after getting drunk and totaling his car Mayor Herb Bergson says he will never drink again. I bet he also said he will never raise taxes either. but he won't resign. he asked a witness not to call the cops. Original Article Bergson: Won't resign, won't drink either Meets the press for the first time since his OWI 12/15/2005 Duluth Mayor Herb Bergson is back at work after his accident and OWI arrest last Friday north of Spooner. With a gash on his forehead, a dozen stitches, and a concussion Duluth Mayor Herb Bergson answered questions about his drunk driving arrest last week. Bergson says he was driving to a conference in Chicago. He planned on spending the night in Eau Claire to take a day off. I could have made a widow of my wife I guess. I could have made orphans of my children. Worse yet I could have made orphans of other children. I am grateful that I was the only one hurt. Bergson says he had 4 and a half drinks at a private residence before leaving. He says he doesnt remember being uncooperative, riding in the ambulance or the accident itself. He says he doesnt have a drinking problem and will never drink again. He says he has no thoughts on resigning. We have some good things going on in Duluth. Unemployment is down, construction is booming. We have a council that is willing to attack the problem of retiree health care. We have many new businesses starting and many businesses expanding. My supporters encourage me to continue and I am going to continue to do my job. Bergson says he mailed a signed plea agreement and a $784 fine. He has to attend an alcohol assessment class and go to a victims discussion panel. His drivers license will be suspended for six months. http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/13390391.htm Bergson asked passersby not to call cops BY CHUCK FREDERICK AND JOHN MYERSNEWS TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER Duluth Mayor Herb Bergson asked passersby not to call police Friday evening following a one-vehicle accident near Spooner that resulted in his citation for driving under the influence of alcohol, according to the Washburn County Sheriff's Office. The mayor asked motorists instead to help him push his crashed car off a guard rail along U.S. Highway 53 less than half a mile from Washburn County Highway H. The mayor also refused immediate medical attention, according to Spooner Police Officer DeWayne Olson, who responded to the scene under a mutual aid request. Olson's information was included in an incident report filed by the Washburn County Sheriff's Office and acquired this morning by the News Tribune. The report was written by Sgt. David G. Dennis of the Washburn County Sheriff's Office. ``My opinion was that Mr. Bergson was possibly intoxicated due to my observation of his eyes, the nature of the accident scene and Mr. Bergson's request to motorists not to call the police,'' Dennis wrote. Bergson was the driver and lone occupant of the four-door 2002 Mercury registered in his name, the report indicated. The vehicle was a ``total loss,'' Dennis wrote. Bergson said Monday he won't challenge the charges against him. ``I intend to plead no contest,'' Bergson said in an e-mailed message to the News Tribune. He declined to comment further. Bergson was southbound on U.S. Highway 53 on his way to a Great Lakes environmental conference in Chicago when his vehicle struck a bridge abutment, left the road and hit a guard rail in the median. The incident was reported at 6:25 p.m. just north of Washburn County Highway H, Karen Snearly, police communications operator for the Wisconsin State Patrol, said Saturday. The accident remains under investigation. Bergson's blood alcohol level won't be available for at least two weeks, Trooper Anthony DeSteffano said. Bergson told the News Tribune via e-mail Saturday that he had hoped to make it as far as Eau Claire, Wis., for the night. On Monday, Duluth City Council President Donny Ness issued the following statement: ``Of course, I am disappointed and saddened by this development, we cannot excuse the behavior, nor minimize its serious nature. The Mayor has humbled himself before our community, acknowledged his grave mistake, and has asked for forgiveness - I will give him mine and I will do so with a full heart for him and his family. ``I forgive the Mayor so that he knows there are people in this community ready to help him through a difficult time,'' Ness wrote in his statement. ``I also do it for our city, because the issues we face today deserve and require our full attention and focus. Finally, and most importantly, we all fall short of the Glory of God and as a sinner myself, I cannot turn my back on someone who is asking forgiveness of me when I have asked for, and received, forgiveness from God throughout my life.'' Bergson, a former Superior police officer, was taken to Spooner Health Center by ambulance, where he was treated and then arrested and booked into the Washburn County Jail. Bergson received a ticket for $784 and must appear in court on Jan. 9, DeSteffano said. If convicted, the mayor would not face jail time but would face mandatory alcohol evaluation and a mandatory loss of license for a period to be determined by the judge. DeSteffano said the citation is not considered a formal crime under Wisconsin law, such as a misdemeanor or felony, but is considered a ``forfeiture violation.'' Bergson said he wasn't badly hurt. ``I received some facial lacerations and a black eye,'' Bergson told the News Tribune in an e-mail, adding that the incident was handled professionally by the trooper. Initial reports to the public about the accident came from Bergson. He issued a statement to the media via e-mail early Saturday morning: ``Friday evening, I was involved in a single vehicle accident near Spooner, Wis.,'' he wrote. ``Following the accident, I was charged with operating while intoxicated. I made a terrible error in judgment when I got behind the wheel last night and I regret it deeply. I hope my family, friends, supporters and the citizens of Duluth can find it in their hearts to forgive me.'' Later, in another e-mailed statement released through city communications director Jeff Pappas, Bergson wrote: ``To the citizens of Duluth: I truly regret my actions of Friday, December 9. I recognize that what I did was wrong, I used poor judgment, and brought shame and embarrassment upon many people I love. Jacqui and our two sons have forgiven me and are standing behind me. For that I will be eternally grateful. I am human. Thus I have made, and will make, mistakes. I will take the appropriate steps to address this situation and humbly ask for your compassion, your understanding and your forgiveness.'' Bergson told the News Tribune via e-mail that the incident was an isolated occurrence and that alcohol has not been an issue in his ability to serve as mayor. He said it was his first drunken driving offense and the first major citation other than speeding tickets. ``I have never had problems with alcohol and it has never impaired any decisions as mayor,'' Bergson wrote. Bergson declined to answer how much he had to drink before the crash and where he had been drinking. A more detailed version of this story will be published in Tuesday's News Tribune. http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=111598&section=News Mayor swears off alcohol after arrest Associated Press, The Forum Published Friday, December 16, 2005 DULUTH, Minn. A battered Mayor Herb Bergson said Thursday his auto accident and drunken driving arrest last week were among the greatest mistakes of his life, and he pledged never to drink alcohol again. Bergson returned to City Hall for the first time since his one-car accident last weekend along U.S. Highway 53 near Spooner, Wis., and candidly answered questions. One eye was bruised, there were stitches in his eyebrow. This was probably the biggest mistake of my life. I will live with it forever, Bergson said with his wife, Jacqui, at his side. God has seen fit to give me a second chance. I intend to use it wisely. Bergson said doctors told him he suffered a concussion during the accident in which he totaled his car when it struck a guard rail. He said he had four-and-a-half drinks at a private residence before driving. He wouldnt identify the owner of the house. We have decided its my mess, and were not going to drag anyone else into it, he said. Bergson said he had pleaded no contest to the drunken driving charge against him and had already sent a $784 check to cover his fine. However, he disputed claims in police reports that he did not cooperate with officers. Bergson said he would undergo a required alcohol-use assessment and abide by any recommendations that resulted, although he said that he didnt think he had a drinking problem. I could have made a widow of my wife. I could have made an orphan of my children, the mayor said. Worse yet, I could have made orphans of other children. He pledged to never drink alcohol again. It never did anything for me. I dont know that it did anything for anybody, he said. I never saw it do anybody any good. Bergson said he would work to regain the trust of Duluth residents and would strive to encourage people not to drink and drive. http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/13395624.htm Posted on Tue, Dec. 13, 2005 Our View: Bergson must come clean on details of DUI arrestMayor's personal tragedy shows perils of alcohol/driving mix, especially in holidaysMayor Herb Bergson was supposed to have been big news Sunday, and far beyond Duluth. For its national story on the problem of health-care benefits for retired public workers, the New York Times sought him out to feature, complete with photo, prominently in its Sunday business section. Bergson made the spread, but he also made the front page of this paper, as well as the top story on every local TV news show, with the report of his drunken driving arrest. Where the Times displayed his beaming, proud smile, the local media have made famous the worst mug shot since Glenn Campbell posed for the police in Phoenix. If ever there was an illustration of just how far, and how quickly, needlessly foolish and irresponsible behavior can sink someone from the heights of achievement to the gutter of embarrassment, this was it. What, for Pete's sake, was he thinking - not just by the time he'd raised his blood-alcohol level to twice the legal limit, i.e., stumbling drunk, and got behind the wheel of what used to be his four-door Mercury -- but even earlier Saturday when he decided it'd be OK to pop a few, knowing he was driving solo nearly 500 miles to Chicago or, all right, Eau Claire? That no one was seriously injured or killed is pure luck, and while no drunk driving episode is acceptable, this one was hardly a candidate for pleading "c'mon, officer give me a break. I'm only going home around the corner." That's especially true because as a former police officer and detective Bergson knows that line all too well. How could he have forgotten the consequences for those who utter those words? His action also has done wonders to torpedo progress he had been making politically after his unceremonious firing of chief aide Mark Winson, with the New York Times story beginning to give the impression that maybe the mayor from Duluth knew what he was doing after all. Along with recent driving-under-the-influence inductees Minnesota state Rep. Tom Rukavina of Virginia, Wisconsin state Rep. Frank Boyle of Superior and Wisconsin Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager, Bergson has helped round out a rogues' gallery of local politicians who have done damage to the reputation of the entire region, to say nothing of the Democratic Party to which they all swear allegiance. Bergson can begin to undo, or at least put into some perspective, his troubles by immediately coming clean on the details of the debacle before rumors and innuendo finish the job of burying him that he himself started on the road. Where and how much did he drink before setting out? With whom? Why did he think he could make the trip? If there is any good that can come out of this it will be with the complete disclosure of what goes on in the mind of one who would take so deadly a chance - knowledge that the public desperately needs to understand to end this very real danger. Bergson can thank his stars that he is around to share this woeful story, and to vow that it never happen again.