Maplewood council race turns trashy

The hot debate over who should haul trash in Maplewood has not only divided residents but also now has pitted two City Council candidates against each other.

Incumbent John Nephew, who supports the city's plan to contract with a single hauler to provide citywide residential trash collection, filed a complaint with the state Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) against challenger and former Maplewood Mayor Bob Cardinal.

Nephew said his opponent conspired with a local trash hauler that sent out fliers encouraging voters to "vote in a new mayor and council members who will represent you and allow you to keep your freedom of choice."

The flap is the latest point of contention in a yearlong debate on whether the city should contract with a single hauler to pick up trash or continue the current arrangement in which residents can choose any of eight licensed haulers to do the job. Nephew said he doubted the dispute will matter much in the Nov. 8 election because new council members won't take office until January, long after the City Council makes the trash decision on Nov. 28.

"I don't think he did any favors in winning people over," Nephew said of Cardinal. "It may have people remember things he did while in office. The question is, do you want that kind of judgment on the City Council?"

But Cardinal, who is opposed to the proposal for organized trash collection, called Nephew's complaint "frivolous" and said he filed it as a way to "say Cardinal did something wrong, to give me a black eye. I think that will backfire. It think it will better educate the citizens."

Incumbent Marvin Koppen -- who also opposes the city's plan to take away residents' right to choose their hauler -- and former Council Member Rebecca Cave also are running for two open seats. Meanwhile, Elizabeth Sletten, who was eliminated from the council race in August's primary, is staging a write-in campaign.

"I'm pleased the judge saw it the way she did," Nephew said. "It substantiates what seemed obvious. They did use corporate resources to distribute his literature. If this were to go unchallenged, I would be concerned of effects in the future if they were able to do what they did."

State law "prohibits corporations from making contributions to an individual to promote or defeat the candidacy of an individual for election to a political office in Minnesota, including directly or indirectly money, property, free service, or thing of monetary value."

Said Cardinal: "There was no attempt to do anything wrong."

In her decision, Neilson wrote that the letter was sent to Highland customers "for the purpose of influencing voting in the city's Nov. 8 election" and concluded that Highland "provided a thing of monetary value." If OAH finds the accusations serious enough, it could impose a fine of $5,000 each on Highland Sanitation and Cardinal. It also could refer the matter to the Ramsey or Washington county attorneys for possible criminal charges.

Elsewhere:

• In White Bear Lake, incumbent Renee Tessier is being challenged by Emily Waymire to represent Ward 1 on the City Council.