South St. Paul group files petition to recall council member accused of exposing child to meth at day care

A group of South St. Paul residents have started a petition to recall a City Council member accused of neglect for allegedly exposing a child at her day care to methamphetamine.

Council Member Pam Bakken had her day care license suspended last month, according to a Minnesota Department of Human Services letter dated March 4. The suspension followed a Dakota County investigation that found she “failed to provide required supervision when a child in your program ingested methamphetamine,” according to the state’s letter to Bakken. Bakken operated the day care out of her home in the 300 block of Grand Avenue W. since 2006.

The group of residents who call themselves “RECALL BAKKEN” submitted a formal recall petition on Friday morning, and it was accepted by the city clerk. In a news release, the group’s chair, Molly Smith, said a recall is the “only avenue for recourse the citizens have been given.”

“It’s regrettable that it has come to this,” Smith wrote. “Since the beginning of this situation, almost four months ago, the citizens of South St. Paul have continually asked members of the City Council to speak up in demanding accountability and answers from Council Member Bakken — but have been met with deafening silence."

Bakken did not return requests for comment on the recall petition Friday.

City Clerk Deanna Werner confirmed that the petition was accepted and that the group can now begin collecting signatures for the recall. The group would need 2,763 city residents to sign the petition — 25% of the number of voters in the most recent municipal election – for it to move forward to a citywide recall election, Werner said.

The deadline to collect the signatures is May 12. If they collect the required number of signatures, Werner would have five days to verify that all the signatures are from residents of South St. Paul and that they are eligible to vote.

If some of the signatures are rejected and that causes the total to drop below 2,763, the group would have 10 additional days to attempt to receive more signatures, Werner said.

The petition follows a tense, packed South St. Paul City Council meeting in February, where some residents called for Bakken to resign while others supported her.

Lakeville police investigated Bakken last December in a case where a child was potentially exposed to a harmful substance. It was forwarded to the Dakota County Attorney’s Office for review for possible criminal charges on March 10. The office is still reviewing the case for charging consideration, a spokeswoman said Friday.

Eva Herscowitz of the Minnesota Star Tribune contributed to this report.