If Grand Forks City Council member Terry Bjerke doesn’t like something, you’ll know.
Normally, his disagreements culminate in dissenting votes at council meetings, but negative community reaction to a controversial speaker earlier this year prompted him to schedule an event Tuesday to defend free speech.
Bjerke will share a stage with that speaker, Usama Dakdok. This will be Dakdok’s third trip to Grand Forks this year, where previously his events have sparked debate about the line between hate and free speech.
Bjerke will be telling the audience how he sees things, similarly to how he conducts himself in council meetings.
The self-described conservative is oftentimes the lone dissenting vote on the council, voting against such things as the most recent budget, nearly every liquor license that goes before him and what he feels is excess government spending, among many others.
But to Bjerke, all of those nay votes serve a purpose.
“People of this country, this state and this city get the government they deserve,” he said. “I’m the watchman. I’m there to sounds the alarm. If they don’t want to hear it, there’s nothing I can do about that. But nobody in this town is ever going to say — at least when I’m in office — that they didn’t know what was happening.”
Defending free speech
Bjerke’s appearance with Dakdok Tuesday follows two other appearances the speaker has made in Grand Forks.
Dakdok, who travels the country preaching about the “dangers of Islam” was met by more than 150 protesters at his first event in March.
In September, Dakdok returned and on the same night, Grand Forks leaders, led by council member Bret Weber, partnered with UND and the local advocacy group North Dakotans for Diversity and Compassion and hosted a meeting to promote diversity and compassion.
Following Dakdok’s second appearance, talk of potentially trying to keep him and other controversial speakers out of community venues prompted Bjerke to host the event and donate a portion of his council salary to finance it.
Bjerke said he didn’t see the same amount of outrage when Angela Davis, who came to prominence as a leader of the Communist Party U.S.A., and Bill Ayers, a former member of the Weather Underground, and other divisive speakers who have come to town in recent years.
“I didn’t see the line of professors protesting those two speakers,” Bjerke said. “You can’t have it one way or the other. If it’s acceptable to have communists and bombers speak at UND, then certainly a man who was raised in Egypt and is knowledgeable of the Quran and can read it in Arabic should be available to speak in Grand Forks.”
The Celebrate Freedom Event begins at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Empire Arts Center.
Bjerke will begin the event with a speech about how freedom of speech is diversity and Dakdok will follow with a discussion, titled “The Truth About Freedom in Islam.” The two speeches will be followed by a question and answer session.
“Terry (Bjerke) and Mr. Dakdok absolutely have every right to come to town to talk,” Weber said. “And they have every right to say whatever they want — true, false or otherwise.”
On the council
Freedom of speech is a right Bjerke exercises often during council and committee meetings, where he is often incites debate.
Council member Doug Christensen said though Bjerke may cast a dissenting vote, nobody can accuse him of being uninformed. The two are currently the longest-serving members on the council.
Before Bjerke was on the council, Christensen said they would try to reach more of a consensus on city matters, but since Bjerke’s arrival, there have been more 6-1 votes.
“He can be strident in his views and opinions sometimes, but that’s Terry,” Christensen said. “He’s been like that ever since he’s been on the council.”
Bjerke said he wishes more people in government were honest and forthright, as he tries to be. While he was running for reelection to the council, Bjerke said he spoke to a man with two yards signs supporting two very different politicians — Terry Bjerke and Barack Obama. That voter, Bjerke said, supported him even though he didn’t agree with Bjerke’s views, because he saw Bjerke as a straight shooter who would tell it like it is.
“It’s my job to make sure the citizens of Grand Forks know what’s going on,” Bjerke said. “It’s pretty clear I read a lot, I do my homework and I bring things up that other people don’t bring up. It’s my job to inform the people of what’s going on.”
Though they may spar from time to time on the council floor, both Christensen and Weber said they and Bjerke get along well.
“Despite his sort of irascible nature, he’s actually a gentleman, and when we walk out of the building, everything is fine,” Weber said.
Bjerke said his ultimate goal on the council is to leave the city — and the rest of the country — in a better place than when he started.
“America is different. It’s exceptional. It’s unique,” Bjerke said. “I want to keep it that way and I’m doing the best I can so that when I go, I pass on the best country I can.”
If you go
What: “Celebrate Freedom Event”
When: 7 p.m. Tuesday
Where: Empire Arts Center
Cost: Admission is free