Schaffer censure tabled
by Tammy Sakry
Staff Writer
Although the St. Francis City Council was expected to discuss censuring Councilmember LeRoy Schaffer at its meeting Tuesday, the issue has been tabled.
LeRoy Schaffer
Schaffer was absent from the meeting July 5. It was an excused absence.
According to the council packet, the censure motion was being brought based on Schaffer’s comments to Metropolitan Council member Edward Reynoso, Ham Lake, and complaints from women about his behavior toward them.
Reynoso had come to the June 20 council meeting to introduce himself and Schaffer asked Reynoso if he was Latino.
When Reynoso confirmed his ethnicity, Schaffer then asked him if he came from a low-income background and asked how his family had got themselves out of the situation.
During the open to the public section of the meeting, resident Kristin Cole came seeking the council’s help in getting Schaffer to stop contacting her.
Earlier this year, she sought Schaffer’s help in resolving a city issue, Cole said.
Since then, Schaffer has called her asking her to dinner, which she refused and asked him not to do it again, she said.
While Schaffer seemed like a nice old guy and she did not want to be mean, it was not something she invited and she has been very clear she is not interested in dating him or going anywhere with him, according to Cole.
Although she has repeatedly told him to stop contacting her, Schaffer is sending letters to her and coming to her home, she said.
“I don’t want him anywhere near me, especially after the tattoo thing,” Cole said.
March 16, the owner of InknMaven Tattoos filed a trespassing notice with police against Schaffer.
According to the police report, the 30-year-old woman owner said Schaffer visited the business frequently for non-business reasons and “was hitting on her.”
It was the second no trespassing notice to be filed with police regarding Schaffer, who is in his 70s.
Former supporter Ron Benkler filed a trespassing notice against Schaffer in October 2010.
When Benkler spoke to the council during an October 2010 public forum, he said he was filing the notice because Schaffer repeatedly hit on Benkler’s daughter when she was working as a server at a local restaurant.
While Cole said she does not want to file a no contract order against Schaffer, he is either hard of hearing or stubbornly ignores her when she tells him not to contract her, she said.
“Do not send me anything in the mail. Do not contact me. Do not to talk to me,” Cole said.
Fourth censure
If the council decides to bring the censure discussion back on the table, it would be the fourth censure Schaffer has faced since his 2006 election.
Schaffer’s first censure happened in December 2007 for engaging in harassing and offensive behavior while in his role as councilmember while at a St. Francis Ambassador’s spaghetti dinner.
He was censured a second time in May 2009 for verbally attacking fellow Councilmember Tim Brown’s then-19-year-old daughter while she was at work.
Schaffer’s last censure came in November 2009 as a result of his actions and comments made to Public Works Director Paul Teicher and City Administrator Matt Hylen following the July 20, 2009 council meeting.
Schaffer survived a 2008 re-called election and was re-elected to the council in 2010 as the highest vote-getter.
Although the censures do not appear to have had an impact on Schaffer, the council wants to make sure it sends a clear message it does not support Schaffer’s treatment of women or minorities, Mayor Jerry Tveit said.
While Schaffer’s actions are not against the law or unethical, there is a problem when the city has so many women complaining about him, he said.
At least a dozen women have come into city hall to complain and demand he stop contacting them, Tveit said.
According to Tveit, people have complained that Schaffer has walked into their houses without being asked and gone around the house and looked into windows when people do not answer their doors.
There is an expectation of what a council member’s behavior will be and Schaffer’s behavior is “kind of creepy,” Tveit said.
“He is not treating the women and other residents with respect and dignity,” he said.
In regards to Reynoso, Schaffer’s comments were offensive, Tveit said.
He assumed Reynoso grew up in a low-income situation because he is Latino, he said.
Tveit said he and several council members have contacted Reynoso to apologize for Schaffer’s actions as have other city residents.
The city has also sent a letter of apology, he said.
“(Schaffer) needs to be held accountable for his actions and think before he talks, Tveit said.
Although previous censures have not seemed to work, this censure sends the message the council does not agree with his actions and that Schaffer is not abiding by the city’s code of conduct, he said.
A censure is the strongest form of punishment the council can use when one of its own violates the city’s code of conduct, Tveit said.
Schaffer was not available for comment.
Tammy Sakry is at tammy.sakry@ecm-inc.com
