After the precinct caucuses, 7th-Ward City Council Member Katie Cashman went on a tear, filing code-of-conduct reports against constituents in two precincts, and circulating a questionnaire soliciting reports of “strong arming, bullying, misinformation and dog whistles being lobbed around on caucus night.”
One of the objects of her attack was Mary Pattock, longtime DFLer, neighborhood and feminist leader. Pattock chaired the caucus in the 4th precinct, and says she went home happy that night, because all had gone well. “A bunch of people — I’d say at least 15 — came up afterward to thank me for running the meeting so smoothly. Some even said they had fun.”
So she was stunned a couple of days later when Cashman filed a “code of conduct” report with the DFL, claiming that Pattock ‘did nothing to rein [sic] in decorum while caucus-goers yelled at other caucus goers.”
“I do recall one woman— I believe she was a Cashman supporter and one of the people who signed Cashman’s complaint — getting upset about a resolution regarding the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA),” says Pattock. It lasted about a minute and a half. Other than that, all went well.”
Cashman also charged that Pattock “damaged the reputation of the party and the experience of caucus-goers” by entertaining the resolution and “bringing it to a vote without debate,” a charge refuted both by Pattock and the official minutes of the meeting.
It’s true that the agenda issued by the DFL does not include resolutions, but the DFL Minnesota 2024-2025 Official Call[1] says caucus-goers are allowed to add items to the agenda. “I actually read that part of the call aloud to attendees so they’d be fully informed about their options regarding process. They decided they wanted to hear the resolution and went on to debate and vote on it and it passed.” This item was also not a resolution to amend the party platform, which is what a resolution is, but to change how the DFL operates.
As a remedy to her complaint, Cashman asked for Pattock to be disallowed from ever convening another DFL caucus. Since the remedy was not within the purview or authority of the committee, it was dropped.
A few days later, Cashman brought another charge against Pattock, this time during a 7th Ward Planning Committee meeting. She claimed Pattock had posted on social media that Cashman was affiliated with the DSA. She said that the statement was untrue, and that since Pattock is a member of the planning committee, she should not have posted it and should either retract her statement or be removed from the committee.
But the post was undated and unsourced, and Pattock refused to retract her statement, pointing out that Cashman usually votes with the DSA. A motion to expel Pattock from the committee died for lack of a second.
“It’s disturbing to have an elected official come after you,” says Pattock, “especially when her charges are false, and a roomful of 100 people can say they are false, based on what they saw with their own eyes.”
[1] 2. Agenda and Rules. A standard agenda and rules for precinct caucuses are provided in the caucus materials and available online at www.dfl.org. Each precinct caucus may adopt additional agenda items but may not delete items from the standard agenda. Each caucus can add to, delete from, or change the standard rules as it sees fit. However, the State DFL Constitution and Bylaws and the Official Call supersede these rules, and in cases where no rules apply, the current edition of Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised will govern. https://dfl.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/2023-08-12-2024-2025-DFL-Official-Call.pdf
