« MUST WATCH: FOX 9’S STORY ON RYBAK’S SUSPENDED DRIVER’S LICENSE | Home | J. GAUTHIER: THE MYSTERY OF WHO SIGNED FOR FRANKEN’S MAIL »
RYBAK PULLS A FRANKEN: DOESN’T “REMEMBER” GETTING MAIL ABOUT SUSPENDED LICENSE; MN DAILY PICTURE SHOWS HIM DRIVING
By Michael B. Brodkorb | May 9, 2008
Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak claims he doesn’t “remember” getting mail informing him that his license was suspended for failing to pay a speeding ticket.
There seems to be a conspiracy by the U.S. Postal Service against DFL politicians, as Al Franken claimed he never received notices from the state of New York regarding his failure to provide workers’ compensation insurance for his corporation’s employees.
Rybak was asked by the reporter if he has driven since his was suspended. His answer was:
“I don’t know, let me think about that for a second…I’ve had someone driving with me…I don’t believe so.†Source: FOX 9, May 8, 2008
But a photo in a story published by the Minnesota Daily on April 10, 2008, shows Rybak driving.
The MN Daily story doesn’t specify when the picture above of Rybak driving was taken. I have contacted the MN Daily for comment. But according to public records, his license has been suspended since late February 12, 2008.
Please check back to Minnesota Democrats Exposed for more information on this developing story.
Topics: Uncategorized | 39 Comments »
39 Responses to “RYBAK PULLS A FRANKEN: DOESN’T “REMEMBER” GETTING MAIL ABOUT SUSPENDED LICENSE; MN DAILY PICTURE SHOWS HIM DRIVING”
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.
May 9th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Maybe he was driving to a taping of “What not to wear.”
May 9th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
At least he is not so angry like Al
May 9th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
yeah at least so he is not so angry, douchebag.
May 9th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
wow, so a picture behind him of a steering proves it all. you are a genius MBB.
The Republican Party of MN is not paying their taxes and this is all you’ve got?
May 9th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
Yoni, careful with that…Michael was Carey’s campaign manager, and he’s a little sensitive ’bout criticism at his patron…..
May 9th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
franken’s tax issues and the republican party’s are apples and oranges.
the liberal hacks who post comments here are being intellectually dishonest — and they know it.
May 9th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
I feel bad for Rybak. Being Mayor must make reading the mail at home a bit mundane. And his ticket was issued in a pretty high republican indexed county. I bet he was profiled.
Olmstead County is pretty tough about unpaid fines. And they only send you one reminder before they go to warrant. I know. I unintentionally failed to pay in a timely way. My DL was never revoked, but I did get picked up on a warrant for an unsigned migratory waterfowl stamp. $152 was owed. And Olmstead wanted to transport me to Rochester to see the judge. I don’t think R.T. could have handled a night in the Adult Detention Center. I think there’s a song or two about that, but I digress.
At least Ryback didn’t get arrested and thrown in the pokey overnight for something as trivial and excusable as driving after revocation/suspension.
May 9th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Just out of curiosity, Ned – is Franken’s failure to carry worker’s comp apples to apples with Kline’s failure to carry worker’s comp?
Or is that apples – oranges in your world, too?
May 9th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
I fought the law and the law won….
May 9th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
…I fought the law, and the law won.
May 9th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Say, “el p”?
Did you know that the little dots on the roads RT illegally drove over were probably made at 3M?
Wonder how they do that.
May 9th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
Folks,
Don’t assume in this instance RT is lying. He may very well not have gotten the notice from the State DPS. I’m serious.
Ask any lawyer or judge how lax the state is about sending out suspension notices or updating the computer systems. It’s criminal how bad the DPS is on this.
I know at least 4 people who have had their licenses suspended but were never sent notice. I also know of at least 5 people who have paid all fees etc. and the state never updated the registration showing a valid license. Then they were stopped and given a ticket for suspended license. They then had to take time off of work to go in with all the documents showing the license fees and or tickets were paid and the ticket was then dismissed.
Personally, I know a guy who had his license suspended for not being current on child support. He then got it allpaid up, but for 4 more months it showed on the computer system a “suspended for failure to pay child support” notation. He had to carry around a letter from the child support office in case he ever got stopped.
On a personal note, last June I was driving in town. i was stopped by a cop for no apparent reason. i knew the cop. He only stopped me because my tabs were expired since March. I never got any renewal forms in the mail. Obviously had I noticed I would have renewed them. The officer was nice enough to give me a warning and I took care of it the next day.
All, I am saying is the state has failed to mail me stuff and I know of at least 9 others that have suffered the same fate. I know it is antecdotal, but it is not isolated at all. If you think our DPS is a model of efficiency and good government you are sadly mistaken.
I’m not saying RT is not lying. Maybe he is. Maybe he got the notice and ignored it. But, he story is plausible based on my past experiences.
As conservatives we ought not be so quick to defend inefficient, incompetant government.
May 9th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
ANYTHING to take the focus off of the SKY-HIGH PRICE OF GAS… which is hurting everyone.
We wouldn’t be at $3.65/gallon without GEORGE BUSH’S WAR OF AGGRESSION against Iraq – who posed no threat, had no WMDs, and never attacked us – so BE SURE TO THANK THE REPUBLICANS IN NOVEMBER!!!
May 9th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
ACTUAL QUESTION: Who cares?
Al Franken’s failure to pay taxes is a legitimate issue, but it sounds to me like Mayor Rybak simply made a mistake. Don’t you think he would have acted sooner if they told him he was about to lose his license? It was eighty dollars!!!!!
Come on everyone, this is so irrelevant. Who really cares?
May 9th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
“On a personal note, last June I was driving in town. i was stopped by a cop for no apparent reason. i knew the cop. He only stopped me because my tabs were expired since March. I never got any renewal forms in the mail. Obviously had I noticed I would have renewed them. The officer was nice enough to give me a warning and I took care of it the next day.”
Does someone have to remind you to wipe your ass too?
Seriously, the DPS is “criminal” because you were too oblivious to know you had expired tabs for a quarter of a year? I mean, someone with your eagle eye for detail would NEVER have tossed out your renewal notice – it must be someone else’s fault.
The only inefficient, incompetent government action you can verify was that of your cop buddy who gave you a free pass instead of doing his job.
May 9th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
Patrick Black,
Socks getting a speeding ticket is no story. Socks being unable to decipher a citation (once again, it’s all “far too confusing for anyone to be expected to figure it out”), and claiming he has no knowledge of his own mail is easily forgiven due to his general airheadedness.
You asked, “Don’t you think he would have acted sooner if they told him he was about to lose his license? ”
Why should we think that? By his own admission, he KNEW his license was suspended and yet there he was, keys in hand, ready to fire up his Pious and hit the road.
May 9th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
I agree that he was probably going to drive while knowing his license was suspended, which is wrong. But the guy tries to pay for most of it and must go through this whole ordeal because of eighty dollars. It’s not like he was evading taxes in seventeen states.
Let’s not make this into a bigger story than it needs to be. He was caught speeding, he tired to pay his fine. He didn’t pay the fine fully, he will now resolve the problem. This only shows that he is an average person like the rest of us.
May 9th, 2008 at 7:42 pm
“This only shows that he is an average person like the rest of us.”
I reject the notion that “average” people are too incompetent to read a citation or notice when they have mail warning of legal action.
What this shows is that Socks is a dunderhead. And that he tells really bad lies when he’s shown to be a dunderhead.
May 10th, 2008 at 12:23 am
But unlike Franken, the mayor has owned up to his error. Based on the Strib story today, it doesn’t look like he’s blaming others and is taking the steps required to clear this up.
May 10th, 2008 at 12:50 am
Swiftee,
I’m not sure. I know some [partial] formulas.
In some places in the world I have seen solar collectors that reflect during daylight hours, and then flash at night. Very nice but, also expensive.
May 10th, 2008 at 12:51 am
Don Shelby, Channel 4 TV News and WCCO radio, had only good things to say about RT Rybak tonight(radio) saying that he had owned up to the situation.
May 10th, 2008 at 8:44 am
Okay folks on this post there seems to be two issues:
Issue One, Did Ryback knowing receive his notice and not act on it. On this point I will defend the mayor. Working in an office that among the things that we do is help the suspended drivers restore their license there are lot of surprised drivers who don’t know their license is suspended. I can give Ryback a pass on not knowing.
They didn’t get or seem to realize they have gotten from the state the notice threatening to suspend their license. This happens a lot!
On the other hand, item two is Ryback continuing to act in defiance of the law. Here is Ryback’s problem. He is continuing to drive on a suspended license which is far more serious and more importantly he has been publically caught. And technically if he has been caught in more than one county he can be charged in each county!
It is my guess for the moment Ryback has to pay a $20 reinstatement fee (and location of his job is no excuse since he can walk accross the street and pay it at the Hennepin County Service Center in the government center building though they will charge $25 if he does it there)
And pay the fine. The interesting thing especially given the fact that he can be charged with driving on a suspended license is how fast he does those two things.
And if some prosecutor will charge him with the more serious driving on a suspended license.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
May 10th, 2008 at 8:47 am
Don Shelby says the polar bears are going to die because of global warming.
Real trustworthy guy.
May 10th, 2008 at 9:59 am
Mr. Mustang:
One thing I didn’t notice in the posts. Keep in the mind, DPS (Department of Public Safety) refers to the tab notices as a courtsey notice. You’re still expected to know when your tabs are expired and buy them on tab. It’s up the to the discretion of local law enforcement to give you the ticket (not DPS). In the example you described in post it was your local law enforcment going after you with his discretion not the DPS.
You might want to pay attention to the facts there.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
May 10th, 2008 at 10:02 am
Scooter:
The reason why we have gasoline at $3.65 is because the oil companies aren’t allowed to build new refiniers. Caused by Democrats.
The reason why we have gasoline at $3.65 is because the Sierra Club has brainwashed people into thinking that ANWAR is millions of acres like the Grand Canyon and should never be touched even by Sierra Club members. That isn’t caused by the war.
Gasoline can be a whole lot lower of government if removes it’s unproductive tax that has noting to do with it’s creation (oh I forgot the Democrats want that to be higher not lower).
I can go on, but quit trying to sell this lie that the war has caused gasoline prices to go to $3.65.
May 10th, 2008 at 10:06 am
Mustang:
One thing I’m ordered to tell the people who I help on suspended licenses. They aren’t valid until the system is updated and we give them a phone number to check (it’s an automated 24 hour number). Part of the problem you’re citing is the people go driving thinking the receipt makes them valid immediately! Of course you believe the receipt makes you valid immediately.
Walter Hanson
May 10th, 2008 at 11:11 am
Walter: “Of course you believe the receipt makes you valid immediately.”
——————————————
I think that I understand some of your motives for your comments a little better, being that you seem to work in a bureau-type setting with long lines of people.
May 10th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
As much as I despise the boy Mayor, this is much ado about nothing. He also seems to be taking it well.
May 10th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
Walter
It takes weeks sometimes for the system to be updated!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That’s not ok by any explanation. People pay the fees to be reinstated. They should not have to wait weeks for people to update the system. We live in the real world.
May 10th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Surly
I asked two judges about your comment. They both told me the state not sending the notice is a defense. I then asked two lawyers and was told the same thing.
The state is required to send the notice. You are wrong.
May 10th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Surly,
The internet is full of information. I went and found the relevent statute. Guess what. It is an AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE to the charge if you did not receive the notification. Go read Minn. Stat. 168.09. It deals with registration and reregistration.
Under 168.09 Subdivision 5, it is an affirmative defense if you produce a statement from the registar that you did not receive the notice. It states “No person may be charged…for reason of failure…if the person was not notifed of the annual renewal for registration…to which the citation was issued.”
Also under 168.09 subdivision 5 (2) — the ticket is dismissed if you simply go in and pay the renewal fee and renwal the tabs within 10 days of the ticket. So even if you get a ticket it is dismissed if you simply renew your tabs within 10 days.
You were flat out wrong that it’s my fault or your fault or some person’s fault if the state doesn’t send the notice. In fact, it is the state’s fault just like I said.
Your comments also give a good indication into a troubling mindset. Honest mistakes happen to good honest law abiding citizens everyday. You would punish them. That is terribly bad public policy not to mention a huge waste of taxpayer resources. Let’s tie up law enforcement, the courts etc. on tab tickets rather than dealing with drugs and burgluries etc.
It did not elaborate on some other relvant facts in my particular case but now I will since I am forced to defend myself. In my case, not only did I NOT get the notice, but the state had the vehicle licensed to an entirely wrong address. How do I know the state screwed up? because it was a new vehicle and the notice I never got was the first renewal notice. i went into the dealership where I bought the vehicle. All the paperwork was correct when sent to the state. Yet, somehow, the state put the wrong address and even the wrong city on the registration form. We found this out after some looking into it when i then went to renew. I did nothing wrong. The state screwed it all up.
May 10th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
Mr. Mustang I was surprised to read that HORSES ORIGINATED in North America, and were re-introduced by the Spanish conquistadores, which is how the USA got it’s MUSTANGS, and the Ford Motor Company got the name for the line of cars.
Interesting comments.
May 11th, 2008 at 12:36 am
Mr. Mustang:
Lets go over a couple of things. For 99% of the people with the drivers licenses it normally gets updated in a couple of days! Part of our job is to fax the state the DL information. That part I know since I work in an office that helps people like Mayor Ryback if he shows up.
When it’s not being updated by the state (keep in mind I work in an office that does work on behalf of the state, but isn’t the state) than the driver should complain immediately! Don’t wait weeks!! If the driver does their job of checking like I have been told to instuct them (our receipts we stamp with that 24 hour phone number I mentioned) to make sure they are reinstated they know in a couple of days if they are reinstated or they will be making an effort to complain and have people follow through for them again.
THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR ANYBODY NOT TO BE CHECKING TO MAKE SURE THEIR LICENSE IS REINSTATED!!! The fact that somebody has waited weeks without following up and it’s not done is a driver who hasn’t followed through to protect themselfs.
The state doesn’t consider the receipt offical since something new might always hit. And Mustang I do make my fair share of calls for those customers who come in complaining to help them out. Part of the problem and this might be going over your head is the person who helps a person trying to get their drivers license like Mayor Ryback for example doesn’t have the authority or computer access “to offically update” the record for DPS. I collect reinstatement fees, I give the state information, when a customer comes in I can tell them what the computer said the state wants and trust me when I see a possible child support flag on my version of the computer I am warning the customer about that, I have picked up the telephone and called the state. I do a lot of begging for the customers. The state doesn’t grant me the power to make them a reinstated driver!
As for the tabs and get this part down the state has always called them a curiousty notice! And yes I do believe that Allan Page went to court and created the rule that you refered to.
You’re lecturing me that I don’t know my job or the law. Trust me I have done my fair share of helping people out of messes that they have with their cars or former cars. There are times when I have discovered the problem for the person and I’m trying to get a hold of them before they might have a problem with law enforcement!! There was one case which I can’t go into all the details but me and a court employee were racking our brains and did lots of begging to get a person off the hook for a ticket on a car that wasn’t theirs anymore (the person was being victimized on one end by a judge, the state on another end because they were convinced the person had already properly demonstrated the car wasn’t theirs, a thief, and a car dealership)
I have even dealt with cases where we have given customers proper receipts with all the information and they have problems with the cops because the cops either misread or don’t look at the proper receipt.
Keep in mind it’s one thing if you and your tabs have a March expiration and you don’t notice it until May. It’s another if your tabs expired in January and it’s June and you still don’t notice your tabs are expired. And the person who gives you the tab expiration ticket isn’t the DPS it’s a local police officer!
DPS doesn’t have the authority to clear the ticket. You properly stated the procedure for somebody to use the “Court” system and the hearing officer. Unfortunately, I don’t have a magic power to get the ticket to go away when they come to get the tabs to save the poor customer the trip to the courts. One thing anybody who is reading this post is they should take a second to check their plates to make sure their tabs are on the plate and current. In some cases some of my customers have found out their tabs have been stolen or fallen out when they come in with a ticket instead of noticing it themselfs. Also open your wallet and check your drivers license. I have had to tell a lady one time her license had been expired for two and a half years.
So when you “INCORRECTLY” lecture me keep in mind:
* You’re assuming I have the powers of the court or DPS which I don’t!
* You’re assuming that I don’t care about my customers and give them a break. Keep in mind if you look at my first post in this group I “WAS” giving Mayor Ryback a pass for not knowing. His problem is he has been publically caught so he had better act to get his privelleges restored immediately. It is the city attorney and the county attorney’s discretion what criminal charges to make against him. His being mayor and being pubically caught could be bad news for him compared with a not so public person would’ve gotten a break on.
* I’m a victim of the rules. There are legal standards sometimes created by the federal government. A lot of times customers are more interested in just paying extra money instead of trying to save some of the fees saved if they can get some forms signed by their sellers.
* And maybe just as important. I have to legally say somethings. If Mayor Ryback walks up to me and I help him I’ll tell him here’s your receipt and make sure you check this number to make sure you’re valid before you do any driving. I do that for every driver who has a problem.
One of the biggest problems I have is when people like you start spreading misinformation about people who are trying to help the public.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
May 11th, 2008 at 8:55 am
Mr Mustang,
If my mortgage statement gets delivered to my neighbors mailbox that doesn’t mean I don’t owe that month’s payment.
Nobody has to tell you that your headlight is out, your windshield is cracked, or that your plates have been expired for THREE MONTHS. It’s your responsibility as a driver to put a safe, legal vehicle on the road.
How long do you figure you were entitled to avoid paying your tab renewal because you didn’t get your statement? Your definition of “honest mistake” seems to mean “until you get caught.”
May 11th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
Surly: “It’s your responsibility as a driver to put a safe, legal vehicle on the road.”
————————————–
“Owner” would work in most cases;there might be other cases.
Then there are the conditions of the roads, BRIDGES, etc. and PAW CLAWS ripping and clawing of the Hot Half-Dozen who helped to override PAW CLAWS veto.
Too much money said PAW CLAWS.
He had the Lieutenant Governor also take on a job that seemed to be her responsibility to [as Surly almost puts it] “…put a safe, legal” bridge “on the road.”
C’mon my Surly friend. There seem to be mucho honest, semi-honest, kinda-honest, dishonest, not very honest, etc. mistakes
May 11th, 2008 at 9:40 pm
I’ve read your long post and it seems to me that some of the problem is in the “tab sticker.”
If there were new plates every year, that were different colors, and that went on at a specific time of the year [like in days gone by] it doesn’t seem to me that you would have half the problems that you do have.
[There might be other problems, and yearly plates would be more expensive to make unless there were another way to make them but, at least you wouldn’t have the tab sticker problem.
May 12th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
El Presidente:
First of all the tabs (hence the plates) are different colors for every year. 08 is blue. 09 is pink. 10 is green for example.
Second, the state doesn’t mandate plate replacement every year because the state charges the public to replace their plates. The state mandates that for every seven years.
Third, no matter what system is used it can create problems. Lets say we adopt your idea of having plates imprinted with a month of exp. (something which I think if it was done more than 20 years ago). Each motor vehicle office will need to keep track of 12 seperate passenger plate
invetories and all the special plates such as critical habit will need 12 seperate plate inventories. At one time miscellaneous plates imprinted a month because all miscellaneous plates by law had a February expiration. It is far easier and cheaper for the public of the current system where we hand month stickers to the customer that match their expiration instead of printing them on the plate.
Four, unforunately since human beings aren’t prefect and the computer isn’t perfect mistakes happen on our end. But that still doesn’t stop people from having some responsibility such as looking at their plates once in awhile to make sure they are current let alone their tabs hasn’t fallen off.
Hope that helps clairify your issues.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
May 14th, 2008 at 12:29 am
My recollection is that Wisconsin had the tab system and then later Minnesota also adopted it.
I can understand where it is cheaper to print the tabs.
It seemed to me that the majority of your complaints had to do with the on going nature of the due dates of licenses.
Recently small trailers have a multiple-year license instead of a yearly tab/license.
I once had a Maple Grove clerk tell me that I had to go “downtown” for something in connection with a license or a tax.
I clarified by asking the “City of Minneapolis?” as I wasn’t sure what he meant [a larger Henn.Co. office in a suburb?].
Perhaps Critical Habitat will have a sticker some day.
May 14th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
critical habitat is a plate that has a symbol on it (currently deer and loon with fish coming) they get stickers.
Keep in mind this little dispute between the two of us is I’m trying to show that you have some responsibility to check to make sure your tabs are current. You took the position a person had absolutely no responsibility to be checking on the expiration of tabs or if they had come in to clean up a suspended license to follow through to make it sure it was valid again.
And keep in mind a major difference between us and Wisconsin is that the person who you’re dealing with in Wisconsin has more authority to up date dl’s than a Minnesota person.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN