State Rep. Tom Rukavina introduced an amendment on the House floor Friday to do away with St. Louis County's top administrator.

The Virginia DFLer drafted an amendment to erase County Administrator David Twa's position after a dispute about a plan to expand the nursing home at White Community Hospital in Aurora.

County officials have been vague about their support for the plan and have said project supporters don't understand their position, Rukavina said late Friday.

"What they say keeps changing,'' he said. "I thought this was a way to get to the bottom of this and get the truth.''

County leaders were shocked by the last-minute maneuver.

"(Rukavina) flew off the handle,'' said John Ongaro, St. Louis County's lobbyist. "It was a real slap in the face to a wonderful administrator.''

"Here's a guy pissing around in county government and he doesn't belong there,'' said Commissioner Dennis Fink of Duluth. "I find it shocking.''

On Thursday, Rukavina started grousing about what he thought was the county's unwillingness to expand White Community Hospital by adding 60 to 80 nursing home beds, Ongaro said.

County officials decided in February to close Nopeming Nursing Home to save money, leaving Chris Jensen Health and Rehabilitation Center in Duluth as the only county-owned nursing home. Nopeming's closure sharpens the need for nursing home beds in St. Louis County, supporters of the White Community Hospital plan say.

After closing Nopeming, county board members instructed Twa to work with people at White Community Hospital to see if they could expand the nursing home operation. Twa has made several suggestions to improve the proposal since it was unveiled in January, Ongaro said.

County officials met with Rukavina on Friday morning to discuss their problems with the proposal, which Ongaro said doesn't address current trends in patient needs.

Ongaro said Twa and others outlined their problems, but said the issues were being resolved.

Apparently not to Rukavina's liking.

Later that morning, Rukavina amended an unrelated Senate bill on the House floor dealing with the transfer of state highways in Traverse County.

The bill, with Rukavina's changes, passed 64-60. The Senate would need to approve the changes and Gov. Jesse Ventura must sign the bill before it becomes law.

Legislators have the authority to impose such a law on county government, Ongaro and others said.

Twa could not be reached for comment late Friday.

Other commissioners roundly backed Twa and agreed Rukavina acted hastily.

"It's a knee-jerk reaction,'' said Commissioner Steve Raukar of Hibbing. "It would be a real mistake to remove our county administrator.''

This isn't the first time Rukavina has meddled in county business. In 1997, he drafted legislation that would have let voters decide whether to split the county in half.

Rukavina's proposed legislation arose from a debate over whether one part of the county pays more taxes and receives fewer services than another.

He later backed off the legislation and sought $50,000 to study the impact of a split.

BAIRD HELGESON covers Duluth city government and the community. He can be reached weekdays at (218) 279-5527 or by e-mail: bhelgeson@duluthnews.com.