May 23, 2006 4:35 pm US/Central
Duluth Council Votes To Investigate Mayor
Duluth, Minn. (AP) ―
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Duluth Mayor Herb Bergson (File)
Courtesy City Of Duluth
The City Council has approved the hiring of an independent prosecutor to determine the legality of Mayor Herb Bergson leaking a draft document to the Duluth News Tribune last year.
A prosecutor is to investigate whether Bergson broke the law when he gave a draft report from the Office of the Legislative Auditor to the News Tribune. The state's Data Practices Act protected the report from being made public.
Bergson has said he shared the report looking for advice and did not expect the newspaper to publish its findings. News Tribune Publisher and President Marti Buscaglia has said there was a miscommunication about when the draft was to be disclosed to the public.
Buscaglia and Bergson have each apologized for the leak.
The draft report details the Legislative Auditor's findings concerning city and state contracts with the nonprofit Minnesota Council on Compulsive Gambling. The report revealed that the nonprofit had billed the city for services not included its contract.
If an investigation finds that Bergson willfully violated the law, he could face a fine of up to $10,000 and be jailed for up to 90 days and/or removed from office.
Bergson described the council's 5-4 vote on the measure Monday as off-base and off-target.
"An agency took $1.3 million from the taxpayers of Duluth over a 10-year period," Bergson said. "We put a stop to it and now this council wants to punish me for doing it. I find that laughable."
Several councilors said the issue should be examined and cleared up in the purpose of fairness to city residents.
(© 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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