SCANDALAPOLIS

Council member took bribes, affidavit alleges

Minneapolis City Council Member Dean Zimmermann took $7,200 cash in exchange for support on zoning changes, according to a federal affidavit filed Friday.

The search warrant affidavit claims the FBI had probable cause to believe Zimmermann violated the law by accepting "bribes in exchange for official acts."

In a highly detailed six-page portion of the affidavit, the FBI claims to have both audio and videotapes of Zimmermann taking cash from an unidentified cooperating witness on three separate occasions in June, July and August. Zimmermann, 63, discussed with the witness cash contributions for his campaign and for personal debts in exchange for zoning help, the FBI said.

He stepped outside his house Friday afternoon, a day after agents had searched it for three hours and seized campaign and personal records. He read from a statement but did not address the investigation or respond to questions. "Speaking on behalf of the poor and oppressed and generations to come is not always popular, but it is necessary," he said. "It is my life's work. It is my work as a public official. And it's work I intend to continue."

His lawyer, Fred Bruno, said that much of what's in the affidavit is innuendo and that he would have to listen to the FBI tapes to see what Zimmermann's intent was. He said campaign laws can be "squishy" and can be interpreted in many ways.

According to the affidavit, the cooperating witness first met with the FBI in May and told special agents Timothy Bisswurm and David Kukura that Zimmermann wanted help with a legal bill rather than campaign donations.

Zimmermann, a Green Party member who was elected in 2001, was one of two council members who sued the city over a redistricting map based on the 2000 U.S. census. His legal bill was estimated to be at least $40,000. An appeal in the case is still pending.

On May 23, the witness told Bisswurm that Zimmermann was "adamant that he needed cash right away." The affidavit didn't cite the project for which the witness sought help, but a subpoena delivered to City Hall seeks information from Zimmermann's office about Gary Carlson and the Chicago Commons project at 2401 Chicago Av. S. Carlson did not respond to phone calls seeking comment.

In a June 6 conversation at a Minneapolis restaurant, the witness told Zimmermann he needed his vote. When the witness asked the council member what he needed, Zimmermann said, "money, money, money," the affidavit said.

The witness agreed to pay $4,000 to $5,000 toward the legal bill in exchange for a zoning vote. "OK, you got it," Zimmermann said, according to the document.

The two also discussed the $300-per-person election-year campaign donation limit, and Zimmermann suggested the witness give more by doing so in the names of "his cousins."

On June 14 in an exchange taped by the FBI, the witness met Zimmermann at a restaurant and gave him $5,000 cash in an envelope, the affidavit said. The witness said, "This is for that attorney thing, or whatever, we talked about." Zimmermann responded, "Yeah," took the envelope and looked into it, the affidavit said.

The two discussed the need for a zoning change at a south Minneapolis project. Zimmermann said he needed to bring four to five young people on his campaign and "find a way to slip them 100 bucks a week." The witness told him, "We can do that," the affidavit said.

On July 22, the City Council unanimously denied a rezoning request for the mixed-use condominium project at 2401 Chicago Av. S. The developer wanted to expand retail space.

Zimmermann later told the witness he was "frustrated" because he could not find a council member to second his motion to try to stall the vote. He wanted to send the proposal back to a committee, but he couldn't get anyone to support him. In the end, he voted with the others because he lacked support.

At a meeting in August, taped for the FBI, the witness talked to Zimmermann about a new project, relocating a Somali mall. At that meeting, Zimmermann gave the witness envelopes and advised him to find more people to donate to his campaign, the affidavit said. A couple of weeks later, the witness returned the envelopes to Zimmermann with $1,200 in cash and fake names listed as contributors; Zimmermann pledged to help with zoning, the affidavit said.

In his campaign finance report filed last week, none of the fake names appeared as contributors, the affidavit said. Candidates must list the donors who give more than $100.

On Aug. 31, the witness went to Zimmermann's house and gave him $1,000 cash in a campaign envelope and said they could fill in the names later, the affidavit said. The FBI claims to have tapes of the exchange.

Also Friday, Council Vice President Robert Lilligren, who faces Zimmermann in Tuesday's nonpartisan municipal primary election because the redistricting placed the two incumbents in the same ward, said he was interviewed by Kukura. Lilligren said he is not the focus of the inquiry but declined to say more. Council Member Gary Schiff said that the FBI wants to talk to him, too, but that he is also not a target.

Zimmerman's supporters said he would push ahead with his campaign. "I think it becomes a tougher race because it's hard to remove a cloud of suspicion over your head," said Lauren Maker, a campaign coordinator. Source: Star Tribune, September 10, 2005