Herman Kossow

Herman Emil Kossow was a politician from Minnesota who served as the first Mayor of Bloomington, Minnesota from 1953 until 1955.
Early life
Kossow was born in Alma, Wisconsin to Henry Frederick Johan Kossow and Katharina Ann Sutter in 1901.
He served in the United States Navy from April 1918 until February 1919.
Adult life
Kossow married a woman named Margaret Irene Davis on September 20th, 1923, in Itasca, Minnesota. Kossow moved to Bloomington, Minnesota in 1932. He became the first mayor in 1953.
He was known for being outdoorsy, generous, and open-minded. He was also a member of the Bloomington Chamber of Commerce while mayor. In November 1954, the City of Bloomington created a newspaper, The Bloomington Sun. A photo of Mayor Kossow buying the first subscription to the newspaper was put on the front page of the first edition. He was aware that the city of Bloomington was growing at a rapid pace, and set up plans for rapid suburban expansion. In east Bloomington, such planning becomes obvious when looking at the organized grid-street layout, which continues into the west.
City of Bloomington vs Herman E Kossow
In 1964, he was arrested for public intoxication. After being arrested, he was charged with driving while intoxicated. He challenged the courts on the arrest, claiming that there were two charges being put on him from one minor crime, a court case that would make it all the way to the Minnesota Supreme Court. The court ruled that since driving while intoxicated was a state crime, public intoxication was a municipal ordinance that included driving while intoxicated, and he could not, therefore, be charged twice. Kossow would therefore only be charged for driving while intoxicated.
Later life
He died in 1988 at the age of 87.

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