Discovery continues…

Turns out not only is the largest contributor to Minnetrista Mayor Lisa Whalen’s 2014 campaign currently in a top position at a government agency she represents the city on, but he was chosen for that position, out of 50 candidates, just a few weeks after she took office in January 2015. Whalen’s 2014 financial disclosure report didn’t identify the donors’ employer but just listed “education.”

I have to ask why anyone would contribute $1,750 to a local election in a town the size of Minnetrista. (See story details in “Things in Wonderland are getting curiouser & curiouser” post). It is rare to see contributions over $500 in local races and practically unheard of for one in such a small city as Minnetrista.

Whalen and other current and former Minnetrista council members have been accused of falsifying information on their campaign finance reports in a complaint in front of the Minnesota Office of Administrative Hearings.

New ordinances in Minnetrista’s future?

close up court courthouse hammer — New Minnetrista ordinances?

Important strategies that will impact your quality of life as a Minnetrista resident and your pocketbook as a taxpayer will be discussed at the city council’s strategy planning meeting on February 19 at 4pm in the Minnetrista public safety building (next to city hall).

This is, as all council meetings are, a public meeting although it isn’t listed on the city’s website calendar as of this date. The public may observe the session but there will not be an opportunity for public comment.

At our last council meeting the city administrator informed council members a number of new city ordinances will be discussed at this meeting. This past year there have been suggestions to consider new ordinances in reaction to resident complaints on a variety of issues. Before jumping in to adopt new city-wide ordinances the following steps are critical in my opinion:

Conduct a needs analysis which examines what the problem is, how many people it affects, what other solutions might be available to solve the problem, and what unintended consequences may arise from any of the solutions.
Determine the cost of developing, drafting, revising and adopting the ordinance. Attorney’s fees, staff time and council’s time can run into hundreds of hours from the time of proposal to adoption.
Determine the cost of enforcing the ordinance. Adopting ordinances without enforcing them undermines the public’s trust in the city.
Do a cost-benefit analysis to examine the ordinance’s benefit to the community-at-large compared to the total cost of developing and enforcing it.

The steps above will lead to a good decision. I hope we can all agree on this.

Things in wonderland are getting “curiouser and curiouser”

Things in wonderland are getting “curiouser and curiouser.” Interesting find yesterday. The largest contributor to Lisa Whalen’s 2014 mayoral campaign didn’t have an employer listed on her campaign finance report, which seemed odd to me (just listed “education”). Upon a quick google search it was discovered he is currently in a top job with a government agency Mayor Whalen currently represents the city on. He apparently made a contribution for $1,800 to “Our Minnetrista” in September of 2014, which was split three ways between the “Our Minnetrista” candidates.

State law requires candidates to list the employer, or occupation if self-employed, on all donations over $100. The law is meant to prevent conflicts of interest and, hopefully, to deter unethical influence over decisions public officials make in office.

“Our Minnetrista” officials are claiming “good faith” that they didn’t intentionally violate Minnesota’s campaign finance laws and their candidates are claiming the same. I wonder what else we’ll discover as this case progresses.

Doctored campaign reports at city hall?

adult care cure doctor — Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

DOCTORED CAMPAIGN REPORTS AT CITY HALL? By now most have read about the alleged campaign finance violations by Minnetrista’s mayor, some past & present council members and “Our Minnetrista” officials (buried on page 12 of Friday’s Laker-Pioneer newspaper, with a tiny heading smaller than the guest column on yoga). The accused respond saying there is no basis to the complaints and everything was accounted for in their campaign finance reports on file at city hall.

First, “Our Minnetrista” who openly spent thousands of dollars supporting these candidates never filed a disclosure report at city hall (or anywhere else) as required by state law. Mr. Kolb, an officer of “Our Minnetrista” stated “All that information is filed with the city clerk.” Well, it’s not. Mr. Kolb cannot produce it and neither can the city clerk.

Second, all of the candidates’ campaign finance reports in 2014 show all three “Our Minnetrista” supported candidates (Whalen, Mortenson & Thoele) listed virtually identical donors giving identical amounts, as well as virtually identical expenditures. Contribution amounts of $333.33, $166.66, $83.33 appear multiple times on all three reports from the same donors. Hmmm…($1,000÷3=333.33), ($500÷3=166.66), ($250÷3=83.33). Are we expected to believe all these individuals wrote those checks in these unusual amounts, or is it plausible the money came from “Our Minnetrista” and was distributed among the candidates? The later, if proven after examining subpoenaed bank records, would make the 2014 candidates guilty of violating the contribution limits law. Willfully and intentionally doing so could be a criminal charge.

Some might say the above is not enough to charge someone. Actually the respondents are saying exactly that. But if one examines the 2018 campaign finance reports filed by “Our Minnetrista” candidates Pam Mortenson and John Tschumperlin, the exact same pattern appears: virtually identical donor list, contribution amounts, and expenditures with unusual amounts indicating contributions came from one source (“Our Minnetrista”) and were earmarked and disbursed between them.

Before www.ourminnetrista.com was so timely deleted (after this screen capture was submitted to the Office of Administrative Hearings) it had a donation page set up with PayPal that showed “Our Minnetrista” as the account holder. This is where earmarked donations were collected for their candidates.

To answer Ms. Thoele’s question of why these complaints, going back to 2014, are only being filed now, the answer to that is they did such a great job of concealing what they were doing it took me this long to figure it out.

Painter Creek Winery ribbon cutting

I had the pleasure yesterday of attending the Westonka Community & Commerce ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Painter Creek Winery in Minnetrista. The winery is right next to Minnetonka Orchards on County Road 26.

This is a perfect example of a commercial establishment that fits right into Minnetrista’s rural character. Using Minnesota grown grapes, employing local residents and providing a charming and welcoming ambience for Minnetrista residents to enjoy.

Thank you owners, Lowell and Phyllis Schaper, for investing in our community. May this new venture prosper!

Minnetrista street improvements will come with assessments

LOCATION CHANGE 2/4 FROM PUBLIC SAFETY BLDG TO COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL

THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS IN SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS are likely in your future if you live on D’Chene Lane, D’Chene Circle, Kristin Lane or Ox Yoke Circle. The city has scheduled an Open House Monday, February 4, 2019 at 5pm at city hall in council chambers to inform residents about the 2019 street improvement projects. There will also be a public hearing on the projects at city hall on February 19, 2019.

The city council has not yet decided on the assessments. Below are the alternatives being considered:

Force-main break on Lakeview Dr. & Shady Lane

1/31/19 11:40am Reposting Minnetrista City Notice: Due to the frigid temperatures, there has been a force-main break on Lakeview Drive and Shady Lane. Roads expected to be closed at 1pm to allow for digging and will open as soon as possible. Homeowners in the immediate area will not have access via car to their homes during this work but, as always, emergency vehicles access will be made possible if needed.

Thank you for your patience as this severe cold impacts our community.

Questions can be directed to City Hall at 952-446-1660, Monday through Friday from 8am to 4:30pm.

City Staff

Minnetrista 1/29/19 Strategic Planning Mtg Cancelled

The City’s Strategic Planning meeting that was scheduled for tonight at 6pm at the Minnetrista Public Safety Building has been cancelled due to the weather and will be rescheduled at a future date.

Westonka Daily News report on Minnetrista elections complaint

The Westonka Daily News report by Chip Drewry on the alleged Minnetrista election violations: “Upon further digging it appears this “Our Minnetrista” group is a bit shady at best and very secretive. Is there something to these allegations? My gut tells me yes.”

Readers can read the full story: https://lakenewssite.wordpress.com/2019/01/29/past-present-minnetrista-officials-accused-of-campaign-finance-violations/