Rukavina has his fill of Pawlenty family photos on governor's Web site

Star Tribune ^ | March 16, 2005 | Dane Smith

[Crookie Monster]

Threatening to put his own baby pictures on the state House of Representatives website, Rep. Tom Rukavina urged Gov. Tim Pawlenty today to remove from his official website a "Pawlenty Family Photo Album" containing 21 pictures of a pretty darn cute young future governor.

"I was a cute little baby, too," said Rukavina, a DFLer from Virginia, Minn., who relishes his role as an often lighthearted antagonist of his Republican governor, a former House colleague. But Rukavina contends that childhood pictures, which he views as designed to make folks feel warmer toward the governor, are a "totally inappropriate" form of self-promotion when posted on a taxpayer-financed website.

Pawlenty denied any wrongdoing but removed the pictures from his site, and he playfully chided Rukavina for engaging in a trivial pursuit. "He just kind of thrashes about in a reckless way. ... But he's funny." Pawlenty said that the photos were put on his site when he first became governor as a way for folks to "get acquainted," but that he never really like them there.

[Crookie Monster]

Although Rukavina maximized the humorous angle in his demand, he raises a serious point, some officials believe. State law for more than 40 years has prohibited most forms of self-promotion in mailings and written communication sent at taxpayer expense. The absence of specific laws applied to electronic communication and official websites is a problem that needs to be fixed, said Legislative Auditor James Nobles.

"It's contradictory and hypocritical to have zero tolerance for self-promotion in printed material paid for by taxpayers, while we are watching many official websites become highly promotional," Nobles said. "I again call on the Legislature to establish standards for how websites are used by elected officials."

Pawlenty ChristmasAssociated PressRecently, State Auditor Patricia Anderson, a Republican, strongly criticized Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, a DFLer, for allegedly crossing the line with self-promotion in a city newsletter. She issued an opinion that his newsletter and those of three other council members were an illegal use of taxpayer funds and that the officials should reimburse the city for a portion of the expense. Rybak has asked the city's ethics panel to rule on how much of the $42,000 cost of the letter should be repaid.

Young governor?Star TribuneDiffering with Nobles, Anderson said today that she thought there was "a difference between a website and a mass mailing. People are choosing to go there [websites]," while mailings are received regardless of whether they are wanted. Nevertheless, noting that she herself has a picture and biography on her website, Anderson said public officials should "watch it" and avoid excessive credit-taking or self-aggrandizement.

Republican Party officials released a statement accusing DFLers of also pushing the boundaries on website usage and of committing the same purported infractions Pawlenty was accused of.

At his news conference, Rukavina also suggested it was wrong for three websites apparently registered in anticipation of a reelection campaign website for Pawlenty to link to the offical governor's website. GOP Executive Director Corey Miltimore said DFL political websites do the same thing.

Dane Smith is at rdsmith@startribune.com