Clashing Views Over State Representative’s Parade Encounter

Member support makes our neighborhood news freely available and not locked behind a paywall. Join now to keep your community informed.

A state legislator missed last weekend’s West St. Paul parade after what’s been described as a rude encounter with a high school-age volunteer. DFL Rep. María Isa Pérez-Vega posted on social media that a volunteer yelled at her, startling her child. Bystanders said Pérez-Vega was the one being rude. 

The tweet drew support and criticism, with more than 200 replies and over 60,000 views, making it her most viewed tweet in recent months. Pérez-Vega’s district includes the northern half of West St. Paul.

Pérez-Vega’s office released this statement on Wednesday: “Rep. Pérez-Vega has no additional comments and will limit future conversations with the City of West St. Paul.” (We reached out for further clarification and have not heard a response.)

What happened: While trying to appear in the Explore West St. Paul Days parade, Pérez-Vega approached a barricade along the parade route in her car and asked a student volunteer with the Apple Valley police department for directions. That’s where accounts differ.

• Pérez-Vega said the volunteer “rudely shouted at us, startled my kid.” She did not participate in the parade because of this “unfortunate incident.” She posted photos of the volunteer and named him.
• Witnesses say multiple drivers approached the barricades with varying degrees of frustration, but described police officers and other volunteers as calm and professional. One witness said she recognized Pérez-Vega from a neighborhood party and that Pérez-Vega raised her voice, not the volunteer.

Security: Multiple police agencies and volunteers supplemented the West St. Paul Police Department with barricades at each intersection, as they normally do for parades. But recent incidents of vehicles driving into parade crowds resulted in heightened awareness and stricter enforcement.

Varying issues: Support and criticism over the incident covered multiple issues, including perception vs. experience, police behavior, social media shaming, and power dynamics (for both an elected official and police). It’s further complicated by the conflicting perspectives and lack of dialogue.

Multiple Sides

Believe her: “When people tell me how they experience things, I believe them,” said West St. Paul Council Member Robyn Gulley, who posted to social media in support of Pérez-Vega. While Gulley had a prior commitment and couldn’t attend the parade, she said Pérez-Vega contacted her. “I talked to María for a long time, she was very upset.”

Gulley’s social media post called the situation “deplorable and unacceptable.” She noted the student volunteer was “dismissed immediately.” At the time Gulley tweeted, the parade was over and all of the volunteers had left—but none were asked to leave because of the incident. Gulley said her characterization was accurate in that the volunteer was no longer there.

Disappointed: One witness said she was impressed with volunteers and police officers for calmly dealing with angry drivers. But she was disappointed with Pérez-Vega’s reaction. 

• “I’m a mom, I’ve been there before,” said the witness, who asked not to be identified. “[But] for her to post about it in such a disparaging way toward that young man from Apple Valley and then take pictures of him—I was very offended and I thought it was very irresponsible of her.” 
• While multiple people say they witnessed the encounter, none were willing to go on the record against the state legislator.

Opportunity

“I wasn’t there,” Gulley said. “What I heard was her experience of the situation. I hear others experienced it differently. Every story has multiple sides. I think it was important to use it as a lesson and an opportunity to improve our city.” 

• Gulley talked to city staff about implementing a code of conduct for volunteers and outside agencies that support events like this, something she said is good regardless of what happened. 

In a reply to a supporter the day after the incident, Pérez-Vega said she appreciated West St. Paul leadership and Council members for addressing the situation and added, “I want to highlight that I do appreciate the support, respect, and professionalism shared by two Dakota County Sheriffs who were trying to be helpful.” She noted concerns with high school students from another city working security.

No comment: The City of West St. Paul declined to comment due to data privacy statutes.

Member support makes our neighborhood news freely available and not locked behind a paywall. Join now to keep your community informed.