Anoka County has filed court exhibits showing text messages in which DFL House Leader Zach Stephenson, Coon Rapids, told Anoka Mayor Erik Skogquist that Metropolitan Council money for the city’s Rum River Dam project was being taken from Anoka County’s share of metro sales tax revenue and described it as “revenge” tied to the county jail dispute.
The text messages were included in exhibits submitted May 13 by Anoka County Administrator Jim Dickinson as part of the county’s legal fight with the Minnesota Department of Transportation over a proposed pedestrian bridge connected to the city’s Rum River Dam project.
The exhibits also include an aerial map showing the proposed bridge area, Anoka’s cost estimate for the Rum River Dam project, previous Star Tribune reporting and a letter from the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners to the Minnesota Legislature requesting special legislation for the Washington Avenue Bridge.
In the text thread, Stephenson told Skogquist that Anoka was likely to receive $6.2 million from the Metropolitan Council and $300,000 from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources for the dam project.
Skogquist thanked Stephenson for the help and for what he had done for the city.
Stephenson responded that the Metropolitan Council money was being taken from Anoka County’s share of metro sales tax revenue.
“So the county is likely going to be pretty pissed about it,” Stephenson wrote. “Obviously you should keep that to yourself for a bit. I consider it revenge for the jail (expletive).”
Skogquist then wrote about the jail issue, saying too many people could end up in jail without getting the help they needed because of a lack of capacity. He referenced his father’s experience with schizophrenia and said his father would go to the state hospital before ending up at Hennepin County Medical Center or Mercy after relapsing.
“Can’t say we are all NIMBY in Anoka,” Skogquist wrote.
Stephenson agreed that people should not be in jail because of mental illness.
“It’s unconscionable that we’ve been doing that,” Stephenson wrote. “And hey! Anoka County can build a slightly smaller jail!”
Skogquist later wrote that Anoka officials were working on a jail count based on 291 beds and accused the county of trying to “juice” the number.
“We will see how negotiations go after Anoka 6 million of the counties sales tax money,” Skogquist wrote.
Stephenson later wrote that he had cautioned a woman, identified only as “her” in the text thread, against the county going to war, but said he did not believe that warning would be heeded. Skogquist agreed, writing that such a response did not seem to be the county’s style.
Stephenson responded that he had told her Anoka would not respond well to the county “deteriorating” the city’s top priority while also working on the jail and ramp.
According to another exhibit, the proposed bridge would connect the Rum River Dam area to another area along the Rum River near Ferry Street and River Avenue.
The Rum River Dam project is intended to modernize the dam while adding recreational features, including a pedestrian and maintenance bridge, river surfing and a navigation lock, according to the exhibit. The estimated total project cost is $51 million. At the time the handout included as Exhibit C was written for the Minnesota Legislature’s bonding tour, the city was seeking $5.6 million from the state.
Anoka County issued a statement to ABC Newspapers that read the following:
“Anoka County will do its talking about this case in court. The summary judgement briefs and supporting filings speak for themselves on this important topic involving the harmful impacts of special legislation on the county and projects it had planned for countywide benefits.”
“The county and its leaders were not let in on Rep. Stephenson’s joke,” the statement continued. “No one here thinks misappropriating $6.2 million is very funny.”
This is a developing story. ABC Newspapers has reached out to Stephenson and Dickinson for response.
Editor’s note: Quoted text messages are presented as they appear in court exhibits, except that one profanity was replaced with an editor’s notation.