage. It said, “fiscal policy and procedures are in place, have been approved by the agency Board of Directors and are being implemented.” The report said at that point Dudley, “is learning her role and appears to have the support of her staff.”
The 2024 monitoring report noted changes in board members stating, “The board lost all but four members over the course of the past months. Last night (5/1/24) five new board members were voted in. Three from the low-income sector and two from the private sector.” Majority of the rest of the report mentioned that causes that CAD was supporting.
The 2025 monitoring report was from a virtual meeting on April 18, 2025. The report mentioned a “food desert” as an issue of concern. Some financial documents were not available at the time of the virtual meeting and they were request to be later e-mailed. The report did mention, “Director’s time sheets were not verified and signed off, so CAD will need to create process to ensure these time sheets are not overlooked or missed.” The financial review ended with, “No additional findings identified during this review.”
