Gabriel Jabbour Lashes Out at Dick Osgood Over New Invasive Species Control Plan

Editor's note: this story has been corrected to reflect statements originally attributed to Dick Osgood were made by Joe Shneider. Patch regrets the error and any confusion it may have caused.

Gabriel Jabbour has lived on Lake Minnetonka for 42 years and owned the since 1990. He has been honored by the with a lifetime achievement award for his efforts at improving and protecting Lake Minnetonka and received two public safety awards from the Hennepin County Sheriff.

“I own many commercial properties, and I’ve served in almost every possible position available in local government,” Jabbour said. “I believe I’m a major protector of Lake Minnetonka.”

On Thursday Jabbour was in the middle of an overflow crowd packed into the Freshwater Society’s headquarters in Orono to review presented to the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District. The plan, which includes a controversial component of installing electronic gates at public boat access points, was created by the newly-formed Coalition of Minnehaha Creek Waters—a consortium made up of more than two dozen lake and homeowner associations throughout western Hennepin County. 

Dick Osgood is the new coalition's secretary and has served with Jabbour on numerous committees over the years—including an active AIS committee formed by the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District. Jabbour lashed out at Osgood Thursday night for what he said was a blatant usurping of a process that has been in motion for many months and Jabbour has personally invested time and effort into.

“I was asked to serve on the AIS committee with you, Mr. Osgood, and we are in the process of developing a plan—which apparently according to what you say must occur and get DNR approval to have you do anything,” Jabbour said. “Now do you, sir, not feel that your activity—by betraying the committee process and not mentioning one single word to us during committee—diminishes the credibility of the plan we are supposed to produce?” 

Osgood and Joe Shneider—chair of the Coalition for Minnehaha Creek Waters—denied the coalition was employing covert tactics, saying many of the steps included in the new plan incorporated measures widely accepted by Jabbour and others.

“I wear many hats, as do you Gabe, and one of the hats I have is a lake association president and as head of this newly-formed coalition—and it really is newly formed,” Shneider said. “The reality is we’re not trying to hide anything. We’ve been saying for a long time that we think this is the right set of steps.” 

Jabbour said the circumventing of the committee process by Osgood and the Coalition of Minnehaha Creek Waters will make an already wary DNR even “more suspect” and in the end make approval of any AIS prevention plan far more difficult.

“You showed total disrespect to your fellow committee members,” Jabbour told Osgood. “Do you feel that diminished trust and respect in you can ever be regained? Do you think we have any chance in hell to get the DNR to approve a plan after what you’ve just done?” 

Jabbour went on to say that the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District’s AIS committee was currently talking about objectives and had yet to tackle an implementation plan. He said he was blindsided by the plan presented Thursday and said Osgood assembled the proposal without the benefit of a deep pool of available local experts.

“The process is getting away at this point, and that’s what I feel bad about,” Shneider said referring to the slow progress being made against AIS on the committee level. "To me, it's not a question of is this a good thing to do or if I have respect for you. That's not the question here."