Property Ordinance Enforcement Effort in Canton, MN, Results in Online Anti-Gay Smear Against Town's Clerk

I've written before about the tiny village of Prosper, MN, which is somewhat close to where I grew up. I keep up with the news for that area by reading the Fillmore County Journal every Monday. Earlier this week, I stumbled across an LGBTQ-themed controversy that's been unfolding in the town of Canton, MN, which is about five miles from Prosper.

Here's the back story. Canton's city council updated the town's nuisance property ordinance back in 2015. Too many homeowners were allowing the area to slide into disrepair. We're talking about stuff like parking cars in their yards, or not repairing busted windows, or not tending basic home repairs like chipped paint surfaces and sagging roofs. It was affecting property values, which was affecting business and home sales, which was dragging Canton into a downward spiral.

Most recently, the City of Canton hired a guy named Brock Bergey to become the town's clerk and treasurer. One of his job duties has been to identify nuisance properties, send out notices to those property owners, and then work with them to turn things around. He reportedly did a tour of the town last summer with a sheriff's deputy to complete summertime inspections -- something that the previous clerk/treasurer did in previous years. He identified one problematic property during that tour:

Mr. and Ms. Knutson's property was found in violation of the City's ordinance addressing building maintenance and appearance. Photos showing busted out glass panes, deteriorating wooden siding and a badly chipped paint surface were obtained. The building clearly constitutes a public nuisance. As a follow-up, the Knutsons received a City-issued letter (by me) noting the violations and indicating a date for voluntary compliance. During my drive-around with the deputy, we documented more than 20 properties with nuisance violations. The Knutsons were certainly not singled out. Since assuming the role of Canton City Clerk/Treasurer, I made a promise to be fair and consistent when it comes to ordinance enforcement. What applies to one must apply to all. A city cannot pick and choose.

The Knutsons did some back and forth last summer, but ultimately said that they would take care of it. More specifically, they told the city that he was just going to tear down the problematic outbuilding. Then in June of this year, Bergey did his annual inspection of the town with the sheriff's deputy and found that nothing had changed. So more nuisance property notices were sent out from the Canton city offices.

Which is when it got personal. The Knutson father went to Facebook and asked "Does anyone have ANY paint they would like to get rid of? Prefer bright colors any amount would be appreciated thanks." He later wrote "I’m putting rainbow strips on something way bigger for our gay fargot (sic) ass city administrator." He and his family then decorated the building with all sorts of bright colors and then wrote the following message: "Being I feel our city administrator is a gay fagot (sic) we decided to paint it colors that he will like. :P"

Bergey then went onto his own personal Facebook page the following day, where he wrote about this entire situation. He called out the husband by name and shared how this has affected him:

Well, the Canton prankster strikes again and this time he solicited his family's help to carry out a personal attack against me. Attention appears to be Jamie Knutson's motivation, so this is me giving him additional exposure for his actions. 

Yesterday (6/27/20), in a Facebook post, Mr. Knutson indicated he was in need of bright colors for a painting project. He noted he was putting rainbow stripes on something for "our gay fargot (his spelling) ass city administrator." Turns out, the Knutsons were painting an outbuilding on their property, located on the two-hundred block of South Main Street. Mr. Knutson's wife, Holly, posted a photo of her young children with paintbrushes and stated, "...kids are having fun lol." Mr. Knutson later added, "Being I feel our city administrator is gay fagot (his spelling) we decided to paint it colors that he will like 😂..." 

That leads to Mr. Knutson's personal feelings toward me and his public statements about my sexual orientation, which has absolutely nothing to do with ordinance enforcement. I certainly am not offended by the paint job achieved by the Knutson family. In a post this afternoon, Ms. Knutson wrote, "I think it turned out pretty awesome! What you guys think? Kids did a great job!" The reference of "FOB" on the front of the building, which I assume stands for F ---- Off Brock, just makes me laugh. However, Mr. Knutson's use of another F-word is offensive and hurtful. So, mission accomplished in that sense. I am a human being and I have feelings. I don't like to tell people what they need to do to be law-abiding citizens; the thing is, I shouldn't have to tell people what they need to do to be law-abiding citizens. Adults should act like adults and not children. I appreciate and respect differences of opinion. It's all part of my job, which I fully understood when I took on the position. My goal is to make Canton the best place it can be to live, work and play. I truly believe good things are in store for my hometown. I'm not some outside force that came in with intentions of laying down the law. Unfortunately, there was no law consistently being laid down, in recent years, so it's proven an uphill battle. I keep stressing, I do not make the ordinances -- that's the city council. The nuisance property ordinances were approved by the council in 2015. My role is to educate the public about the ordinances and assist with their enforcement. 

I have never been one to flaunt or promote my sexual orientation. That's not who I am. Yes, I'm gay. Coming to terms with my true self has been anything but easy. Mr. Knutson's bully-like ways drudge up painful memories from the past. Those memories will always be part of me, though, and have made me into the person I am today. I will not let the hatred spewed by Mr. Knutson, and the like, take me back to a dark place. However, I'm also not going to stand by and let him treat me like less of a person. Some may say I am overreacting and should just brush all this off. Unless you've walked in my shoes, with all due respect, you don't know what it's like to be me -- just as I don't know what it's like to be you. 

So, in closing, Mr. Knutson: You have succeeded in getting my attention. You have succeeded in hurting me. You have succeeded in making a powerful statement. You have succeeded in literally showing your true colors. You have succeeded in being a poor role model for your children. You have succeeded in showing your lack of personal and community pride. You have succeeded in finding a way to have your story told. I hope it serves you well.

Since then, there have been several media reports about Canton's rainbow shed and the online attack against the town's gay clerk in southeast Minnesota and northeast Iowa. It's fair to say that the community appears to have rallied around Bergey and has come down against Knutson. There have been several  Knutson says that he has tried apologizing several times to Bergey, though as of this past Tuesday or Wednesday Bergey has declined to speak with him. My understanding is that the shed has been re-painted and the anti-gay Facebook post has been voluntarily removed.

On Thursday, I learned that Canton's city council passed a resolution in support of their clerk and against the recent personal attack against him:

CITY OF CANTON: RESOLUTION NO. 2020-05

RESOLUTION CONDEMNING HATE SPEECH DIRECTED TOWARD CITY EMPLOYEE 

WHEREAS, City Clerk/Treasurer Brock Bergey recently issued letters to various property owners in the City of Canton requesting certain ordinance violations be remedied.

WHEREAS, in response to such a letter, Jamie Knutson, a resident in the City of Canton, directed hate speech toward City Clerk/Treasurer Brock Bergey through multiple Facebook posts.

WHEREAS, following the posts, Mr. Knutson painted a building on his property in a variety of colors and graffitied letters on the structure that were open to interpretation.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF CANTON, MINNESOTA, AS FOLLOWS:

1. The City of Canton supports the efforts of City Clerk/Treasurer Brock Bergey to enforce the City nuisance ordinances at their direction.
2. The City condemns the acts of Mr. Knutson in posting what could only be classified as hate speech on his Facebook page. 
3. All council members desire to encourage and nurture a welcoming community in which all residents, city employees, and visitors feel safe and welcomed. 
4. The City encourages all residents with concerns about City business to bring forward those concerns to the City Council in a professional and respectful manner for consideration. 

Adopted by the City Council of the City of Canton on July 8, 2020.

This resolution was unanimously approved by the council.