Momentum Builds for Recall of Red Wing Mayor

With Red Wing Mayor Dennis Egan still insisting he can represent both the city and the frac sand industry, momentum is building for a citizen-driven recall movement

February 13, 2013 at 8:51PM
(The Minnesota Star Tribune)
(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Red Wing City Council members asked Dennis Egan to step down as mayor or quit his new job as executive director of the Minnesota Industrial Sand Council. When he insisted that he can occupy both positions at once, the council voted to investigate the depths of his relationship with the lobbying group and any other groups he might be serving as a consultant and lobbyist.

At the same public hearing Monday at Red Wing City Hall, citizen Dale Hanson vowed to lead a recall petition that he hopes will lead to a citywide vote that would oust the mayor. Hanson welcomed the city's involvement to make sure the petition is legally sound.

Egan declined to say whether he would fight the recall effort, but he noted that any petition must first pass legal muster with the Minnesota Attorney General's office.

City Council President Lisa Bayley termed Egan's dual employment a "pretty massive inherent conflict" that has taken a negative toll on the city. Click here for a full story about the rebukes hurled at the mayor during the public hearing.

Photo of Mayor Dennis Egan: City of Red Wing

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about the writer

Tony Kennedy

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Tony Kennedy is an outdoors writer covering Minnesota news about fishing, hunting, wildlife, conservation, BWCA, natural resource management, public land, forests and water.

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