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You can't fight City Hall? He did for 21 months -- and won

Last update: May 10, 2008 - 10:24 PM

Mike Nelson's aluminum fishing boat rolled away in July 2006, confiscated by the city of Minneapolis because it was parked in his neighbor's back yard. What followed was a 21-month fight with City Hall.

Nelson, who's 48 and works at the Minneapolis Central Library, uses his "crappy little aluminum boat" to fish in the city lakes. But it's too big to fit through the gate in his back yard in south Minneapolis. So his next-door neighbor gave Nelson permission to keep it in his yard.

Someone from the city noticed Nelson's boat, and an order to remove it was mailed to the neighbor, who is blind.

The person who regularly reads the mail to the neighbor was off-duty, so the letter wasn't noticed. On July 25, 2006, the city towed the boat to the impound lot.

To get it back, Nelson said, "I paid the ransom of $522." In January 2007, he filed a claim against the city to refund his money.

Nelson was peeved that he never got a letter from the city, which is standard practice for people whose vehicles are impounded.

City staff members rejected Nelson's claim. He appealed. On April 15, the City Council's Claims Committee grilled Nelson and then bandied his case back and forth. Could the city prove it put a fluorescent violation sticker on the boat before it was towed? Did the city do its job in trying to find the boat's registered owner?

Lacking proof that either was done, the council moved to approve Nelson's claim. The $522 check arrived Wednesday.

The lesson, according to Nelson: "You don't really own anything in the People's Republic of Minneapolis."

JAMES ELI SHIFFER