St. Francis council member gets third censure

Admonishing LeRoy Schaffer for a loud confrontation, the council also instructed him not to have contact with city staff.

By MARIA ELENA BACA, Star Tribune

Last update: November 4, 2009


Embattled St. Francis City Council Member LeRoy Schaffer was censured for a third time by his colleagues at this week's council meeting, the result of a verbal confrontation with the city's public works director last summer.

The censure resolution that was passed unanimously by the four other council members also bars Schaffer from all personal contact with city staff. Even written communication with the city administrator must be delivered by a third party, Council Member Jeff Sandoval.

Such an extreme form of political shunning is rare, said Larry Jacobs, a political science professor at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute, who added, however, that he is not an expert on St. Francis city politics.

"Conflict and tensions are ubiquitous; they're widespread, in government policymaking," Jacobs said. "But when it reaches this level, an official policymaking group taking this step to isolate one member, it's extraordinary. This is kind of a DEFCON 5. ... This is the kind of response you take when you have no other choice."

Monday's censure stemmed from a July 20 incident. According to the results of an investigation presented Monday by City Attorney Scott Lepak, Schaffer loudly confronted the city's Public Works Director Paul Teicher after a council meeting that addressed the resignation of a public works employee.

During the investigation, Schaffer also approached Teicher to inquire about the complaint, the report said.

Schaffer refused to cooperate with the investigation.

St. Francis Mayor Jerry Tveit said that while the censure was a direct result of the confrontation with Teicher, the no-contact clause stemmed from a pattern of erratic and demanding behavior at City Hall that had created a chilling effect on the staff.

"The staff at City Hall and other employees will feel more at ease and more comfortable dealing with the council and not having to worry about getting questioned about things on the job," Tveit said Tuesday. "I want them to worry about their job and not what council members will say to them when they're trying to do their job."

For his part, Schaffer said Monday that the vote was a "popularity contest," and that he had a right to disagree with Teicher's handling of the public works employee's resignation.

"I'm not supposed to be a human being," he said. "I'm not supposed to have emotions."
Schaffer, who was the top vote-getter in a 2006 citywide election and whose term runs through 2010, has been in the hot seat before over conduct issues.

In May he was censured after the city attorney found that he had publicly humiliated the 19-year-old daughter of City Council adversary Tim Brown. In June 2008 residents called on Schaffer to resign after he called 911 to ask police to check the immigration status of a crew of Spanish-speaking roofers. In December 2007 he was censured for making what the council called inappropriate sexual remarks to a young woman during a community event. Last December he survived a recall vote that sought to cut short his four-year term.

After Schaffer's first censure, the council drafted a pledge of personal conduct for city officials; Schaffer abstained from voting when the code was adopted in January 2008.

Maria Elena Baca • 612-673-4409