Report shows attacks on local leaders have risen since pandemic

A report from the National League of Cities released Wednesday says that 81% of local government leaders it surveyed have been harassed, threatened or experienced violence — destruction of property, assault or unauthorized possession of weapons — in recent years.

The NLC report, "On the Frontlines of Today's Cities: Trauma, Challenges and Solutions," features St. Louis Park Mayor Jake Spano and Minnetonka City Council Member Deb Calvert, who said she received hundreds of threatening calls and e-mails in 2020 over the city's mask mandate.

"The atmosphere has deteriorated, and that's just the facts. You can see it on TV every day," said Calvert, who last week was re-elected to a second term.

"Clearly there's a national climate that has seeped down into other levels of government," she said. "I ran knowing full well what the atmosphere was."

The erosion of civility is prompting elected leaders not to seek re-election and persuading others not to run for office, the report found. Spano said that's the case at all levels of government, based on his conversations with other mayors and with officials at the State Capitol, where he worked six years in the secretary of state's office.

Spano, who once received a threatening letter from an Ohio man after he spoke out against gun violence, puts most of the blame on social media and said it's being used to intimidate public officials.

Of 112 local leaders surveyed by the NLC nationwide, 87% reported seeing an increase in threats, harassment and violence. Many said citizen behavior got dramatically worse after the COVID-19 outbreak, when officials not only were navigating the public health crisis but addressing civil unrest over racial injustice and the role of policing — and all during an especially divisive election year.

"When one runs for office, they sign up for criticism. They don't sign up for death threats, threats of physical violence, destruction of property and hate speech," said Clarence Anthony, the league's CEO and executive director. "Who would continue to run given this trend?"

According to the report, the hostile political climate is breeding an uptick in harassment that's leading to mental fatigue and burnout among local leaders. Social media is cited as the biggest source of threats, but for some officials that vitriol online has spilled over to their front door.

Following the murder of George Floyd last year, Minneapolis paid two private security firms $63,000 over three weeks to protect three City Council members. After protesters showed up at the home of Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman, the county spent $19,000 on security for Freeman before he sold his home in July.

A half-dozen city councils in the metro area have banned targeted residential protests in the past year. Most were in the north metro, after protesters gathered outside the Hugo home of former Minneapolis police union president Bob Kroll.

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter's voice mail filled up with racial slurs before a 2019 vote on organized trash collection. If it passed, one caller said, Carter would need "bullet-resistant windows" in his house.

"City Hall is being brought to the front lawns of municipal leaders," Anthony said. "And that traditionally was not how public officials interacted with the public."

Even in traditional settings of public criticism, however, authorities say that things have reached an uncivil boiling point.

In late September, pushing and shoving broke out at a heavily attended Stillwater school board meeting. Board Chair Beverly Petrie gaveled the meeting to a halt after police were called.

"There are people here who would like to speak. ... Are you threatened by their words?" someone from the audience was heard to say to Petrie.

"If you want to speak tonight then you're gonna have to settle down and act like adults," Petrie said.

"Kiss your ass? Is that what we gotta do?" someone in the audience responded. Petrie adjourned the meeting.

While there are typically a dozen or so school board resignations each year across Minnesota, 37 special elections were held this month to fill board vacancies. There were two resignations this year on the Stillwater school board alone.

"My respect for school board members and teachers and principals and the staff that work at schools and kids who are caught in the middle of all of these tensions has grown exponentially," Spano said. "It feels to me like it's been a lot harder for them than it has been for city officials."

It's at the local level where residents have the most direct access to officials. Spano said that while transparency and openness with constituents are important, that kind of easy access can be abused.

"The local level is where I think you have this really direct impact on people's lives," he said, "and I think that's also partly why we're seeing a lot of this anxiety directed at us."

The NLC report found that cities generally lack strategies to handle incidents of harassment, threats and violence. Some have increased security at council meetings, such as the installation of metal detectors. The NLC suggests moving a potentially contentious meeting online if a plan to handle trouble isn't in place, and to provide mental health counseling to officials after they receive threats.

To improve civil discourse, local leaders need to model appropriate behavior at the dais and online, Anthony said. That might require instituting a code of conduct for officials and the public.

The NLC also suggests developing social media guidelines "to limit the spread of vitriolic language" and to combat the spread of misinformation, given that most harassment emerges online.

Leaders at next week's National League of Cities virtual summit will discuss the report in an effort to develop more recommendations, Anthony said. He said he wants to hold social media conglomerates accountable for the role they play in harassments and threats shared on their platforms, and that safeguards are needed when people engage with officials online.

Though it's harder now than ever to hold public office, Anthony said, he said he hopes the report will shed some light on this critical moment.

"I'm not giving up on the notion that civility can still be created in local communities all over America," he said.

For Calvert, it boils down to the golden rule and humanizing one another. She said that serving on the City Council typically is a part-time job, with mayors and council members working from home like the constituents who come to them with their concerns.

"It's sad that people have just forgotten that you can be passionate and still be respectful," she said. "Remember, I'm just your neighbor."

Kim Hyatt • 612-673-4751