The New Brighton Cozy Coup Makes the News

KSTP-TV advances the story of the great New Brighton Election Switcheroo:

New Brighton's city clerk explained to Mayor Val Johnson and the four council members that changes in Minnesota statute allowed an opening for municipalities to change their city elections from odd-numbered years to even-numbered years. The ordinance states that because of the change, "the 2019 City election is hereby cancelled."

The effect of the new ordinance means Johnson and two council members – Mary Burg and Paul Jacobsen – will retain their seats until 2020 instead of running for re-election in 2019.

"It's very unusual, and I think the public should be aware of it," said Sharon Doffing, who lost the mayoral race to Johnson.

Yes, the public should be aware of it. Most people in New Brighton are not aware of it, though.

Naming Burg and Jacobsen in the story is equally important, because they benefit as much from the switch as Johnson, but have been mostly allowed to hide from the consequences of their vote.

For her part, Doffing makes the salient point:

Doffing said she felt voters got duped in the process, since the council did not begin discussing the ordinance change until after the November election.

"When you run for office, and it says on the ballot that you run for two years, and then somebody wins and suddenly they're in for three years – that doesn't seem fair," Doffing said.

It is a bait and switch. Of course, Mayor Johnson doesn't see it that way:

At the Dec. 12 council meeting, Mayor Johnson reacted to criticism from Bauman.

"I don't see where extending a term is self-serving by any means," Johnson said. "I also do not believe that we are hiding anything from the public."

Essentially, Johnson, Burg, and Jacobsen are arguing that because the plan for the vote was on the city website, they weren't hiding anything. That's also a self-serving fiction, because Johnson and her colleagues know almost no one looks at the website, especially when they have to wade through multiple clicks to get to the truth. Try the city's website for yourself. See how quickly you can find the information.

There will almost certainly be a referendum on the ballot in 2018, which I predict the City Council will ensure is printed on the back side of the ballot, grouped in with the judges and the soil and conservation district elections. Watch and see.

We'll continue to watch this story closely.