By Steve Browne
Valley City Times-Record

State’s Attorney Brad Cruff filed charges under the state’s  Corrupt Practices Act last week against Valley City’s former city administrator David Johnson, based on a complaint by Robert Drake, one of the founders of Citizens for Community Involvement and former candidate for the city commission.
Johnson was charged Tuesday, Feb. 12, with violation of the Century Code 16.1-10-08, Failure to Disclose Name of Sponsor in a Political Advertisement. The offense is a Class A Misdemeanor, which carries a maximum penalty of up to one year in jail and a fine of $2,000.
Johnson is now employed as county administrator for Wabasha County in Minnesota.
Johnson is alleged to have created a web site during the 2006 race for city commission in which candidates Robert Drake, Lloyd Nelson and LeRoy Neubauer were depicted as racists, slumlords and Nazis.
When asked what was necessary to prove the charges against Johnson, Cruff said, “Well, the Century Code hasn’t kept up with the times, but we have to show that the web site can be broadly construed as an ad, and that Johnson failed to disclose his sponsorship.”
Johnson admitted to creating the site and stated in a press release to the Times-Record in March 2007 that, “The web site in question was an expression of parody and satire” protected under the First Amendment, and that “these three individuals are blowing this matter substantially out of proportion for their own purposes.”
Johnson said that he did not intend for the web site to be offensive.
A call to Johnson’s office in Wabasha County for a statement Friday afternoon was not returned.
Drake said that he intended to attend a Wabasha County  Commission meeting to present the facts of the case to the commission and that he expected more charges to follow. Drake specifically cited Chapter 16.1-10, forbidding “use of state or political subdivision services or property for political purposes.”
Cruff said that this was unlikely because the company that hosted the web site had scrubbed the server and the only way use of city government property might be proven would be to forensicly examine the computers at city hall, which wasn’t certain to produce any evidence.
Asked about Johnson’s use of city time, Cruff replied that Johnson was a salaried employee. “He could step away from his desk and claim he wasn’t working,” Cruff said.
Cruff said that when Johnson is served with a summons, he must appear in court, or reply by mail that he has received it and intends to plead not guilty.