Over a year ago, the St. Paul City Council demanded to know why a legal settlement with the owners of Black Bear Crossings on the Lake, a Como Pavilion coffee shop, was costing taxpayers $800,000. More than one council member asked St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman's office for a follow-up investigation. Nothing much ever came of it, and that makes Ruby Hunt scratch her head.
"The mayor was asked to come in with a report on what went wrong, and the mayor has never responded," said Hunt, who served on the St. Paul City Council from 1972 to 1982, and later became a Ramsey County Commissioner into the mid-1990s.
Ruby Hunt served on the St. Paul City Council from 1972 to 1982, and as a Ramsey County Commissioner from 1983 to 1995.
"None of them has ever spoken up and demanded that the mayor respond," said Hunt, who lives at the Episcopal Homes senior housing development on University Avenue. "I can't imagine Congress asking the president for information and not getting it and not following up."
Hunt bills herself as a Coleman supporter ("I think the mayor is a good cheerleader for the city, and I think he's doing a good job in working with education and improving opportunities for students in St. Paul schools") but she's got a bone to pick with the city council. In a system of checks and balances, where are the balances?
Critics have wondered if the St. Paul city charter could be amended to give the city council more power, and sap some heft from the mayor's office. The suggestion makes Hunt chuckle a little. As the mother of St. Paul's modern "strong mayor" system, she points out that there's no need to amend the charter -- the council's powers to challenge the mayor already exist. They just need to use them more often.
Hunt, 91, should know. Back in 1972, she worked hard to amend the city's "strong council" system to give the executive more power. Before then, council members also served as department heads, and crafted ordinances for their employees to carry out. She and many others saw major conflicts of interest. Hunt recalled a council member who owned a tire shop, and forced vendors who wanted city contracts to buy tires from him. Helping to run him out of office still brings a smile to her lips.
But her efforts 40 years ago to move department directors under the auspices of the city's executive branch included certain caveats. The mayor would not have veto authority, for instance, over decisions of the city's Housing and Redevelopment Authority. The city council would be able to order annual independent audits of any and all city accounts.
And here's another one. Section 4.07 of the city charter states:
"The council may make investigations into the affairs of the city and the conduct of any department, office or agency and for this purpose shall have the power to administer oaths and require the presence of witnesses and production of evidence by subpoenas obtained by order from the district court on application from the council."
Now when was the last time that the St. Paul City Council subpoenaed the mayor's office?
Hunt points to the example of the city's Department of Safety and Inspections, which lost the authority to inspect restaurants two years ago amid a state takeover -- the result of allegedly sloppy inspections. She feels the city council should have been more public and aggressive about looking into alleged problems at DSI, whose director reports to the mayor's office.
"Thank goodness the state was there," Hunt said.
It's tough to imagine a sitting council member other than perhaps Dan Bostrom demanding an independent investigation into a department, complete with court orders and witnesses. But change may be on the horizon -- the Nov. 3 election includes some firebrand candidates who are a bit more likely to scrutinize the decisions of the mayor's office and his administration.
"From what I've been able to gather anyway, (the city council) haven't relied much on their staff -- they have a very competent staff that should be able to do their investigations for them," Hunt said.
Otherwise, says Hunt, how does a branch of government investigate itself? In the case of Black Bear Crossings, negotiations with coffee shop owner David Glass were handled by both the Parks and Rec Department and the city attorney's office, both of which report to the mayor's office. And the mayor's administration appeared as excited as anyone to see the sleepy coffee shop replaced with the more popular Como Dockside restaurant.
Golden years can be good years.
"There's no question about that," Hunt said. "He's (the mayor is) in a complicated position where he's expected to report back ... but they have this council staff that can do it."
Public dust-ups between the council and mayor's office are rare but not unheard of. In December 2014, the St. Paul council overrode the mayor's line-item veto of their decision to extend library hours at certain neighborhood branches that had seen hours trimmed during the recession. The council vote was 6-1, with Council Member Dave Thune opposed to dipping into Housing and Redevelopment Authority funds for library uses.
In 2012, the council voted 4-3 to create a tax increment finance district for the upscale Penfield apartments downtown. The tax district recycles some $15 million from the site's property taxes, or 25 years of property taxes, back into project development. Council Members Kathy Lantry, Russ Stark and Melvin Carter were opposed.
Hunt has enjoyed watching politics play out at City Hall from afar, but she misses the days of a more robust press that demanded answers from council members on a daily basis. There were the times when the city council was equally combative with the executive. Back in her day, three council members once sued a sitting mayor.
Has the one-party system cooled St. Paul's political heels? "Oh, that's part of it," Hunt said. "There is a growing concern that there's less transparency (in government), but that's true at all levels of government. ... The federal level, too."
While Coleman has not publicly stated whether he will seek a fourth term in office, many suspect he will bow out of City Hall in two years and may even run for governor. Who might be a good fit when he's gone?
A couple weeks ago, Hunt received a friendly visit from Melvin Carter III, whose grandpa and namesake also lives in Episcopal Homes. And yes, they talked about his likely mayoral campaign.
She likes Carter, "but there are a lot of names circling."
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