Nov 2, 2018 - City of Stewart MN Threatens Resident with Arrest for Alleged Zoning Violations

• Central Minnesota News Network
• November 2, 2018

The small town of Stewart MN has nothing much going on.  The streets are empty, the yards look sterile.  But if your grass grows too long, residents say that the town is eager come out with a ruler and give you a citation.  Or if you home repair isn't finished, apparently the town is happy to come and give you a citation.  Longtime resident Delvin Bekthke has even been prosecuted criminally regarding the address sign on his house.



Many say the town's zoning regulations are too restrictive, including council member Curt Glaeser, Mayor Jason Pierce and residents. While there may be some people who have a imperfect state of repair in their homes or some piles of stuff in their yard, over all it is a very sterile-looking town.  Council members Kevin Klucas and Carol Altrichter advocate for the strict regulations.  But the fact is this over-regulated small town requires permits far more restrictive than most big cities, including nearby Minneapolis and St. Paul.


HARASSMENT BY THE CITY OF STEWART?

Stewart resident Delvin Bethke says city officials have harassed him for cooking wieners, have tried to take his land, and most recently, have  filed charges on  him for an alleged zoning violation.   Bethke says he has applied for a zoning permit twice and been denied -- even though he isn't required to have a permit as the structure at issue is a temporary structure on skids.



The current mayor Jason Pierce says that the zoning applications were denied because they were missing information, and that Bethke was given the opportunity to resubmit them. Pierce said, "The city is easy to work with."

Delvin Bethke said, "The city is impossible to work with. I'm not required to have a permit because it is a temporary structure on skids. But  I gave the city a zoning permit. Council member Kevin Klucas is on the zoning board, and they rejected it. So I gave the another permit, and it never made it to the zoning board. Mayor Jason Pierce said they never had a meeting on the second permit."  More information here.




ALLEGATIONS OF CORRUPTION AND FRAUD

Bethke also makes allegation of corruption:  "In 2012 the city put new sewer and water in the county road in the city of Stewart. Given that I have a few properties, I wrote them a letter that there were certain things I needed done for each property, such as which ones needed water and sewer hookups, which didn't. They ignored it, and  The city put in water and sewer in some places anyway, and charged me. And to do this, they changed my property lines around. So there would be the minimum lot size so I would be required to put water and sewer in."  When you examine the assessments compared to the development on the lot, they do seem to be disproportionate. As you can see from below, the lot in the middle, that has no structures, is assessed the highest. More information here.





POLICE HARASSMENT

Bethke says he has been harassed repeatedly by the Stewart police, who are contracted out to the McLeod County Sherriff. Here is Bethke being pulled over by the police in September 2017.





CRIMINAL ACTIVITY IN STEWART

Stewart is known for it's basically non-existent crime rate.  On October 3, 2018, Bethke found his truck tires slashed.

   

On October 30, 2018, Bethke found that the tires on his lawn mower had also been slashed. Council member Kevin Klucas says he knows who did it, but he did not report it to police.  As a council member Klucas is a mandated reporter.



When Bethke has a survey done in 2010 that proved he was in the right, he found the back window of his truck broke out. City officials were trying to force him to tear down his fence and take his land.


ALLEGED CITY CORRUPTION

Over the past several years, Bethke says he has been confronting corruption in the city. Bethke says he has observed things such as the city secretary, Ronda Huls, stopping the recording device during meetings.  Bethke said once he attended a council meeting, and he was forced to leave when Kevin Klucas said, "What are you doing here?"

Other people allege that the city hired a woman who was on social security to clean city hall, and paid her in cash.  This would have been a social security violation.

Other people allege that the city auditor has been intimidated from speaking out about corruption in the city finances.

The city has aggressively gone after others who have confronted them.  So it is no surprise Delvin Bethke believes he is being persecuted by the city and its staff.