Heated words at the Minnehaha County Commission meeting Tuesday. The arguments come over the state's controversial new license plate renewal program...

As people continue to wait in long lines on the first floor, the real fireworks were upstairs where Minnehaha County Treasurer Pam Nelson faced off with county commissioners this morning.

Treasurer Pam Nelson told commissioners, "you all seem to be an expert on running that office. But frankly, you know you're clueless. You have no concept of what it takes to make that operation work."

Commissioner Anne Hajek shot back, "so as we sit here asking you to accept additional help from the state, you have said no, we have asked you to open all the windows, you have said no, and somebody's going to go down and let them know that the buck stops with you Pam."

Commissioners urged Pam Nelson to do something more. Commissioner Jeff Barth chimed in. "I would hope that your staff would do everything that it can, and you would do everything that you can to get service. So turning down offers of help, even if it's not what exactly how you want it, I don't see how that works towards getting us service."

Nelson rejected a state offer to bring in a worker who would staff an express line. She says it wouldn't be fair to others in line.

Nelson asked commissioners, "do you want to understand this or do you just want to tell me what to do when you don't run my office?"
Commissioner Carol Twedt responded, "I've heard this before. You run your office and I run this meeting. And you have one more minute and then we're done with this conversation."
Nelson then said, "well, if you want to know what it's going to take to run things better, we're going to need more people."

Commissioner Hajek says she thinks this is a publicity ploy on Treasurer Nelson's part because she doesn't like the new system. Nelson says to cut wait times she's going to need as many as 9 new full time employees.