An employee at a Granger coffee shop says canvassers working for Republican county council candidates Jamie O’Brien and Amy Drake removed incumbent Dan Schaetzle’s campaign cards from the counter on Saturday, threw them in a trash can near the entrance, and put O’Brien’s cards on the counter in place of Schaetzle’s. The employee said Schaetzle’s cards had been on the counter with the shop’s approval. O’Brien did not have approval to advertise his cards.
“It was just rude,” she said. “It was just nasty behavior.”
The canvassing event was jointly authorized by Drake and O’Brien, and funded through their shared political action committee, The Drake and O’Brien PAC.
A flyer for the April 18 event listed the coffee shop as the meeting point and named Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita as a featured canvasser.
The employee said the group arrived around 8:30 a.m., an hour before the advertised start, and stayed in the lobby for about an hour and a half. Customers coming in for coffee complained that the group of canvassers blocked the entryway. The employee said the group was loud and the lobby was getting crowded. Staff went over and offered them a private conference room the shop had open and available. The group declined and continued to occupy the lobby.
After the group left, the employee said, staff found Schaetzle’s cards in a trash can near the entrance, and O’Brien’s cards on the counter. The employee said O’Brien’s cards included messaging against Schaetzle on the reverse side.
O’Brien returned to the shop alone about an hour later to refill his beverage. The employee said she told him about the cards. She said he appeared unaware of what she was describing.
Both the O’Brien and Drake campaigns posted photographs from inside the coffee shop to their Facebook pages Saturday afternoon.
Logan Foster
Logan Foster is the founder and editor of Redress South Bend, an independent news outlet covering local government, courts, and public institutions in South Bend and St. Joseph County, Indiana. He reports from primary documents: public records requests, court filings, state audit reports, and campaign finance disclosures. His reporting has examined city and school district payments made without competitive bidding, school board spending, and the records of candidates in county races. Redress South Bend obtained the South Bend Police Department's ShotSpotter coverage map after the department initially denied public access. The outlet is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and the Online News Association. Reach him at info@redresssouthbend.com
