The New Brighton Kangaroo Court Gets Struck Down Again

You might recall the case of the New Brighton City Council, which tried to move city council elections up a year, ostensibly to save money, but really to rid itself of the one person on the council who spoils all their free spending fun. I've written several pieces about the matter, all linked here.

A brief recap, in bullet form:

• City Council changes ordinance on elections. Doesn't follow guidelines
• City Council member Gina Bauman, who understands the law, works with other citizens to get a petition about the change on the ballot
• Other City Council members reject petition, censure Bauman for spurious reasons
• Bauman and other citizens get lawyer, file case in Ramsey County Circuit Court
• Ramsey County Judge Lezlie Ott Marek strikes down ordinance with great dispatch
• Other council members decide being wrong on facts and law is no deterrent to appeal, and appeal ruling

So the matter came up for expedited review at the Supreme Court this week. And the result is below:

Go home New Brighton, you're drunk (with power)

If you recall, the ostensible reason to change the elections was to save money. It's difficult to save money if the city council continues to set taxpayer dollars on fire in this pointless litigation, in which they have been defeated over and over.

This needs to end now. If the city council is really serious about saving money, they will stop litigating this case. We'll keep watching.