Mayor Norton walks back public call-out after conversation with Rochester business

A dust-up between a local business and Rochester’s mayor made waves on social media over the weekend, sparking a broader discussion on the ethics of using a public platform to call out a private business over masking complaints — an ever-growing issue in a country divided over mask usage.

On Saturday, Mayor Kim Norton took to Twitter to share her unhappiness with the Crossroads location of the Minnesota Auto License Bureau. The bureau, a privately owned business that contracts with the government to issue vehicle tabs, license plates and other state licenses, had a complaint filed against it for allegedly not enforcing Minnesota’s mandatory face mask requirement.

Norton said she was left on hold for nearly an hour while trying to address the complaint, leading to the tweet in question. Bureau employee Erin Olson responded to the mayor on Twitter, saying the situation didn’t warrant a public call-out from one of the city’s most prominent officials.

“[P]lease call me on my cell phone if you have a problem with the way we are running our privately owned business,” wrote Olson. “I would much prefer you speak to us directly rather than slandering us on social media.”

Norton walked back some of her comments Saturday evening after speaking with the bureau’s owners, who said the long hold time was a fluke and nothing more. The mayor added she was following up on the complaint and did not witness any violations firsthand.

“Sometimes even Mayors get irritated,” Norton tweeted. “My apologies for not using my best judgement in responding to the long hold I was on today — I let it get the best of me when I was simply trying to resolve an issue to everyone’s benefit.”

Are call-outs effective?

Saturday’s back-and-forth is the latest local example of a national trend that has exploded amid various Covid-19 ordinances. Covid-related ‘online shaming’ has become more commonplace across all forms of social media since March, calling out people or businesses found to be out of compliance with local or state laws.

It’s often well-intentioned — in the interest of protecting public health and encouraging compliance with government mandates — but according to June Tangney, clinical psychologist at George Mason University, it normally doesn’t work as intended. 

In an article published on CNN’s website, Tangney says public call-outs usually have the opposite effect than what’s desired — instead of getting people to comply with mandates, they’re more likely to become defensive.

"When we're scared and when we see people doing something that endangers all of us, it's a natural tendency to want to shame them," said Tangney. "It's just not a good approach if, bottom line, you want to see their behavior change."

Molly Malone Hintz, owner of the license bureau, wrote on Facebook that she encourages customers to wear masks and does not allow more than five customers in the building at a time. However, she believes requiring all customers to wear masks is ‘confrontational.’ 

“The public has the responsibility to wear a mask and if they don't, I assume they have their valid reason,” wrote Hintz, noting ADA protections exempting certain people from the mandate.

After speaking with Hintz and receiving some public pushback, the mayor says she has re-evaluated her original stance.

“Let’s assume they will comply with the masking order and move on,” wrote Norton.

Isaac Jahns is a Rochester native and a 2019 graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism. He reports on politics, business and music for Med City Beat.