My story Monday about Patricia Gearin's legal battle with the city of Maplewood was my introduction to the stormy politics of the first-ring St. Paul suburb. Three years ago, a city council member predicted Gearin's business would bring 300 jobs to Maplewood - now Gearin is on the verge of losing her building to her foreclosure, after a three year dispute with the city over fire code, building standard and zoning issues that escalated into a police raid in February 2008. Whistleblower first became aware of the dispute from a ruling by an administrative law judge in May that upheld the city's decision to stop Gearin's business, Wipers Recycling LLC, from operating the $150,000 shoe grinder. The dispute is the only thing grinding on at this point, but Whistleblower will report on the resolution, whenever that happens.
