Court: Minneapolis landlord broke law when he blocked democratic socialists from door knocking

A Minneapolis landlord broke state law when he tried to block two democratic socialist candidates from talking to prospective voters in his apartment buildings, an administrative law judge ruled on Wednesday.

John Wall of Wall Cos., part-owner of the Flats at Malcolm Yards and the Station at Malcolm Yards, was fined $1,450 for rejecting three requests from City Council Member Robin Wonsley and Park Board at-large candidate Michael Wilson to knock on tenants’ doors this summer. Wall did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

The impact on voters was “significant,” according to the administrative law decision issued Monday, which noted that Wonsley and Wilson were trying to reach voters between 5:30 and 8 p.m., when many are home. “The … denials created a significant delay for complainants to connect with voters in the summer months before early voting began,” the decision reads.

Between July and September, the Wonsley and Wilson campaigns tried to canvass Wall’s apartment buildings near the University of Minnesota, which house hundreds of renters. Wonsley and Wilson are democratic socialists who support rent control. Wall does not, and he told Wonsley’s campaign manager so in an email.

“May I suggest that you have your candidates revisit the merits of rent control and think through what these policies will do to the innocent renters in Minneapolis,” Wall wrote to Katie Smithberg on Aug. 12. “Instead of yet another campaign of blaming the hard working, small business people who compete with one another to provide safe and security housing to our voters, figure out who you want to build more housing in Minneapolis.”

Wall and his lawyer, Jodi Johnson, denied the campaigns’ requests to door knock in the evening. Citing concerns about security, they said Wonsley and Wilson could door knock only between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., when building staff were available to follow them.

Political campaigns usually door knock after work and on weekends, when people with jobs are more likely to be home.

Following several denials, Wonsley and Wilson filed a complaint with the Court of Administrative Hearings on Sept. 8. Wonsley later testified that while she has been turned away from apartment buildings in the past, she has never filed a lawsuit because other landlords have obeyed the law when informed of it.

After the court allowed the case to proceed, Wall gave the candidates permission to door knock after work hours, saying he would accompany them himself. He testified that he was unaware of recent changes to the state law because he did not click on a link leading to the amendment that Wonsley’s campaign quoted to him.

“Respondent’s ignorance of the law does not excuse violating it,” Administrative Law Judge Christa Moseng wrote in an earlier order finding probable cause that Wall had violated the law.

Acrimony between progressive members of the Minneapolis City Council and the city’s large landlords set the stage for the Wonsley-Wilson-Wall dispute.

During a hearing last month, Wall’s lawyer, Brian Flakne, argued the case wasn’t really about access to his client’s buildings but about the candidates’ desire to “rack up political points … against the evil landlords, the Darth Vaders of this community, who, in the case of Mr. Wall, is actually only providing affordable housing to people who are underprivileged.”

Wonsley and Wilson in turn accused Wall of denying them access to voters because of his personal political beliefs, rather than business practicalities.

“When Mr. Wall got involved, there were concerted, repeated efforts. This case was only filed after three denials, one of them from Mr. Wall’s attorney,” said their lawyer, Daniel Suitor. “The respondent wants to argue that this case is frivolous. … There are easier ways to campaign.”

The evidentiary hearing featured testimony about an Aug. 4 Zoom meeting that involved Wall; his wife, Patricia Wall; and operatives from various independent expenditure political committees aligned with Mayor Jacob Frey and moderate members of the City Council.

During that meeting, Patricia Wall and Joe Radinovich, Frey’s former campaign manager, discussed ways to inconvenience and stall the candidates within the confines of the law, testified Kelly Rogers, another attendee.