Attending the hearing were Mike Strand, vice president of communications and marketing for the St. Paul Port Authority and Robyn Hansen, attorney with Leonard, Street & Deinard, the Port Authority’s bond counsel, and from City Pages, Steve Perry, editor, and Monika Bauerlein, managing editor.
Attending the hearing was Minneapolis Police Chief John Laux. KARE-TV declined to attend, or to respond in writing. This hearing was televised on Minneapolis Telecommunications Network. Chairman John Simonett did not attend or participate in the hearing because two complaints relating to the homicide case could lead to appeals before the Minnesota Supreme Court, of which he is a member. Vice Chairman Ron Graham chaired the hearing.
Chief Laux brought three complaints before the Council:
Reiva complained that the Northwest News, a free paper, was unfair in publishing a letter on the eve of a primary election that misled readers to believe he was an atheist, and that the newspaper’s coverage showed a pattern of bias against him. In alleging bias, Reiva pointed to several examples: an editor’s note attached to his campaign manager’s rebuttal letter, which Reiva characterized as “hostile;” the lack of publication of his and his supporters’ rebuttal letters to a letter attacking him by a former mayor; failure to edit out incorrect references to him in a letter by Ron Christensen, although it was brought to the editor’s attention that the information was incorrect and she edited out references to other politicians; and finally, editing of one of his letters to remove information critical of Dean Nyquist (who once worked as the paper’s legal representative.)