Mayors Gone Wild II - How do you get banned for life from a State Fair?

You know, there are moments like this where I really start to question our reality. First, one Mayor beats his wife. Next, another one (allegedly) assaults a man in front of his daughter, and then works on the man's sister. This week, we already had one Mayor busted for DUI, and today, reports are coming in that Jim Shaw, the Mayor of Rapid City, has now been banned for life from the Iowa State Fair:
The mayor of Rapid City, S.D., says he has been banned for life from the Iowa State Fair after being charged for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

Jim Shaw, 59, says the trouble started last Friday night after complaining that a vehicle was barreling through a crowd of pedestrians inside the fair's gates. The mayor claims he approached the driver and was confronted by the Iowa State Fair Patrol.

"The next thing I know, he throws me to the ground, handcuffs me like I'm some escaped murderer, and I was carried to the substation," Shaw says.

State fair officials, who contract patrol officers for the 11-day event, confirmed the charges against Shaw. They said details were in a report at the Polk County sheriff's office, but officials there say no such report exists.

and...

"I told them I am a mayor of a community that has lots and lots of tourists," says Shaw, whose city is set in the heart of the Black Hills. "I said if any of our police officers treated visitors to our community the way you're treating me, I'm sure they'd be fired."

Read the Associated Press Story here. "What? You can't do that to me. I'm a Mayor!" Oh please. I'll bet they cuffed and stuffed him.

By all reports, Mayor shaw is a nice guy (and certainly seemed so when I was in RC watching him on tv). But I don't think that his position in Rapid City automatically gives him license to be a buttinsky when he perceives injustice and fast drving at State Fairs.

Speaking of questioning the conduct of a public servant, Disorderly conduct and resisting arrest? That sounds like behavior from a drunken college student, not the leader of the second largest city in the state.

The Des Moines Register has a little more on Shaw's personal tale of State Fair woe:

Shaw said he never struggled and did not deserve the resisting arrest citation. The officer told Shaw that he was attempting to pull away, hence the charge. A first-aid worker came to bandage his knee. When asked what happened, an embarrassed Shaw said he simply fell down. When he was released at about 11 p.m., he was told he was banned from the fair for life.

“He walked me to the gate and wished me good luck like I was getting out of prison in a James Cagney movie. My daughter was sitting on the car crying, she didn’t know where I’d been,” he said. “I have to tell you, I was humbled. I was humiliated. I was embarrassed about the whole thing, but I was also angry about it.

and...

Now, he may contest the charges. Shaw claims he never wanted special treatment because of his status as the city’s mayor, he said, but instead showed them his business card to prove that he wasn’t there to cause trouble.

(Read it here) He just pulled out his little business card to wave in front of the officer. I'll just bet he wasn't asking for special treatment.

And now he's banned for life. No funnel cakes for you!

I'll stay on top of this tent full of freakery as it develops on the Iowa State Fair midway.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Nothing new here.

If you have ever worked with Shaw you know of his two personalities.

It's amazing to watch him go from a complete jerk, to the nicest guy when the camera turns on.

As to Shaw expecting special treatment, you bet he does.

This isn't his first trouble with the law, he's been arrested at least once in the past, if not more for DUI.

I guess when your Mayor, the media just doesn't report it.

That must be one of the benefits from being in the media himself for years.
Anonymous said…
Why hasn't the Rapid City Journal reported this story? It's on the AP wire.

Did Shaw call is friends at the Journal and ask them not to run the story?

This is a great example of what's wrong with city hall in Rapid City.
Publisher said…
I'm just glad nobody care about what the Mayor of Holabird is up to! we don't need none of that right now!
Anonymous said…
Why would he be at the Iowa Fair when the Central States Fair is in Rapid?
Anonymous said…
1. Oldguy...the Central States Fair starts today. This happened last week.
2. This is a danger of anonymous posts (okay, like this one). All sorts of name-calling and accusations are put out there with no documentation. It isn't fair (no pun intended) until we get all the facts.
3. KOTA radio, where Shaw once worked, reported it early this morning. Apparently it hasn't been reported before now because nobody knew until the DesMoines Register reported it.
Anonymous said…
Boy Yvonne Vik will have a tough time running around the capitol claiming how good local government is...
Anonymous said…
I'll say one thing in Shaw's defense: there does seem to be an increase in traffic inside the fairgrounds at the Iowa State Fair this year. You put 100,000 people in a confined area, especially when it's raining, and it tends to result in trouble. Stir in some cars -- plus those scooters, golf carts, strollers, etc. -- and it does make the blood boil.

The Register says that Shaw has apparently attended the fair for the past 30 years.

On another note, I've seen the rent-a-cops in action at the fairgrounds in the past and know that they can sometimes be self-important.

Sorry it happened
PP said…
Anon 11:16 - I have one thought with regards to your comment -

"Apparently it hasn't been reported before now because nobody knew until the Des Moines Register reported it."

How did they pick up on the fact that's he's the RC mayor? It's not like he's well known to Iwegians?

That is, unless he spent a lot of his outrage going "I'm the mayor of Rapid City"

It's like when I was working for the State Division of Insurance several years back and I had a call. It was a common complaint call about a issue on some insurance coverage.

The guy actually said "Does it matter that I'm the Mayor of Salem?"

My reply? "No sir. Not at all."



(yes, I know it's Iowans before anyone comments)
Anonymous said…
Does anyone have the tape of when a certain SF attorney was in jail in S. Bend, Ind. screaming that he was a lawyer (was in fact a law student)and his dad was the Governor of SD? All the same kinda stuff.
Anonymous said…
How do you know Shaw is lying?

Have you ever seen an Iowan drive fast?
Anonymous said…
Does anyone have the video of a S.F. attorney who as the son of a former governor told the jailers in S. Bend, Ind. that not only was he an attorney (only student at the time) but his dad was the governor of SD and they had better let him go? Great stuff, it's all the same.
Anonymous said…
I don't know. Does anyone have the court transcipt of the Daschle staffer's arrest for indecent exposure during Dakota Days because he caught urinating in the alley?

People do dumb things in their youth that they now realize they shouldn't have in retrospect.

It's not necessarily a test of their current character.
Anonymous said…
Did anyone read the DesMoines Register Story.

Sounds like Shaw didn't think anyone would find out about his bad behavior.

"Shaw said he intended to pay the citations and move on from the episode until he was contacted by The Des Moines Register. He hadn’t told anyone but his family about the incident."

Then Shaw seems to expect special treatment because of this position.

“I told them I am a mayor of a community that has lots and lots of tourists,” he said. “I said if any of our police officers treated visitors to our community the way you’re treating me, I’m sure they’d be fired. The next thing I know, he throws me to the ground, handcuffs me like I’m some escaped murderer and I was carried to the substation.”

It almost sounds like he is threating to have the officer fired.

I can't believe his stupidity, but then again, we're talking about Jim
Shaw.
Anonymous said…
Hick.
Anonymous said…
PP;

The title of this post has my vote for best "title of the year",,,very funny!!!
Anonymous said…
I hear that Bruce Whalen is next on the inappropriate activities list. I understand that Bruce goes out of his way to make others uncomfortable. Apparently he grabbed Stephanie's hand in a "handshake" and wouldn't let it go and pulled her close to him. Then he had the balls to say he wanted to debate her right there and wouldn't let her hand go for a ridiculous amount of time. She suggested having their handlers set it up instead of an impromptu debate.

Stephanie will kick his but so far that maybe he will end up at the Iowa State fair as an exhibit on what not to do in politics.
Anonymous said…
Whats next? The mayor of Pierre letting the railroad come through town because it will bring such prosperity to Pierre. Oh, too late that has already happened.
Anonymous said…
Good point! Maybe we should move his house on the s-curve in Pierre by the railroad tracks. When the "remarkably fast and very quiet train" goes by and he has his heart attack the ambulance will have to wait until the train passes by to get him to the hospital. Lets give these wingnuts more power!
Anonymous said…
This is so typical of Jim Shaw. Seem to have a calm demeanor, but he will search out and destroy anyone who crosses him. His past retaliatory behavior towards city employees and his frequent rudeness to waiters and waitresses in Rapid City restaurants is evidence that this man thinks he is above the law and that he is better than anyone else.
Anonymous said…
Is it true the he was driving a city vehicle?
Anonymous said…
I always thought it was neither Iwegians nor Iowans, but Iowegians.
Anonymous said…
Holabird doesn't have a mayor,it's unorganized. (Or is that disorganized?) Unless Nick Nemec is the self-annointed one.
Anonymous said…
Speaking of Bruce Whalen, he's got 3 kids but only 2 are on his website. 3rd by prior women? Out of wedlock? Divorce? What's the story, estranged? Those must be the unique SD values he's talking about.

Signed,
SD Republican ashamed
Anonymous said…
Anon 8:43 -- interesting question. Do you think they will answer it? I bet not.
Anonymous said…
BUT WAIT!!!
If you use your credit card, and call within the next 15 minutes. We will include a video of a Rapid city councilman, receiving a sobriety test, that had a BAC of .257. Plus, you will automatically receive 25% off of our "Mayors gone wild-III" video !!

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