By Tim Krohn
Free Press Staff Writer
MANKATO —
How to judge Mayor John Brady is a question many Mankato residents are wrestling with.
Brady, arrested Saturday in the Twin Cities while on his way to the airport for a city-sponsored trip to China, was charged with driving drunk, leaving the scene of an accident, failing to stop for an emergency vehicle and having an open bottle of vodka. Tests showed his blood-alcohol content was three times the legal limit.
For some, the mayor’s actions are a deal-breaker — he won’t be getting their vote in November. For many, judgments will be withheld until they know more and hear more from Brady.
Randy Cohen, who writes The Ethicist column for The New York Times, said the key in making ethical and moral judgments about a case like this is to decide if it’s an uncharacteristic mistake or a persistent pattern.
“I make a big distinction between a one-time foul-up and a persistent problem.”
Cohen said the public can’t know if Brady has a persistent, heavy drinking problem, but they do know he’s had two DWI arrests in Minnesota, the earlier one in 1992.
“It seems to me that someone being arrested for DWI twice in 18 years is not necessarily a firing offense,” Cohen said.
“If you think he’s good at his job, as a voter I wouldn’t think this would disqualify him. People do dumb things, public officials make mistakes. And this is particularly dumb because it puts people at great risk.”
For Mankato City Council Member Mark Frost, the issues are much more black and white.
“I’m not as kind as your ethicist,” Frost said this week.
“He should resign,” Frost said of the mayor.
Frost’s decisive judgment is understandable. Thirty years ago, Frost, his wife and their three young children were in their Volkswagen on the way to get pizza. On Madison Avenue, a drunk driver crossed several lanes and smashed into the young family’s car head-on.
His wife was in a coma for a month and has suffered problems ever since. Her short-term memory is still not good, and she is hospitalized every year or so from seizures.
Frost, who has served on the council for eight years, admits Brady’s actions were totally out of character. “I don’t know him socially, but I never once saw any indication of any kind of drinking problem. I was as shocked as everyone.”
As Frost sees it, Brady is a nice person who cares about the city, but his actions should bring an end to his political career.
For those who haven’t already made that same decision, Cohen said a key in public judgment will be how Brady responds.
“He can’t seek any privileges. He has to be open and honest, more so than a private figure,” Cohen said.
“There has to be true reform. He has to give real evidence that this is a onetime thing and won’t happen again.”
There is also the issue of the DWI in light of Mankato’s high-profile battle to curb binge drinking. A few years ago, there were several alcohol-related deaths, mostly among young people, and an effort by community and college leaders to raise awareness about binge drinking.
Brady was part of that effort, and spoke on occasion of the need to face it on a community level.
Frost said that backdrop is important.
“We as a City Council have been very harsh on bars, landlords and individuals about alcohol. We put a bar out of business over the Amanda Jax (alcohol drinking) death,” Frost said.
Frost said Brady’s actions cast a horrible light on a city already reeling from alcohol problems. “What I hear most from people talking about this is just how disappointed they are in him.”
For Cohen, the fact Mankato was the location of a cluster of alcohol deaths does not make Brady’s DWI any worse.
Finally, some wonder if the horrendous tragedy in Brady’s family life could have played any role in his behavior. Brady’s stepdaughter, Hilary Kruger, was horribly wounded and her husband and oldest son murdered in their rural Waseca home in 2007. The years-long pressure of physical recuperation for Hilary and the long trial of Michael Zabawa no doubt caused family pressures and torment.
Cohen said the circumstances at least deserve thought.
“Because of the appalling tragedy, he is entitled to some sympathy and understanding. If his response to this terrible, terrible thing has so overwhelmed him, he may need time off. That’s not a moral failing.”
In the end, Cohen said, people ought to watch Brady’s response and actions in the coming months, rather than focusing entirely on the mistake he made last weekend.
“I don’t like zero-tolerance policies. People at all levels make mistakes. There are some jobs that are so important and vital that you have to have very high standards. But even then, that doesn’t mean you require them to live to perfection.”
