My Mayor -- #JO500307 001

[dmiller]

Had a tad too much to drink -- (0.161) over double the limit to be driving.

Headed for Eau Claire, Wisconsin (150 miles away)

Made it half-way (to Spooner, Wi.)

Couldn't negotiate a curve on the road (I've driven by there many times myself), and it's a tricky one. n Don't try it drunk, like he did.

And he tried it at 6:30 in the evening, drunk off his ***.

Question -- if he had a blood alcohol level of 0.161 at 6:30 pm, Friday the 9th --- how did he spend his day at work for the city?? Was he giving an honest days's work? Or imbibing?

Here is the article:

ARREST: Blood-alcohol level more than twice the legal limit, according to breath test

BY CHUCK FREDERICK AND JOHN MYERS

NEWS TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERS

Duluth Mayor Herb Bergson's blood-alcohol level measured 0.161 percent Friday, more than twice the legal limit, after his car crashed into a guardrail near Spooner, authorities said.

He then asked passing motorists not to call police and was described as "not very cooperative" by the officer who made the arrest.

Details of the accident emerged Monday in a crash and arrest report from the Wisconsin State Patrol and in an incident report from the Washburn County Sheriff's Office.

The mayor, who was cited for driving under the influence of alcohol, asked passersby to help him push his car off the guardrail. He resisted medical help and "just wanted to get away from the crash scene," State Trooper Anthony DeStefano wrote in his report.

"The police reports indicate he wasn't a very cooperative individual," Washburn County District Attorney J. Michael Bitney said. "He didn't want to make any statements. He wanted to leave the scene. He refused medical attention. He refused breath tests. He wasn't cooperative at all.

"He has his right to remain silent. I don't fault him for exercising his constitutional rights," Bitney said. "I think he knew he was in trouble and shouldn't have been driving."

A preliminary breath test was used to measure Bergson's blood-alcohol level, said DeStefano, who conducted the test at the hospital in Spooner. Such a test is used to establish probable cause and isn't admissible in court. DeStefano smelled alcohol on the mayor, he said in his report.

Bergson refused an official blood test. A blood test was taken anyway on order of the Washburn County District Attorney's Office, DeStefano's report indicated. Results are expected in about two weeks.

TOLD TROOPER HE HAD TWO DRINKS

Bergson told DeStefano he had two drinks before driving: a beer and a vodka drink, the trooper said. He reported Bergson was dazed and confused and apparently had not been wearing his seat belt.

A Wisconsin Department of Transportation chart listing blood-alcohol content by weight and number of drinks doesn't go as high as 0.161 percent for a 180-pound man -- the weight listed on Bergson's driver's license. According to the chart, a man of that weight would need to consume six drinks within one hour to register a 0.125 percent blood-alcohol level, the highest reading on its chart.

Bergson at first refused to go to the hospital and later refused to give a report on the accident, DeStefano said.

Bergson, 49, was the driver and lone occupant of the four-door 2002 Mercury registered in his name, the sheriff's department report indicated. The vehicle was a "total loss," Sgt. David G. Dennis wrote in his report for Washburn County Sheriff's Department.

"My opinion was that Mr. Bergson was possibly intoxicated due to my observation of his eyes, the nature of the accident scene and Mr. Bergson's request to motorists not to call the police," Dennis wrote. "Medical personnel... stated that Mr. Bergson should be transported to the hospital because of a head injury but he was refusing to go. I walked over to Mr. Bergson and advised him that he should go with the ambulance staff to be examined. He agreed."

WILL PLEAD NO CONTEST, STAY ON JOB

Bergson said Monday he won't challenge the charges against him.

The mayor, who is a former Superior police officer, was arrested and booked into the Washburn County Jail. He received a ticket for $784 and must appear in court on Jan. 9, DeStefano said.

"I intend to plead no contest," Bergson said in an e-mailed message to the News Tribune. He declined to comment further.

Bergson was southbound on U.S. Highway 53 on his way to a Great Lakes environmental conference in Chicago when his vehicle struck a bridge abutment, left the road and hit a guard rail in the median.

The incident was reported at 6:25 p.m., according to the Wisconsin State Patrol. The accident remains under investigation.

Neither Sgt. Dennis of the Washburn County Sheriff's Office nor Officer DeWayne Olson of the Spooner Police Department, who also responded to the crash, was available for additional comment Monday. They weren't working.

Bergson said he planned to travel as far as Eau Claire, Wis., on Friday evening. He declined to tell the News Tribune in an e-mail how much alcohol he had consumed or where.

Earlier Friday, Bergson took a bus tour of Duluth, stopping at major projects and developments with other city leaders. Later in the afternoon, he attended a retirement party at City Hall. The party lasted until 4 p.m.

The site of the accident is about a one-hour and 15-minute drive from Duluth.

Bryan Brown, Duluth city attorney, said there is nothing in the city's charter that would require Bergson to leave office for a first-time drunken-driving charge.

"An arrest (or conviction) for a traffic violation does not have an effect on the term of office for a mayor of Duluth," Brown said. "As I understand it, it's not even officially a crime in Wisconsin."

Any crime for which a public official served 30 days or more in jail could require vacation of office, as would conviction of any felony. Wisconsin law calls for no jail term for a first-time drunken-driving offense.

Local and state laws also include codes of conduct and possible vacation of office, Brown noted. But those apply to corruption and not social behavior or traffic offenses.

Brown noted that other city employees have been terminated for alcohol use while on duty. Official city business trips are considered on duty, Brown said. The law states that any alcohol use while on duty, or while an employee may be perceived to be on duty, or while on break before returning to duty, is prohibited and subject to discipline including termination, Brown said.

"But the provision specifically states that it does not include elected officials," Brown noted, and would not apply to Bergson.

Interim chief administrative officer Julio Almanza met a News Tribune reporter on the sidewalk outside Bergson's Riverside neighborhood home Monday afternoon. Duluth's top-ranked administrative official said the mayor would not make any comments or come to the door.

The mayor was visible through a window. He appeared to be sitting at his kitchen table with his wife and with city communications director Jeff Papas.

Almanza said Bergson would return to work "sometime this week."

LOSE HIS LICENSE

If the mayor pleads no contest to the charge, he'll lose his driver's license and pay a fine. A counselor also will assess his alcohol use to determine whether he has a problem. Treatment could follow, Bitney said.

The mayor also would face a panel of citizens whose loved ones were killed by drunken drivers or who otherwise have been negatively affected by alcoholism or drunken driving.

The mayor's license hasn't yet been revoked, Bitney said. The mayor doesn't face jail time.

"It looks to me to be pretty much a straightforward drunk-driving case," Bitney said. "Mr. Bergson is fortunate. He's fortunate he wasn't injured. And he's fortunate no one else was injured."

DeStefano said the citation is not considered a formal crime under Wisconsin law, such as a misdemeanor or felony, but is considered a "forfeiture violation."

Bergson said Saturday he wasn't badly hurt in the crash.

"I received some facial lacerations and a black eye," he told the News Tribune in an e-mail, adding that the incident was handled professionally by the troopers.

Initial reports to the public about the accident came from Bergson. He issued a statement to the media via e-mail early Saturday.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

News Tribune staff writer Chris Hamilton contributed to this report.

This is a guy who became the *darling* of all the liberals up here, by doing things like refusing to meet the prez of the USA (yea -- geo bush) when he was in town, publically saying that he wanted to turn Columbus Day into Indigineous Person's Day, and other sundry things that were equally stupid and then ---

Was a belligerent drunk to the cops who arrested him, thought he had rights because of his *status*, and is denying that alcohol is a problem in his life. Anyone got a mayor of their town/community that is like this??

I hope not. This one is bad enough. :(

 

[Jim]

He's an ex cop too....

[moony3424]

Headed for Eau Claire, Wisconsin

I remember being on the field in Eau Claire. Any coinsidence here?

[coolchef1248 @adelphia.net]

so the guy screwed up

let's give him a break!

thankfully he hurt no one but himself and will learn a lesson

i got nabbed for oui 5 years ago i was just on the border line of oui

but i learned the lesson

i will not even drive the next morning if i have had a few the night befor

one more thought

because the guy is a public official why should we be airing his dirty laundry on the internet

[Belle]

His idiotic policies asided -- How embarrassing for him! That alone is a serious consequence for his actions.

I got a DUI over ten years ago and I was so snockerd I fell down doing the heel to toe test. It was a long, painful, EXPENSIVE ordeal and terribly embarrassing and only a very select few people knew about it. In fact, I NEVER talk about it. Only lately have I been able to talk about it and even then, it's still painful and embarrassing. I had to watch the video of my arrest with my lawyer and that alone made me think about suicide - and I'm not exaggerating.

He got caught and if he has any remorse for what he did, it will most likely be the last time he does something like that. Thank God he didn't hurt or kill anyone! Hopefully, if he has a drinking problem, then he will get some help with that.

Maybe this will be the straw that broke the camels back and keep him from staying in office and running for other offices, but, then again, Marion Barry continued to get elected after all kinds of crack, cocaine, prostitution, etc. convictions.

Just another reason I'll never go into politics! I would HATE to live in such a fishbowl. It makes it very difficult to keep up the sugar & spice image I've worked so hard for. ;)

[dmiller]

one more thought

because the guy is a public official why should we be airing his dirty laundry on the internet

Well --- yer right (even though I got this off of the internet after seeing it in the local paper).

Mea Culpa, Chef. I find the guy to be a *two-timer* (given what I know about him and his methods of saying one thing, and then doing another).

If there is a Moderator handy -- please delete this thread. I spoke out of anger at other things he has done, and this happened to be a topic that I felt I could do some venting.

Like I said Chef -- Mea Culpa. I should not have even brought this up.

(and ps ---- yes --- I also was once hauled to jail for the same thing 13 years ago.)

Learned my lesson. Won't do it again

With all due respect to Mayor Bergson, I hope he learned his lesson too.

Everyone deserves a second chance.

[dmiller]

Just another reason I'll never go into politics!

I would HATE to live in such a fishbowl. It makes it very difficult to keep up the sugar & spice image I've worked so hard for.

Belle -- I hear that!

Why anyone would subject themselves to that is beyond me.

It takes all kinds to run this world, and I'm glad I'm a spectator, rather than a participant.

Edited December 15, 2005 by dmiller

[Belle]

Why anyone would subject themselves to that is beyond me.

It takes all kinds to run this world, and I'm glad I'm a spectator, rather than a participant.

David, Maybe that's why jerks, crooks and idiots are primarily the only ones who do go into politics. :blink:

They must have a different conscience than we do to be able to stand before the public day after day and ask them for their support and justify their actions.

[coolchef1248 @adelphia.net]

politics

yuck

i am cooking for the govener of the state of maine tonight

i wonder if he will have his tasters there??

not many of us like his politics although he is a nice guy

[Lifted Up]

At least no one has menationed our former long time governor and more recently former congressman.

[Belle]

Refresh our memory, Lifted. :P Is he the one who resigned for cheating on his wife with his male assistant?

So, Chef, what does one fix for a politician who has policies one doesn't agree with? ;)

[coolchef1248 @adelphia.net]

why sushi belle of course!! accutaly it was pasta and sauce

low budget.

imagine!

[Lifted Up]

Refresh our memory, Lifted. :P Is he the one who resigned for cheating on his wife with his male assistant?

So, Chef, what does one fix for a politician who has policies one doesn't agree with? ;)

No, the one who, after two 8 year stretches as governor, was elected to the U.S. House, and shortly thereafter killed a motorcyclist by speeding through a stop sign.

[Belle]

Oh! Thanks, Lifted! I had forgotten who that was. :)

Chef, probably was the best dang pasta & sauce they've had! ;)

[coolchef1248 @adelphia.net]

lol belle

that's what i told them!

[dmiller]

No, the one who, after two 8 year stretches as governor, was elected to the U.S. House, and shortly thereafter killed a motorcyclist by speeding through a stop sign.

Lifted -- I remember reading about that in the local paper.

Whatever did happen to him???

update -- Mayor Bergson is taking a 6 month suspension (voluntarily), and will be attending re-hab, and sitting in on group discussions made up of members of MADD, and other's who are members of families that have experienced devastation as a result of drunk driving.

I wish him the best.

To his credit -- he did say in his initial address to the city (about the incident) --

This is something I have done before, and it is something that I will not do again."

[Belle]

David is that all he got? What do you think? A little light sounding to me if it is. *shrug*

[dmiller]

David is that all he got? What do you think?

A little light sounding to me if it is. *shrug*

Well -- he did pay a $784.00 fine, lost driving privilidges in both Mn and Wi for 6 months, and is doing the rehab thing, along with the 6 month suspension from office.

(With/or without pay, I don't know yet.)

Wisconsin officials said that they were treating him the same as everyone else (for a first time offense), and given my own experience, I tend to believe them -- though mine happened in another state.

When I was pulled over (1992, in Indiana) -- I paid a fine, had to do a re-hab thing, but was able to continue driving (since I did deliveries for a living back then). Perhaps I got off easier than he did.

He might have been cut some slack (given his job as mayor), but I really don't think much was cut.

His punishment is coming from the town via public opinion,

more than is coming from the law.

[Belle]

Thanks, David. Does sound like he's not really getting off scott free, then. That's good. I also think you're especially right about;

His punishment is coming from the town via public opinion,

more than is coming from the law.

And that can be the worst kind of punishment there is.

[shazdancer]

Well, David, if you'd lived in Waterbury, CT a coupla years ago, you would've gotten this lovely guy as your mayor...Waterbury Mayor Gets 37 Years

Then there's the former Governor, John Rowland, convicted of federal racketeering charges. He took kickbacks from building contractors.

Bridgeport's Mayor Ganim, same thing, accepted favors from contractors.

Good ol' boys network is alive and well in the Nutmeg State.

Regards,

Shaz