HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020/10/26 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session Official minutes
City council study session
St. Louis Park, Minnesota
Oct. 26, 2020
The meeting convened at 6:15 p.m.
Councilmembers present: Mayor Jake Spano, Tim Brausen, Rachel Harris, Larry Kraft, Nadia
Mohamed, and Margaret Rog
Councilmembers absent: Anne Mavity
Staff present: City Manager (Mr. Harmening), City Attorney (Mr. Mattick), Deputy City
Manager/Human Resources Director (Ms. Deno), Engineering Director (Ms. Heiser), Senior
Engineering Project Manager (Mr. Sullivan), Senior Management Analyst (Ms. Solano)
1. Ward 2 candidate interviews
Below is a summary of the council ward 2 vacancy interviews. Each candidate was given 30
minutes to answer the following questions:
1) Please tell us about yourself, why you are interested in serving as a council member and
why the council should select you for this vacancy?
2) Please tell us about your current racial equity journey and how you see racial equity within
policymaking.
3) In the application you were asked to describe one to three goals/initiatives you feel are
important to your overall vision for St. Louis Park, can you share these goals and why they
are important to you?
4) Can you share an example from your background that shows how you work successfully
in a team of peers?
5) What questions do you have for the council?
Mike Ritter – grew up in Brooklyn Park, MN. Attended and graduated from Park Center High
School. Grew up with a good work ethic, parents encouraged. Is a graphic designer now and
lives in St. Louis Park in Elmwood with his spouse. He Is interested in the ward 2 position to
learn about city government and meet folks, enjoys a challenge, and respects what council
does. He believes he has a work strong ethic and could be a productive part of the group. He
brings perspective of the neighborhood, a mixed marriage, wants to bring folks together, and
move the city forward.
Race Equity – grew up with diverse group of people in Brooklyn Park and is married to a Latin
woman who is a great person and role model. Related to policy making, the city needs to take
steps so all are able to live and work in this community. Diversity helps everyone and there
needs to be a culture to create race equity. The essence of this work is done in neighborhoods
and between people. Inequities need to be removed.
Goals & overall vision – promote diversity and inclusion, renters to become permanent
residents of city, and focus on the City of St. Louis Park. The city needs to involve people to
work together, especially now.
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Worked successfully with team of peers – playing sports and working toward goal. Currently his
role at work includes communication, patience, and working toward a common goal.
Lynette Dumalag – child of immigrants from Philippines, born in Minneapolis and grew up in
Eden Prairie. She works in commercial real estate and lives with her husband in St. Louis Park.
They have one child who will attend school next year in the city. She was involved in the public
engagement process for Vision 3.0 and is currently vice chair of the planning commission. She
has always been interested in local politics and 2020 was quite the year with COVID, George
Floyd, and a disparities gap we can no longer ignore. Her father worked in St. Louis Park with
Nordicware and as a janitor with the city.
Race Equity – commended the city on this work and discussed her experience with race equity
through her work, industry and non-profit connections. She has been involved in helping to
rebuild the Twin Cities after 2020 riots with the goal to get BIPOC businesses up and running
again, especially along Lake Street. She has created a team to help address these needs. She
also works with the commercial real estate diversity collaborative. Her non-profit work involves
helping to improve racial diversity on boards, staffs, and with clients, while expanding vision
here. She stated racial and economic disparities can cause hurt in communities and her work
focuses on this.
Goals and overall vision – noted her affordable housing and equity work, and stated stable
housing is vital to the community. She said if people have equitable and clean housing, it makes
it better and safer for the whole community. She added housing should be inclusive and safe.
Examples of working with team of peers – she has great experience here and was on the Aeon
board that uses the same governance model as the city council and served as board chair also.
She has worked on teams with both CEO’s as well as past incarcerated persons and made
decisions together within the framework of the board. Currently, she is working with a team
that is building shelter for homeless persons, where there is a shared goal and overcoming of
biases.
Joffrey Wilson – born and raised in Minneapolis and has lived in St. Louis Park for past 10 years.
He is very interested in servant leadership, volunteers, and served on boards. He is considering
city council, given the changes in the community now, and the role the council can play, feeling
now was a good time. He added his leadership style of building consensus and listening to all
voices would be assets to the council.
Race equity journey and policy making – in terms of his background, he has done work in racial
equity on boards of United Way, YMCA, and through his various employers. He has done this
work for many years and is excited the city council is working on this. He has served on
inclusion and diversity council in his company and for the last 6 months has served as the
director of this department within his company. He works to increase diversity at all levels,
removing disparities, and on inclusion. He wants to work on various diversity areas within the
city related to economic development, healthcare, and jobs.
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Initiatives important to him – equity needs to realize history and disparities that exist. He is also
interested in renewable energy and climate change, as well as reducing carbon footprint while
adding jobs. Also, economic development is important to him to create a tax base and allow the
city to do what they need to do.
How worked with teams in past – has direct reports and working with others at his organization
is valued and important in his industry as well – which is construction (Mortenson). Also, he has
been on various non-profit boards and volunteers his time adding he is only as successf ul as his
team and must work with peers to be successful.
Steven Hansen – born in International Falls, MN and moved to St. Louis Park when he was 1
year old, grew up in both the Browndale and Elmwood neighborhoods, and attended St. Louis
Park high school. Attended University of Minnesota and graduated with a teaching degree and
then joined the Peace Corp. Later he got his masters and taught in Africa for a time. He and his
wife later came back to St. Louis Park in 1981, have lived there ever since, and raised his
daughters in the city also. Now that he is retired, he wants to give back to the city as thanks for
providing excellent services, schools, and neighborhoods over the years. He was on the police
advisory commission, has served as an election judge, and also worked on Vision 3.0.
Race Equity journey and city policy – since living in St. Louis Park, there has always been a low
percentage of diversity. He went to college during the civil rights movement in the 1960’s –
70’s. He worked with a diverse group during his time in North Africa and when he returned to
the states, he managed a large group of people, about 20% where diverse. He added related to
policy making, it is an emotional issue and once that emotion is recognized, it loses its power.
He stated prejudices allow people to act in a discriminatory manner and everyone should
examine their motives for their own behavior.
Goals and vision – keep St. Louis Park the wonderful place it was when he raised his kids here.
He added, however, change is constant and as we move forward, we want to meet those
challenges, but also keep this the great place it is to live, safe and with good schools, and a
growing population. He stated the light rail will have 3 stops in Ward 2 and this will a ffect traffic
and other areas as well and managing that change will be important. Also , he noted there are a
lot of recreational facilities in Ward 2 and the wilderness areas along the creek might be an area
to develop more. He is also concerned about water quality, ground water, and historic
preservation.
Share examples of working with teams/peers – He noted his work on the police advisory
commission and also his work as a teacher and as a manager. He stated these were all team
efforts and he always looked for input and how to do things better.
Deb Brinkman – strong roots and vested interest in St. Louis Park, grandparents and extended
family lived in St. Louis Park, and were involved in community theatre. She raised her children
here, is a small business owner, owns rental property in the city, and worked in IT for 30 years.
She joined League of Women Voters in 2008 and works on issues that impact local community
such as housing, environment, and racial disparity. She believes it’s important to get involved in
the local community and help affect change. She worked on the Kids Vote initiative to engage
youth in elections. In 2008, she led the ranked choice voting grass roots effort which required a
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lot of partnerships. She trained for a time in order to run for a city council at-large seat in 2018.
She campaigned and listened to residents who live and work in the community and wants to
represent everyone in Ward 2. She believes she would bring good support from the community ,
if chosen.
Race equity and policy making – when she was younger, she watched race equity from afar.
Later, she had a friend who was affected as a person of color and she learned about her friend’s
experiences. As a project manager, she worked with a diverse group and the bond of holidays,
food, and family helped to bridge communication and culture gaps with this group and this was
an important lesson. The League of Women Voters has also been involved in racial justice for
many years. The justice system for people of color can be difficult and she learned this, along
with the housing crisis for people of color. She worked for MNDOT when they did training on
racial diversity, and the sensitivity was in all the work she did there. She recalled a call from a
black co-worker who was concerned during a police shooting a few years back and at that
moment, she realized her white privilege. She has learned from others in the community of
color about inclusion and exclusionary issues and she hopes to put practices in place that are
inclusive for all people.
She added data from police can help to make improvements in the community, such as the
percentage of people of color that are incarcerated. As a policy maker, she would like to look at
this and how to reduce the number of people of color bei ng incarcerated, while also holding
people accountable who may be insensitive to others. She thinks incremental progress here will
help.
Goals and vision – she noted transportation and safer streets was one of the most common
concerns folks had. Her time working at MNDOT helped her learn much about transportation
and engineering. Her vision is multi-modal where everyone has opportunities for all types of
transportation. She added she is a fan of light rail, bikes, electric scooters, and walking trails.
Also, she wants to plan for air travel and how this will change multi -modal environments.
Working on a team – being a project manager she has many stories of teams she has worked
with. By asking probing questions, the team came together to create a hybrid solution where all
were able to participate. She learned there are many right ways to do things, the importance of
being curious, asking questions, and active listening.
Jim Beneke – been active member of the community for 10-20 years, is interested in this
position, and would be proud to be a council member. In all community roles he has
participated in, he’s worked on all the city’s strategic priories such as racial equity,
environmental, housing and community engagement and he continues to have a strong interest
in those things. He served on the school board for 4 years and currently is on the city’s planning
commission and also has participated in different community initiatives in the past so he knows
how the community works. He added he has also been on other school committees with
strategic planning, and city initiatives such as Health in the Park and inclusion within the city. He
has 3 kids who went through St. Louis Park schools and while on the school board , he worked
on facilitates improvement, gender inclusion, systemic racism, and environmental stewardship.
He has also worked while on the school board to look at all items through a racial equity lens.
He is on the planning commission as he was interested in affordable housing. He also worked
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on the ADUs ordinance and owner occupancy issues. Has tried to be knowledgeable and give
feedback on the schools and other issues within the city.
Race Equity and policy – when he got married and his wife had several nephews of color, they
shared stories about how they were treated in Minneapolis and by police and this horrified him.
This was his first indicator of white privilege. Also, he studied these issues while in college and
looked at issues in history and different injustices blacks have suffered over the years. He tried
to learn more over the years and gets emotional about all the injustices suffered by people of
color. He also has been reading about environmental issues and how they relate to race equity
as well. He teaches math at Normandale College and over half of his students are from Somalia
or other Muslim countries, and this has helped him work on his presentations and word
problems that are presented to his students.
Vision and goals – important to keep racial equity at the forefront and thereby make sure it’s
the lens whereby all decisions are made. This is the overriding glue for all else. He also has
concerns for affordable housing and wants to work on ways to create this. Climate action is an
area he is committed to, as well as issues that lower the quality of life for low socio-economic
folks.
Teamwork examples – has worked in variety of groups, both work and community related. He
learned to work with variety of people, noting the school board in particular was intense and
some issues were very tough. In general, his strength here is that he has played many roles in
various groups and has learned to be a good listener.
Clemeunt Douglass – he and wife have a 2-year-old daughter and live across from Browndale
Park. He has been in the military for over 22 years and has experienced different cultures. He
works for Optum in cyber security and has a degree in homeland security and emergency
preparedness and a masters in cybersecurity. He joined the neighborhood board last year and
since has become the president of that board. He retired from the military and would like to fill
this void by serving on the city council. He has experience in civil affairs and has worked in
various cultures while in the military in order to contribute in positive ways to the global
community. This helped him to learn much about diversity and inclusion. He has lived in St.
Louis Park for 2 years and found the city’s neighborhoods feel like neighborhoods. He wants to
influence positive change in the community.
Racial Equity and city policy making – his racial equity journey has come as an outsider and
from a world viewpoint. He was born in Minnesota and learned about being an outsider while
living in Salt Lake City, as a non-Mormon. This helped him understand racial equity in some
ways. He also taught in Africa and learned about bias, that he cannot make assumptions, and
listening to understand is most important.
Goals and vision – community can’t grow if it doesn’t celebrate all those with in in. Diversity
builds communities and racial inequity destroys those. He feels the veteran community can
help with racial inequity problems. He also wants to work to address housing issues and
affordable housing and to grow as a leader. He is also interested in environmental issues,
especially composting, and would like to see more incentives to businesses to be more
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environmentally aware. He also wants to work on cyber security issues, especially with the
aging population.
Teamwork – in the military he was typically in charge. During his time working on his masters at
University of St. Thomas, he worked with a diverse group and learned about conflict resolution.
He learned to be vulnerable and earned the groups trust, while also learning to trust.
Council discussion
It was noted that the council will send their top three candidates to Ms. Solano in ranked order
by end of the day Wednesday, Oct 28, 2020.
Councilmember Kraft asked about the affordable housing written report and if it can be tied in
with affordable programs and energy efficiency programs. He asked also if this can tie in with
NOAH apartments and if a metric could be included to see how many can participate in this
program. He noted this might be a good use of affordable housing trust fun d monies and he
would like to discuss more on this.
Councilmember Rog stated she also supports this, adding the zoning and FAR reports both
warrant more time -- at a different time. She stated she has questions and thoughts on this and
would like to see these items come back to the council in a few weeks for more discussion as
both are important issues.
Ms. Solano stated staff will bring these two items to the next study session again as written
reports for further discussion.
Councilmember Harris stated the number of NOAH’s are listed in the housing report and added
that staff has that information. She added she would also like to see the number of NOAH
buildings per ward.
Councilmember Rog stated there were a lot of great candidates interviewed th is evening and
the decision will be difficult.
Mayor Spano added this is a good problem to have.
Councilmember Kraft added it was great to hear from all the candidates and all had great
information and stories to share.
Mayor Spano added they all also had a wide array of backgrounds.
Communications/meeting check-in (verbal) - none
The meeting adjourned at 9:50 p.m.
Written Reports provided and documented for recording purposes only:
2. September 2020 monthly financial report
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3. Third quarter investment report (July – Sept. 2020)
4. Update to the council on housing zoning regulations
5. Community health services and connections
6. St. Louis Park 4d Affordable Housing Incentive Program update
7. Sustainability Division update for Q4 2020
8. Update on US Internet in St. Louis Park
______________________________________ ______________________________________
Melissa Kennedy, city clerk Jake Spano, mayor
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