Our current SD48 State Senator, David Hann, called a press conference April 10, 2015, to dredge up his ethics complaint against Sen Hayden that he started in September of last year.

If you’ve spent time in any organization, you’ve seen how people continue to repeat behavior they’ve been rewarded for in the past. Why do we bring this up in this case?

Let’s look at how Sen. Hann became Senate Minority Leader. He got there through behind the scenes manipulation of a situation that wound up costing the taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars. He was part of the gang of 4 that ousted former Leader Amy Koch for her affair with Michael Brodkorb. You can read more about that situation here.

In addition to the above situation, he has his own ethics skeleton. You can read more about that here.

David Hann · ethics · Sen. Hann

By Ken Martin, Chairman, Minnesota DFL

There is an old saying that a hypocrite is someone who conveniently forgets their faults to point out someone else’s. Republican Minority Leader Sen. David Hann’s editorial last week exposed his blind spot when it comes to the behaviors of his own GOP Senators.

If Sen. Hann believes it necessary to review the actions of parties and individuals when discussing legislative matters then it is just as fair to review the record of the Republicans in Minnesota:

• This past year, Republican Sen. Sean Nienow defaulted on a $613,000 federal government loan and was relieved of $840,000 of debt by the taxpayers when he filed for bankruptcy.  Ironically—at the same time—the senator from Cambridge was attacking government for spending too much money and not living within its means.
• The Republican Party of Minnesota is now in a public spat with some of its vendors, as detailed by a Star Tribune article, for not paying its bills from the 2014 campaign. This is a party that is still over $1,500,000 in debt—but just this week announced a $150,000 advertising campaign telling legislators how to do their job. So much for the party of fiscal responsibility.  (more…)

David Hann · ethics · hypocrite · sd48 · Sen. Hann · Senate District 48

Nick Minock with the Northland News Center reported on February 6, 2015, regarding the resolution of the ethics violation charge brought against Sen. Tomassoni (no conflict of interest was found).

In this post, our State Senator, David Hann, is quoted as follows:

“It was never a good idea for a sitting Senator to take a job as a lobbyist and he should not have put his constituents, the RAMS Board and the Minnesota Senate through this,” Sen. Hann said.

Let’s look back on Sen. Hann’s experience in this area. In 2012, he was found to have become an insurance agent for Boys and Tyler Financial Group while chairing the Senate’s Health and Human Services Committee that oversees the health insurance industry’s regulation compliance and health reform.

Heres a link to a post detailing the situation.

David Hann · ethics · sd48 · Sen. Hann · Senate District 48 · transparency

ethics · lack of ethics · Republicans · skirt the law

On December 14, 2011, a group of senators (then in the majority) confronted Amy Koch about her affair with Senate staffer Michael Brodkorb insisting she step down from leadership. This was followed by having the Senate Chief of Staff fire Brodkorb.

While the firing was taking place, Sens. Hann Michel, Gerlach and Robling held a press conference announcing the relationship with a staffer.

Mr. Brodkorb is reported as saying, “Sen. Hann communicated, ‘You will resign from leadership, Ludeman will fire Brodkorb, or we will tell the entire caucus.’ It was an attempt to take over the Senate leadership.”

Seven months later, Mr. Brodkorb filed a lawsuit against the Senate. The suit was settled in September of this year. Here’s the financial fall out:

Mr. Brodkorb received $30,000. This month, the Minnesota Senate approved the final legal bill. The final cost will be over $400,000.

So much for fiscal responsibility.

Amy Koch · David Hann · ethics · law suit · Michael Brodkorb · Sen. David Hann