Fire-breathing 'pirate' in Hopkins sues city over water-meter dispute

Gypsy Rogers breathes fire at Renaissance festivals, designs architecture for artificial intelligence and entertains as a rogue pirate. But it's a simple household water meter that's complicating his life these days.

Rogers, 43, of Hopkins, is fighting a hefty fine the city imposed on him for not letting workers upgrade the water meters on a rental duplex he owns. He's suing the city in federal court, contending that the fine is an unconstitutional violation of his right to a fair trial.

And he's seeking to make it a class-action suit that could involve dozens of people who have been fined under similar circumstances.

"I'm not afraid of fire, and I'm not afraid of the city," said Rogers. "I think the city saw an opportunity to bleed people. It was just a way to make money."

Rogers' problems began a couple of years ago when the city set out to upgrade all of its water meters. The city mailed a request for access to his duplex to change out the meters. After getting no response, the city began fining Rogers $100 a month for each of the two water meters.

Rogers said he never received the written notice — because the city mailed it to his renters, not to him. He said he first learned of the issue when his accountant asked why his property taxes had gone up so much. When he checked, Rogers discovered that the city had tacked a $2,800 fine onto his tax bill. He immediately arranged to swap out the meters and paid the fine, according to court records. But the more he thought about it, the angrier he got.

"It's one thing to fine you one time for some kind of a screwup," he said. "But to fine you every month for a year? That just seems excessive."

Under the Hopkins city code, failure to grant access to a water meter is a misdemeanor. That means Rogers is entitled to all the constitutional protections of a criminal defendant, said his attorney, A.L. Brown of St. Paul.

"Hopkins got heavy-handed and made it a misdemeanor," Brown said. "The moment you say misdemeanor, you've put my liberties at stake. Once you call it a misdemeanor, then you've made it a crime. Once you call it a crime, all bets are off."

Susan Tindal, a Bloomington attorney representing the city in the case, said Hopkins doesn't believe there's a constitutional issue at stake.

"Not surprisingly, we have a different point of view," she said. "Mr. Rogers has not been prosecuted for a criminal violation in regard to this ordinance. There was no criminal complaint filed. The city's ordinance and their enforcement of such is constitutional."

It doesn't matter that Rogers was fined rather than prosecuted, Brown responded. The point is that by calling his offense a misdemeanor, the city created the potential for a criminal violation.

"That's the issue," Brown said. "They took his money without giving him a trial. There was no due process. When government comes for your property, you have an opportunity to say, 'Why do you get it?' "

Rogers recently took a job in California and plans to move there soon, but said he'd gladly fly back for a trial in his case.

"I'm not a real estate mogul," he said. "I just have one little duplex. But they're mad about this because I'm threatening their ability to just pass random ordinances."

John Reinan • 612-673-7402