In keeping with Speaker-elect Kurt Daudt's idealistic policy on matching a legislator's real-world experience with committee assignments, Representative Nick Zerwas (R-Elk River) has been appointed to serve on the Minnesota House Public Safety and Crime Prevention Policy and Finance Committee.
A press release about the representative's committee appointments was posted on his official page on Friday.
On November 4, Elk River Star News editor Jim Boyle reported in Zerwas apologizes for error in judgement; First-term legislator plead guilty to DWI:
The former Elk River City Council member and Elk River High School graduate, who is completing his first term in the Minnesota House of Representatives, was stopped for speeding Aug. 2 along Interstate 94 in Maple Grove.
A New Hope police officer stopped Zerwas during a Toward Zero Death traffic enforcement detail after seeing his car go by at a high rate of speed from the Boone Avenue ramp to Westbound 694, according to the officer’s incident complaint report.
The officer pursued and eventually got behind Zerwas and clocked him at 80 MPH before activating his emergency lights.
Zerwas told the Star News he had been visiting with friends from college in the Cities and had been drinking earlier in the day and thought enough time had lapsed when he headed home to Elk River.
“It was huge error in judgement to drive that day,” Zerwas said. “I wholly regret it. I immediately took responsibility and at the earliest opportunity I plead guilty.
“I accept full responsibility. I apologized in court to friends, my family, my colleagues and the folks I represent in Big Lake, Elk River and Otsego.”
Zerwas pleaded guilty to one count of fourth-degree DWI and was sentenced to 30 days in the Hennepin County workhouse. All but two days were stayed, and for those two days he performed community service.
“I am committed to making sure this type of incident never occurs again,” Zerwas said, noting his actions will speak louder than words.
Zerwas is up for re-election, and he is facing DFL-endorsed Brenden Ellingboe. When asked by the Star News if he thought he would suffer at the polls, he stated he didn’t know.”
“That wasn’t my immediate concern, and it isn’t my concern today,” he said from Willmar on Monday where he was helping distribute literature for a fellow Republican in a race that The GOP has targeted as one of the seven races that could restore control of the Minnesota House of Representives. “My immediate concern was letting people down, my family, disappointing my father, my other family members and friends and colleagues. That remains top of mind.”
In the Star Tribune's Hot Dish Blog, Patrick Condon reported on October 30 in State representative from Elk River pleaded guilty to DWI in August:
Zerwas failed field sobriety tests. He voluntarily submitted a breath sample, which revealed a blood alcohol concentration of .13. Minnesota’s threshold for driving under the influence is .08.
On Aug. 21, Zerwas pleaded guilty to one count of fourth degree DWI. . . .
Judge Thomas Fraser sentenced Zerwas to 30 days in the Hennepin County Workhouse, but stayed 28 days for two years provided he does not repeat his offense or other driving-related offenses. For the remaining two days he received a “sentence to service,” and performed 16 hours of community service.
We're hoping that his insights gained from the arrest and conviction will be put to good use by the committee--and by the legislature when it considers various bills intended to give a second chance for those who have paid the price for breaking our laws.
Republican Party of Minnesota used DWI law distortions in attack mail
In addition, we 're hoping that voters across the state will remember that the Republican Party drew fire from campaigning on public safety issues in a way that had drawn criticism from MADD and other groups.
The Star Tribune's Abby Simons reported in Another round of GOP mailers draws ire from DFL, this time over drunken driving:
Another series of mailers targeting DFL House members up for re-election has again drawn the ire of the party after saying Democrats are responsible for “putting convicted drunk drivers back on the roads” for passing legislation requiring people with multiple DWI convictions to use an ignition-interlock device. The mailers also triggered a response from the national president for Mothers Against Drunk Driving and, locally, Minnesotans for Safe Driving. . . .
DFL House caucus spokesman Michael Howard said the mail pieces refer to HF 2255, legislation that requires people with multiple drunken-driving convictions to use an ignition-interlock device, which requires a breath test by the driver before the vehicle can be started. The bill passed 71-57 in the House and unanimously in the Minnesota Senate.
“These last-minute attacks are designed to leave candidates with no time to respond and set the record straight, and they are shameful,” House Speaker Paul Thissen said in a statement. . . .
The mailers also triggered a response from MADD National President Jan Withers, who said the organization backed the legislation because she said requiring an interlock device is more effective than license revocation alone.
“MADD supported these measures because simply hoping that convicted DWI offenders will not drive on a revoked license is bad public policy,” Withers wrote in the letter to Thissen. “License revocation without an interlock requirement is like using cancer treatments that were best practices 25 years ago. If this ‘treatment’ were effective, there would not be over 63,000 Minnesota residents with three or more DWI convictions on their driving records.”
The letter does not appear to address the mailers, but instead thanks lawmakers “for working to reform the state’s drunken-driving law.”
Nancy Johnson, legislative liaison for Minnesotans for Safe Driving and a victim of drunken driving, expressed similar support for the law in a letter to Thissen, while condemning the mailers.
"The idea that the Legislature was being soft on drunk drivers when they passed a bill in 2014 which allowed those arrested and/or convicted of (criminal vehicular operation) to have Ignition Interlock available to them is ridiculous." Johnson wrote.
That's special.
UPDATE: A friend who helped the Mary Sawatzky campaign in the Willmar area answered a Bluestem inquiry about whether this MNGOP attack piece was mailed to voters in House District 17B. It was--adding irony to our story, since the Elk River story reports that Zerwas was "Willmar on Monday [the day before the election] where he was helping distribute literature for a fellow Republican in a race that The GOP has targeted as one of the seven races that could restore control of the Minnesota House of Representives." [end update]
Zerwas and "Get Out of Jail Free Card" bill
Zerwas had earlier been an outspoken voice in the kerfuffle over the supposed "Get Out Of Jail Free" legislative immunity cards that legislators hypothetically could use to avoid criminial arrests while the legislature was in session. (Investigations into the matter revealed that no one had actually attempted to use the card to escape a DUI stop since 1983; moreover, the courts had ruled against the notion as well).
The offense is a misdemeanor under Minnesota Statute 69A.20.1(1).
Photo: Nick Zerwas, known for his stash of snacks at his desk on the Minnesota House floor, offers state representative Melissa Hortman (DFL-Brooklyn) a chicken-and-waffle flavored potato chip during the 2013 debate over the passage of the Higher Education bill. Cropped, photo by Glenn Stubbe, Star Tribune.
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