St. Paul voters will decide whether they're fine with fines
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St. Paul voters will decide in November whether to greatly expand the city's ability to hand out punitive fines for breaking municipal codes.
Why it matters: The city charter change would give St. Paul officials a powerful tool to, for example, pressure a landlord to clean up a neglected property or a business to quickly resolve a wage theft case.
- However, opponents fear that without safeguards, the city could turn its new powers against ordinary citizens for petty violations.
The big picture: Most Minnesota cities can issue civil penalties called "administrative citations" to enforce code compliance — but St. Paul's city charter doesn't include this power.
- That means St. Paul can clean up trash around a vacant building, then bill its owner for the work, but the city can't dangle the threat of a fine that might've prevented the mess.
What they're saying: Mayor Melvin Carter and other city leaders have long argued St. Paul needs more leverage to enforce its codes more proactively.
- 👀 Carter stood alongside his leading election challenger, DFL state Rep. Kaohly Her, at a press conference last week where both endorsed the charter change.
Zoom in: Supporters say administrative citations would've been useful to pressure Madison Equities over its crumbling downtown buildings; or the owner of the vacant Midway CVS over trash and drug problems.
- Labor unions see these fines as useful in wage theft cases, believing they'll force quicker out-of-court settlements.
- The threat of a fine could also give teeth to St. Paul's rent control ordinance, city officials have long argued.
The other side: Critics say the charter amendment doesn't specify how administrative citations will be used — introducing the possibility the city could impose these fines against everyday citizens for issues like unmowed grass or unshoveled sidewalks.
- Ferguson, Missouri, exemplified the risk. The civil rights investigation after Michael Brown's killing in 2014 helped expose how fines and fees made up nearly a quarter of that city's revenues.
Yes, but: City officials have long insisted petty violators are not the target, and Carter reiterated this message to reporters last week. The proposed charter change would require any fines to be "imposed equitably."
Plus: As for more powerful violators, "I don't see penalties changing the corporations' behavior," said opponent Peter Butler, the citizen who gathered more than 2,000 signatures to force November's up-or-down vote on the measure.
- Butler told Axios he foresees hefty fines only triggering landlords or businesses to lawyer up and drag the city to court, creating more costs and delays.
What's next: The administrative citations measure will appear alongside St. Paul's schools referendum and mayoral race on the Nov. 4 ballot. Early voting has already started.
- City leaders have also promised an advisory committee to study the equity impacts of administrative citations — a move that Butler argues gives away the game: "It's pretty much tacitly acknowledging that residents could be subject to these penalties."