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| Wrestling With Immunity Minnesota has a code of ethics for its executive branch. It just doesn't apply to the governor. | |
 Leslie Davis: Earth protector, former gubernatorial aspirant, ethical stalwart Photo By Mark Wojahn |
There's a word that seems tailor-made to describe Leslie Davis: indefatigable. Under the aegis of his corporate alter ego, Earth Protector Inc., the 62-year-old north Minneapolis resident has engaged in a ceaseless battle against those who dare to log old-growth timber, build garbage burners, or otherwise befoul the landscape. Last year Davis ran for governor but failed to collect the 2,000 signatures needed to file for office and had to mount a write-in campaign instead. And since July he has waged a one-man war against the victor in the gubernatorial race, issuing press releases, firing off letters to state and local officials, and demanding court hearings. His goal: to prosecute Jesse Ventura for violating the state conflict-of-interest statutes by appearing as a guest referee at the World Wrestling Federation's August 22 SummerSlam.
Davis began the campaign because he felt Ventura's side projects were distracting him from the business of governing. "Here he is going on book tours and refereeing wrestling matches," he says. "That's not what the governor is supposed to do." He doesn't want to be perceived as a "cranky guy running around filing papers wherever he can," Davis adds; it's just that he's having no luck finding anyone who'll pursue the matter, which he deems "the biggest story in Minnesota politics ever."
So far his crusade hasn't won Davis any new friends among public officials, who have expeditiously brushed him off. But in giving him the bum's rush, those officials have found it necessary to cite state law, and in so doing they have exposed what appears to be a significant flaw in the statutes. Namely: It's unclear whether the governor is simply a "public official," or whether he's also a state "employee." The distinction is crucial when it comes to conflict-of-interest issues, because the two types of public servants are governed by entirely different statutes.
Davis has maintained that Ventura falls under Minnesota state statute 43A.38, which outlines the "code of ethics for employees in the executive branch" and which prohibits, among other things, the "use or attempted use of [a state] employee's official position to secure benefits, privileges, exemptions, or advantages for the employee...which are different from those available to the general public," as well as "acceptance of other employment or contractual relationship that will affect the employee's independence of judgment in the exercise of official duties."
Statute 10A.07, meanwhile, requires that a "public official" must disclose conflicts of interest if the official "would be required to take action or make a decision that would substantially affect the official's financial interests...."
According to 10A.34, subdivision 3, "Unless otherwise provided, a violation of sections 10A.02 to 10A.34 is not a crime." But violations of 43A.38 are to be dealt with under statute 609.43 ("misconduct of public officer or employee"), which calls for a prison sentence of up to a year, plus a fine of up to $3,000, and therefore implies criminal prosecution.
Shortly after Ventura announced his plan to serve as guest ref for the WWF, Davis warmed up his fax machine, aiming to keep the governor out of the ring. He appealed to the attorney general and the state auditor, the latter of whom pointed him to the state's legislative auditor Jim Nobles. In a two-paragraph letter dated August 17, Nobles informed Davis that he found nothing unlawful in the governor's conduct, and explained that state law didn't prohibit "having an 'outside' job or business."
Seems simple enough. But most of the legal minds that examined Davis's claim didn't go to the trouble of examining whether refereeing constituted a conflict of interest for the governor. Instead they chose to grapple with the issue of whether the law can rightly be applied to him.
On August 19, three days before SummerSlam, Davis was granted a hearing before Ramsey County District Court Judge Kathleen Gearin, from whom he was seeking a temporary restraining order barring Ventura from entering the ring. Gearin rebuffed him, stating in her order denying his request that under the statute, Davis had no right to pursue the action as a private citizen. She also took pains to note that "[t]he Court has a serious question regarding whether the Governor of the State of Minnesota is an employee within the meaning of Minnesota Statutes Chapter 43. In light of other rulings, that issue is not decided today."
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Also in this Issue
- Against the Grain Alfalfa electricity? Northern States Power planted the idea, Minnesota farmers grew it, and a bitter tug-of-war chopped it down. (Cover Story)
- Trailer Hitches Murky water, hard-nosed rules, and a whirlwind of lawsuits in a Monticello mobile-home park (City Beat)
- Off Beat Heck, Renting's Simpler Anyway and The Stain Masters. (Off Beat)
- Paved With Good Intentions CitySearch prepares to replace Sidewalk with something more concrete (Browser)
- More articles from this issue...
More News/City Beat Articles
- Holy War Minnesota loggers take the U.S. Forest Service and the tree-huggers to court on the unlikeliest of gripes (Sep 22, 1999)
- Snitch Botch When police informant Johnny Edwards sang, men went to prison. Now his tune is coming back to haunt the courts. (Sep 22, 1999)
- Under Color of Law A racially charged ethics case travels all the way from Anoka County to the state supreme court (Sep 15, 1999)
- Public Spectacle Art meets advertising in a West St. Paul brush with the law (Sep 8, 1999)
- The Uncashed Cache What's a city to do when the checks--and balances--go bad? (Sep 8, 1999)
- The Plot Thickens Community gardens in Phillips get weeded out (Sep 1, 1999)
- The Mean Grass of Holmes Another turf battle in another city park (Aug 25, 1999)
- Absence of Malice WCCO-TV prevails in a potentially disastrous defamation trial (Aug 25, 1999)
About Burl Gilyard
From the Archive
- The Uncashed Cache What's a city to do when the checks--and balances--go bad? (City Beat - Sep 8, 1999)
- What's in a Domain? Local politicos find themselves tangled in the Web (Browser - Sep 1, 1999)
- The People v. Minneapolis A crack in the sidewalk, a cop's slippery sole,and other lawsuits just waiting to happen (Cover Story - Aug 18, 1999)
- For Art's Sake! What takes seven years to build, costs nearly $600,000, and looks like a boondoggle? (Arts Feature - Jul 28, 1999)
- Sandy Berman's Last Stand For 26 years Hennepin County's head cataloger led the charge for libraries of, by, and for the people. When he took aim at a new target this spring, his boss fired back. (Cover Story - Jul 14, 1999)
- Vegetarians at the Gate Health-food heavyweight Whole Foods takes aim at the Uptown crowd (City Beat - Jun 23, 1999)
- The Man Behind the Mind Budget brawls and bulldog farts. Shock jocks and Satan's Cheerleaders. Jesse Ventura stars in the season's political blockbuster, but First Flack John Wodele directs the show. (Cover Story - Jun 9, 1999)
- The Night Beat Remembering crime reporter Nieson Himmel (City Beat - Apr 14, 1999)
- More articles from the Burl Gilyard Archive...
