A fire truck displaying "Moorhead Fire Dept." decals and banners endorsing Moorhead City Council candidate Sarah Opitz appears during Moorhead high School's Homecoming Parade. (Contributed photo)
MOORHEAD, Minn. (KVRR) — The City of Moorhead has been made aware that at least one complaint has been filed with the Minnesota Secretary of State’s office over the use of a retired fire truck for political purposes.
The complaint came to light through a KVRR open records request with the city.
The truck with “Moorhead Fire Department” lettering was used by Ward 1 candidate Sarah Opitz in the Moorhead High School Homecoming Parade last Friday.
Moorhead Fire Chief Jeff Wallin expressed his concerns to staff in two letters sent over the past week.
He says others outside the department have expressed concerns.
Wallin says the use of the retired fire truck by political candidates gives the appearance that the city is engaging in political activities and supporting candidates.
He also writes that allowing adults and children to ride on top of or hang from the moving vehicle will give some observers the impression that the fire department does not care about safety.
He is asking that city logos be removed from the cab of the truck.
Earlier this week, Clay County Commissioner Kevin Campbell took to social media to express his concerns with the use of the fire truck by a political candidate.
“I’ve seen a lot of poor campaign judgements (sic) by candidates for elected office but I have never seen such an unethical use of what appears to be public property,” Campbell wrote.
“The use of this vehicle clearly marked Moorhead Fire Department is a very unfair unethical violation of campaign decency!”
A message seeking comment from Opitz was not immediately returned.
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