Neighbors protest group home for ex-cons, but Burnsville council can't help

Burnsville resident Marlene Crofoot had a simple question for the City Council on Tuesday night: How would you like to live next to a house where four ex-cons are living immediately after being released from prison?

The council members knew from Crofoot's previous cries for help that she is facing exactly that possibility in the coming weeks in her neighborhood just west of Burnsville Center. And they understand her concerns.

So, too, does Bill Hanson, the ex-con behind ReArmor Homes, the non-profit group he formed to help find housing and employment for former inmates.

"That's part of life," Hanson said of people's reluctance to have former criminals move into their community. "All I can say is that [the former inmates] will be held accountable. When people see them outside cutting the grass and helping elderly women cross the street, they will realize these people are not a threat."

Crofoot, spokesperson for about a dozen of her neighbors who also attended the meeting, isn't sold.

"We have enough crime in that end of town," she said. "We need help."

While sympathetic, City Council members acknowledged there isn't much they can do about the plans for the home at 2409 W. 140th St. since it falls under the state's jurisdiction.

Crofoot pointed out that the neighborhood already has a group home and a shelter for battered women. Council Member Dan Kealey called the cluster of group homes in the neighborhood "a double red flag," and said it shouldn't be allowed.

The council vowed to look into the possibility of limiting the number of group homes that can be located in a neighborhood.

State Rep. Will Morgan, DFL-Burnsville, attended Tuesday's meeting in support of the members of the community.

"I have two young children and a third on the way, and I can't say I would react any differently," Morgan said.

The city is going to look into whether Hanson is conforming with Burnsville's rental regulations. Hanson said he has a benefactor who asked to remain nameless who is supplying him with homes.

Hanson, 44, who grew up in Apple Valley, said his background includes three stints in prison. The son of Dick Hanson, one of the founders of Von Hanson's Meats, Hanson was a self-described "spoiled rich kid" who did drugs and constantly got into trouble.

Now he said his life is dedicated to helping reformed criminals get a fresh start.

"The worst day of my life wasn't when I went to prison, it was the day I got out of prison," Hanson said. "I had nowhere to live, nowhere to work, no one who cared."