AUDITOR: MORE DFLers USING TAXPAYER MONEY FOR ILLEGAL NEWSLETTERS
3 more city officials warned about newsletters
Three Minneapolis City Council members joined Mayor R.T. Rybak on the list of officials who ought to partially reimburse taxpayers for illegal newsletters, the state auditor said Tuesday.
Two of the DFL leaders joined the mayor in questioning the motives of Republican state Auditor Pat Anderson, who responded bluntly.
"Crying that they're being picked on is ludicrous," she said. "They need to simply own up to the issue and deal with it."
Anderson said that she'll be monitoring the city and that if the reimbursements don't meet an acceptable threshold she will refer the matter to county prosecutors.
Anderson last week singled out Rybak for his glossy eight-page newsletter featuring five pictures of himself. Then she said she received more phone calls from constituents and looked at council members' annual newsletters. She found three to be problematic, those belonging to Lisa Goodman, Gary Schiff and Paul Zerby.
"The issue is whether it is meant to look like it was attributed to one person," she said.
The three council members all featured photos of themselves and referred to things they had done in the first person, Anderson said. But she also noted that none of the violations were as flagrant as Rybak's.
The city is going to take action, drawing up guidelines for future newsletters, but, with the exception of Zerby, no one appears ready to reimburse taxpayers.
Zerby said he will pay back a portion of the cost of the newsletter, for the use of one small picture of himself, if the city attorney's office deems he should. By his own calculations, his mug shot made up a tiny fraction of the $864 in printing costs.
Goodman, who has sent an annual newsletter for seven years at an annual cost of about $3,000, and Schiff, who has sent three, including one in Spanish, were more defiant.
"I am proud of that newsletter, and I'm not going to be defensive about it because it is a service to my constituents and I have never had a complaint about it," Goodman said. "So I question the timing of it."
Of Anderson, Schiff said, "I think her new inquiry into this area raises more questions than it answers. I guess she's explaining what's a violation and what isn't. There's no clear, consistent message coming through of what is acceptable and what is not acceptable."
On the issue of reimbursement, Rybak spokeswoman Laura Sether said, "We're going to make that decision in consultation with our attorneys and other independent nonpartisan advisers."
Other cities OK
Since the news last week of Rybak's election-year, first-ever newsletter, Anderson said, she has received many calls about Minneapolis and other cities, but that the others, including her hometown of Eagan, were deemed in compliance.
"Everybody is looking at everybody's newsletter at this point," she said. "City Council members are simply not allowed to send out a city-funded newsletter that attributes the publication to them and not to the government unit they represent.
"Clearly the city of Minneapolis needs to create a policy so that taxpayer dollars are no longer misspent on publications that violate Minnesota state law."
She determined other newsletters to be in compliance with the law, including those sent by Minneapolis Council President Paul Ostrow, Council Vice President Robert Lilligren and Council Members Scott Benson, Sandy Colvin Roy and Barret Lane.
"Most cities and counties know this law inside and out. That's why it's surprising," Anderson said.
Ostrow said that, sooner rather than later, the city will look at the issue of how to comply with the statute, but that he does not plan to initiate reimbursement demands.
Parties respond
The issue has caught the attention of state DFL and GOP officials.
The Republicans called on Rybak to pay back the cost of the newsletter, while DFL Chair Mike Erlandson said he is looking into the scope of the auditor's duties.
"Are we looking at the auditor's office in response to her latest politically motivated letters? Yes," he said.
Anderson responded that it's part of her job. "The state auditor has fiscal oversight over local units of government," she said. "That's the entire purpose of the state auditor's job."
She also noted that the law governing newsletters was pushed by U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton, a Democrat, when he was state auditor 13 years ago.
"No matter who is serving in the state auditor's office, it's very clear this is a violation," she said. Source: Star Tribune, January 26, 2005
Three Minneapolis City Council members joined Mayor R.T. Rybak on the list of officials who ought to partially reimburse taxpayers for illegal newsletters, the state auditor said Tuesday.
Two of the DFL leaders joined the mayor in questioning the motives of Republican state Auditor Pat Anderson, who responded bluntly.
"Crying that they're being picked on is ludicrous," she said. "They need to simply own up to the issue and deal with it."
Anderson said that she'll be monitoring the city and that if the reimbursements don't meet an acceptable threshold she will refer the matter to county prosecutors.
Anderson last week singled out Rybak for his glossy eight-page newsletter featuring five pictures of himself. Then she said she received more phone calls from constituents and looked at council members' annual newsletters. She found three to be problematic, those belonging to Lisa Goodman, Gary Schiff and Paul Zerby.
"The issue is whether it is meant to look like it was attributed to one person," she said.
The three council members all featured photos of themselves and referred to things they had done in the first person, Anderson said. But she also noted that none of the violations were as flagrant as Rybak's.
The city is going to take action, drawing up guidelines for future newsletters, but, with the exception of Zerby, no one appears ready to reimburse taxpayers.
Zerby said he will pay back a portion of the cost of the newsletter, for the use of one small picture of himself, if the city attorney's office deems he should. By his own calculations, his mug shot made up a tiny fraction of the $864 in printing costs.
Goodman, who has sent an annual newsletter for seven years at an annual cost of about $3,000, and Schiff, who has sent three, including one in Spanish, were more defiant.
"I am proud of that newsletter, and I'm not going to be defensive about it because it is a service to my constituents and I have never had a complaint about it," Goodman said. "So I question the timing of it."
Of Anderson, Schiff said, "I think her new inquiry into this area raises more questions than it answers. I guess she's explaining what's a violation and what isn't. There's no clear, consistent message coming through of what is acceptable and what is not acceptable."
On the issue of reimbursement, Rybak spokeswoman Laura Sether said, "We're going to make that decision in consultation with our attorneys and other independent nonpartisan advisers."
Other cities OK
Since the news last week of Rybak's election-year, first-ever newsletter, Anderson said, she has received many calls about Minneapolis and other cities, but that the others, including her hometown of Eagan, were deemed in compliance.
"Everybody is looking at everybody's newsletter at this point," she said. "City Council members are simply not allowed to send out a city-funded newsletter that attributes the publication to them and not to the government unit they represent.
"Clearly the city of Minneapolis needs to create a policy so that taxpayer dollars are no longer misspent on publications that violate Minnesota state law."
She determined other newsletters to be in compliance with the law, including those sent by Minneapolis Council President Paul Ostrow, Council Vice President Robert Lilligren and Council Members Scott Benson, Sandy Colvin Roy and Barret Lane.
"Most cities and counties know this law inside and out. That's why it's surprising," Anderson said.
Ostrow said that, sooner rather than later, the city will look at the issue of how to comply with the statute, but that he does not plan to initiate reimbursement demands.
Parties respond
The issue has caught the attention of state DFL and GOP officials.
The Republicans called on Rybak to pay back the cost of the newsletter, while DFL Chair Mike Erlandson said he is looking into the scope of the auditor's duties.
"Are we looking at the auditor's office in response to her latest politically motivated letters? Yes," he said.
Anderson responded that it's part of her job. "The state auditor has fiscal oversight over local units of government," she said. "That's the entire purpose of the state auditor's job."
She also noted that the law governing newsletters was pushed by U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton, a Democrat, when he was state auditor 13 years ago.
"No matter who is serving in the state auditor's office, it's very clear this is a violation," she said. Source: Star Tribune, January 26, 2005
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