Star Tribune
Downtown St. Paul’s largest property owner says city’s core is in ‘crisis’
A lawyer for the largest private property owner in downtown St. Paul lambasted the state of the urban center in a letter to the City Council, painting a dismal picture of downtown’s “very evident crisis.”
The letter, sent last week, objects to the nonprofit St. Paul Downtown Alliance’s efforts to expand its improvement district, which charges property owners fees in exchange for cleaning and safety services.
“Downtown St. Paul is in trouble,” attorney Kelly Hadac wrote. “Crime is up. Bullet holes in the glass on the commercial buildings and elsewhere is no longer uncommon. There is rampant homelessness and drug use. Restaurants have gone out of business. Businesses have gone bankrupt. Skyways are empty. Public and private employees are working from home. I could go on and on but we trust you understand the point.”
Hadac has long represented Madison Equities, downtown’s largest property owner, which is marketing its entire office portfolio following the death of the company’s longtime owner, Jim Crockarell. Crockarell was a longtime opponent of the Downtown Improvement District, which was eventually drawn to avoid his properties.
The tone of Hadac’s letter diverges from brokers’ messaging, which present the portfolio as an opportunity for a buyer to invest in an iconic landmark and prime location.
Hadac did not respond to a request for comment. In addition to Madison Equities, he filed objections on behalf of the owners of 266 7th St. E. and 249 7th St. E.
The letter urges the council to refrain from increasing costs for financially stressed buildings and questions why property taxes would not cover cleaning and safety services. Many owners already pay for private security and maintenance crews, Hadac wrote.
“Any increased tax dollars would be better spent elsewhere, including the hiring of more real police officers to provide enhanced safety,” he wrote.
Joe Spencer, president of the Downtown Alliance, said the improvement district is designed to provide services that go beyond the city’s capabilities. Since 2021, a team of uniformed ambassadors have patrolled downtown daily picking up trash, cleaning graffiti and offering help to those who need it.
Under Spencer’s proposal, the district would double its size and budget. The funds would pay for additional safety ambassadors with better training and equipment. Spencer has also suggested hiring a city attorney exclusively dedicated cases involving chronic offenders and quality-of-life issues downtown — an idea Hadac called in his letter “absurd and illegal.”
The council is holding a public hearing on the proposal Wednesday afternoon and could hold a vote as soon as next week. After that, the fate of the expansion would lie in the hands of property owners. If those subject to 35% of the proposed service charges file objections with the city, the proposal is vetoed.
The original district was set up to avoid Madison Equities buildings, since Crockarell at the time owned enough property to single-handedly veto the improvement district.
“I think their letter is reflective of the experience in their buildings,” Spencer said. “And what I’ll say is it’s not the experience of all of downtown.”
Star Tribune
Former Hubbard County official, school bus driver gets six-year sentence for sex crimes against students
A former Hubbard County commissioner and school bus driver was sentenced Friday to six years in prison for sex crimes involving minors.
Daniel J. Stacey, 60, was charged in April 2023 with criminal sexual conduct and electronic solicitation of a minor, both felonies, in Beltrami County District Court. He was then charged in November with nine additional felony counts related to criminal sexual contact with a minor.
Stacey pleaded guilty in June to four felony counts as part of a plea deal that dropped the remaining charges. His attorney, Joseph Tamburino, declined to comment Friday on the sentence, and officials with the Nevis school district did not immediately respond to requests seeking comment.
Stacey resigned from the Hubbard County Board in January 2023 and was placed on leave from his school bus job during an investigation by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) that began after the parent of a Nevis student filed a complaint.
In an email Friday, Hubbard County Administrator Jeffrey Cadwell said he had no comment other than that Stacey’s actions “did not occur within the course and scope of his duties with the County and the County was completely unaware of them.”
According to a criminal complaint, Stacey offered to mentor a 13-year-old male on his bus route. He brought the boy to his property, asked him to watch pornography and tried to touch him in a sexual manner, court documents state.
The boy told investigators that Stacey told him not to tell anyone, and helped him rehearse what to say about doing chores at his property. Investigators said they found footage showing times Stacey would deactivate the school bus camera when the boy was the only student left on the bus.
A second criminal complaint outlines similar allegations against Stacey with a minor who was 14 years old.
Star Tribune
Woman charged as investigation into attack on north Minneapolis homeless shelter continues
A 33-year-old woman has been charged with two felonies in connection with an attack on a north Minneapolis homeless shelter that forced 54 women and children to relocate last week.
Eureka D. Riser, 33, of Minneapolis, is charged with second-degree rioting with a dangerous weapon and first-degree damage to property, according to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office. She was in custody Friday, a day after Minneapolis police confirmed her arrest.
Riser, also known as Eureka Willis, is alleged to have been in a group of at least three people who on Sept. 5 went to St. Anne’s Place, 2634 Russell Av. N., and threatened residents, smashing doors with a baseball bat.
Residents were forced to vacate the shelter, leaving it boarded with plywood and watched over by armed security. Building managers estimate that property damage amounts to more than $10,000, according to the county attorney’s office. Additional charges may be brought against others involved.
“This violent attack on some of our most vulnerable community members, unhoused women and children, in a place where they had gone to seek shelter and safety cannot be tolerated,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement.
Hoang Murphy, the CEO of People Serving People, which operates the shelter, said earlier this week that the four-hour episode was the culmination of an argument between shelter residents and neighbors over street parking that started days earlier and spilled over into violence.
According to the criminal complaint, which cites surveillance footage, Riser allegedly swung a baseball bat against the shelter’s doors, shattering glass while residents were inside. Another member of the group pointed what appears to be a gun at the front door of the building, the complaint says.
Residents have since been relocated to a hotel for safety reasons, costing People Serving People $9,000 a night — a figure that Murphy called unsustainable.
A man who was shot and wounded by sheriff’s deputies in east-central Minnesota while resisting arrest received a six-month jail term Friday.
Leo H. Hacker, 71, was sentenced in Pine County District Court in connection with his guilty plea in two cases of assault, and obstructing and fleeing law enforcement in connection with his clashes with deputies in February 2023.
Hacker’s sentences will be served concurrently and includes Judge Jason Steffen setting aside a three-year sentence sought by the County Attorney’s Office. Steffen’s terms also include five years’ probation and community work service.
According to the charges in each case and related court documents:
On Feb. 21, deputies tried to pull over Hacker’s pickup truck on a gravel road about a mile from his Pine City home. As two deputies approached his vehicle, he drove toward them. Both deputies opened fire on Hacker and wounded him.
Hacker was wanted at the time on charges of second-degree assault and obstructing law enforcement in connection with allegations that he pointed a gun at a deputy outside his home on Feb. 14 and angrily defied orders to drop the weapon.
At one point, Hacker warned the deputies that if they did not leave, he would return with “something bigger,” the charges quoted him as saying.
The deputy was there to seize Hacker’s SUV stemming from a dispute over his unpaid attorney fees, the charges read. However, law enforcement outside the home “determined that based on the totality of circumstances, it was in the interest of safety to leave the scene at that time” and instead seek a warrant for Hacker’s arrest, the criminal complaint continued.
