St. Paul council back to work as member is investigated

The St. Paul city council's agenda Wednesday night was routine. There was talk of a pay raise for plumbers that work for the city, a zoning change and and an update on St. Paul's recycling program.

But looming over the meeting was a criminal probe focusing on Ward 1 council member Dai Thao, who's running for mayor.

Thao is under investigation by state authorities after allegations that his campaign had improperly sought a contribution from a Minneapolis lobbyist.

He recently met with the lobbyist to talk about a proposal to ban plastic foam takeout containers. The meeting allegedly ended with an illicit demand for a campaign contribution, according to text messages from an aide that surfaced last weekend as Thao stepped up his mayoral campaign.

The seven-member council could take up the container ban as soon as next month, council president Russ Stark said.

When the packaging issue comes up, Stark said he "would certainly expect" Thao to recuse himself.

"I'm assuming he would get the advice from the city attorney to do that," Stark said.

Stark, who has endorsed Thao's opponent Melvin Carter for mayor, said he asked the city attorney last week how to address reports of the lobbyist incident, before it became public. City officials said they can't disclose attorney-client meetings.

Thao declined to talk about the allegations after the council meeting.

"I have nothing to add to that matter at this time, and I look forward to cooperating with BCA's investigation," he said.

But council member Dan Bostrom — a former St. Paul cop who supports another of Thao's rivals, Pat Harris — said before the council meeting that investigation may make governing difficult.

"It's a very uncomfortable situation for everybody," Bostrom said. "Perhaps maybe what he should do is step down for a while until this is all cleared."

There isn't a clear mechanism for that to happen in St. Paul, at least on a temporary basis.

St. Paul council members Chris Tolbert and Amy Brendmoen say they want to see more about the case before making any judgment.

Another council member, Jane Prince, said there may be issues Thao needs to step away from going forward in the wake of the allegations.

"I don't want to prejudge in what situations there might be an issue or a problem. But I do feel like we need to let the investigation do its work," Prince said. "Council member Thao, in my experience, has been a very honorable colleague."

Rebecca Noecker, also a council member, said she had no comment about the developments.

Thao is currently the runner-up in delegates to be the DFL nominee going into a city convention next month.