If nothing else, the conversation provides a colorful window into the world of small-town politics. Davids expresses extreme displeasure with the letter to the Republican-Leader, and then threatens to sue the letter writer absent an apology. "That's not acceptable. That's lawsuit city. If he makes [an apology], I'll accept it... But if this continues, I'll protect myself," Davids says. What bothered Pechulis most was what came next: Davids declared he would also take other members of SEMEP to court. "Does this SEMEP group have insurance?" Davids says on the tape. "You better get some. This happens again, I'll sue them. I've got good attorneys. Junkyard-dog-killing attorneys that will rip their eyes out and pee in their brains."
Davids did not return a call requesting comment on this conversation. But in an earlier interview, he insisted that he didn't "want to interfere with either side," a claim his critics say they find laughable.
Jeff Soto
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On January 15, there was a special election for a vacant seat on the Preston City Council. Everything was on the line. Aside from SEMEP's lawsuit against the MPCA, the obstructionism of the City Council was the only thing standing in the way of Heartland. For over a year, the council has been narrowly divided and the balance of power has seesawed back and fourth. Last summer, after a pro-Heartland council member died unexpectedly, Mayor Pechulis appointed a temporary replacement, a medical doctor and Heartland critic named Robert Sauer. Sauer repeatedly provided crucial votes as the anti-Heartland faction sought to beat back the project. Over the bitter objection of pro-Heartland council members, the city placed a moratorium on industrial development in town, revoked Heartland's conditional use permit, and signed on to SEMEP's lawsuit against the MPCA.
Two weeks before the special election to create a permanent replacement for Sauer's seat, there was a further complication: Another council member--and a reliable Heartland opponent--abruptly resigned. That left the council split down the middle, two against two. When Pechulis attempted to appoint a replacement for the open seat, the two pro-Heartland council members walked out of the chambers. When the mayor called subsequent meetings, they refused to show.
Absent a quorum, the mayor was powerless to act. A frustrated Pechulis declared the rebellion "a willful neglect of duty and an act of nonfeasance." The strategy behind the walkout, Pechulis asserts, was plain to see: If a pro-Heartland candidate were to win in the special election, Heartland backers would have control over the appointment for the other vacancy. With that, the pro-Heartland faction stood to gain a super majority on the council. From a strategic point of view, the mayor says, a super majority would make a huge difference: "They could undo everything that has been done to this point."
That, it now seems, is precisely what is likely to happen. In a hotly contested special election that attracted 85 percent of eligible voters, a former council member named Steve Knoepke bested Sauer by 99 votes. While Knoepke never declared himself in favor of the tire-burning plant, he has said he worried that the council's obstructionism and participation in lawsuits would only cost the city money in the end. Heartland's supporters leave no doubt that they are delighted by Knoepke's election. Jerry Scheevel, an avowedly pro-Heartland council member, says that he suspects the new council will backtrack as quickly as possible from the decisions of the previous council.
That can't happen soon enough for his liking. A Preston native, Scheevel made little secret of his contempt for the anti-Heartland forces, especially Mayor Pechulis, with whom he refuses even to speak. The town has never been so divided as it is now, he adds. "There has never been anything close to this. Hopefully, this election will put an end to it," Scheevel declares. "I think the fight is over."
