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  • Mankato Mayor John Brady responds to a question from Chris Mangione (far left), who represents the College of Business on the Minnesota State Student Association, about how he’ll rebuild trust. Brady said there was nothing he could say to do that. “My actions will show you,” he said. Pat Christman

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  • Minnesota State Student Association President Tom Williams said the city has consistently labeled students as causing alcohol problems. He asked how Mayor John Brady could stay in office if a student could be expelled for the same offense. Pat Christman

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September 22, 2010

Brady faces tough questions at MSU

By Dan Linehan The Free Press

MANKATO — The university students were tired of being blamed — by the city, in their eyes — for Mankato’s alcohol-soaked reputation. The mayor was charged with driving drunk — he says he won’t resign — and has supported measures to restrict drink specials.

The mayor addressed the Minnesota State Student Association Wednesday, and was asked by President Tom Williams why he’s still in office if a student caught doing the same might be expelled.

“How does that not justify a city official resigning?” he asked.

Mayor John Brady responded by saying he didn’t think a student ought to be expelled for driving drunk. The university’s role, he said, would be to help make sure it doesn’t happen again.

The mayor gave a brief talk then took some tough questions from the student representatives. He had been slated to attend the student association meeting last week, but canceled after realizing he was scheduled to be at a city meeting.

Referring to Hennepin County’s charges of driving drunk Aug. 21, Brady said he “brought a lot of negative attention to the community.”

He said he’d already said he was sorry in a press conference.

“Today, I’m going to apologize to the university community, as well.”

Brady acknowledged that during the 1970s he was one of the students that often get stereotyped — drunk at sporting events, drunk at bars and even drunk driving home. He said afterwards that his friends at the time drove drunk, as well.

He said that he would be even better at working with the university on alcohol abuse, considering that a person who doesn’t acknowledge their addiction, as he hadn’t until recently, isn’t “genuinely prepared to deal with it.”

“I believe I am going to finally wrestle this thing to the ground once and for all,” he said.

Brady called the fact that he didn’t severely injure himself or anyone else “a gift.”

“I was spared some pretty tragic things on Aug. 21,” he said.

Some of the representatives wanted Brady to answer for what they saw as a history of being scapegoated.

Williams said recent underage drinking sweeps resulted in 105 citations, only 39 of which were Minnesota State University students.

“Yet the city, and you, continue to label (students) as the problem,” he said.

Brady said he doesn’t blame students for drinking, calling it a “social problem.”

The way to improve the relationship is “healthy dialogue,” he said, and promised to do more to sustain it from now on.

Vice President Brett Anderson wondered after the meeting if these pre-election promises would amount to anything after Nov. 2.

“I just heard a lot of me, me, me talk and not a lot of what I did to the community and how I’m going to address that,” Anderson said. ... “I hope it was genuine and sincere but I’m going to have to wait and see the proof of it.”

Councilman Mark Frost, who visited with the student senate last week, has expressed similar concerns.

Frost said students’ perception that they’re ignored and held to a different standard is the biggest issue.

“The biggest thing to come out of it is we need an open line of communication ... that was more important than the current situation with the mayor. That’s going to run the news cycle and be gone, but this is something that needs to be ongoing.”

Immediately after the conversation with Brady, the student association turned to its next order of business: a resolution supporting a look into on-campus tailgating, a pre-game ritual typically associated with grilling and alcohol.

“This is a sensitive issue, given the conversation we just had,” Anderson said.

 

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