Alice Pickering
Wyoming Area Reporter

A campaign election complaint in the city of Wyoming will cost former Council member Ted Phillips $600.

The Office of Administrative Hearings reached a decision on Feb. 9 in the dispute between current Council member Gary Menne and Phillips.

Phillips was ordered to pay a $600 administrative fine by a three-judge panel of the OAH.

The basic question considered was whether or not Phillips, in distributing campaign flyers before the general election threatened individuals or implied any harm to them for posting signs of support of Menne in their yards.

Menne was elected to the council last November while Phillips lost his reelection bid.

In urging voters to support incumbents in the election, Phillips had included the names of Mayor Sheldon Anderson and Council member Joe Zerwas in the flyers, but without their consent.

The conflict was considered under the Minn. Stat. 221B.07 that a person cannot threaten anyone, directly or indirectly.

The three administrative law judges ruled that the testimony of Menne’s witnesses showed that some individuals had felt threatened or coerced into voting a specific way.

One of the conclusions was that the “violation was committed deliberately, but the threat was vague, diffuse, and had no or minimal impact on the voters.”

Phillips said the OAH had choices to do nothing, issue a written reprimand, or levy a fine of up to $5000.

He said he views the fine as fees paid for the court time and to cover court costs. He said if the court viewed the charges more seriously, a higher fine would have reflected that.

In an interview, Menne said the election experience was not pleasant for him or his family. Menne said he took action after a number of residents called to say they felt threatened by the campaign flyer.

“Voters in Wyoming deserve better,” Menne said. The council member said Phillips would have been better served by bringing issues before voters.

In such cases where voters feel intimidated or threatened, free speech rules do not apply, Menne said.

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