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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025.03.10 CCM STUDY3/10/25 -1- DRAFT MINUTES OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BROOKLYN CENTER IN THE COUNTY OF HENNEPIN AND THE STATE OF MINNESOTA STUDY SESSION MARCH 10, 2025 CITY HALL – COUNCIL CHAMBERS CALL TO ORDER The Brooklyn Center City Council met in Study Session called to order by Mayor April Graves at 6:01 p.m. ROLL CALL Mayor April Graves and Councilmembers Kris Lawrence-Anderson, Dan Jerzak, Teneshia Kragness, and Laurie Ann Moore. Also present were City Manager Reggie Edwards, City Clerk Barb Suciu, and City Attorney Siobhan Tolar. COUNCIL MISCELLANEOUS DISCUSSION ITEMS DISCUSSION OF RESOLUTION 2021-073 Mayor Graves pointed out Staff has provided an edited version of Resolution 2021-073. Councilmember Jerzak stated the Daunte Wright and Kobe Dimock-Heisler Community Safety and Violence Prevention Act was passed in May 2021, nearly four years ago. The present Council only has one member who voted in favor of the item. The items in Resolution 2021-073 have either been implemented or voted down by the Council, or determined unattainable. The Council should celebrate fulfilling the aim of the Resolution. It will be impossible for the Council to reach further agreement on the Resolution. It is traumatic for the Council and community to continue to disagree on Resolution 2021-073. He stated he would like the item to be moved to the Regular Session where he will make a motion to stop working on Resolution 2021-073. Mayor Graves stated the additional request for discussion was made by the Council. There are plenty of previous resolutions Councils have passed that don’t require additional review or contemplation. Resolution 2021-073 would benefit from some edits to align with how it has been implemented. The proposed motion is confusing. Councilmember Jerzak stated the Council will never agree on Resolution 2021-073. Instead, they should celebrate what has been accomplished. It should not be repealed as it is historically significant. There doesn’t need to be more discussion or edits. 3/10/25 -2- DRAFT Mayor Graves explained there doesn’t need to be a formal motion to stop discussion and edits. Councilmember Jerzak stated he was trying to follow Robert’s Rules of Order and previous advice from the City Attorney. Mayor Graves pointed out a related item is already a Council Consideration Item. Councilmember Jerzak stated they could address that item during the Regular Session. Councilmember Jerzak stated he doesn’t want to discuss or edit Resolution 2021-073 again. Mayor Graves noted she agrees the Resolution does not require further discussion. A resolution is a values statement rather than a prescriptive document. She also agreed the successes of Resolution 2021-073 should be celebrated. Councilmember Kragness asked if the changes the Council has reached a consensus on will be implemented. She asked if their discussions on the Daunte Wright and Kobe Dimock-Heisler Community Safety and Violence Prevention Act have been for nothing. Councilmember Jerzak stated it should be left in its original state and honor its history. Eight of the ten items have been addressed. It is up to the consensus of the Council. Councilmember Kragness stated the edits to the Resolution were to align the document with what the City was doing. None of the intentions of the initial Daunte Wright and Kobe Dimock-Heisler Community Safety and Violence Prevention Act were changed. All of the discussions and time spent on the document were a waste if they weren’t going to follow through with an edited version. Councilmember Jerzak stated the time wasn’t wasted. He had a different intention at the beginning of the editing process. They don’t need to be bogged down with perfecting the Resolution. Councilmember Lawrence-Anderson asked what the difference is between a department and a unit. City Manager Reggie Edwards explained an organizational unit was created to implement the intent of the Daunte Wright and Kobe Dimock-Heisler Community Safety and Violence Prevention Act. It is more or less a program. It is not a department or division. Councilmember Lawrence-Anderson asked if there was any conflict with the Charter. Dr. Edwards confirmed there isn’t a conflict with the Charter. A department has a specific definition and structure. The original Daunte Wright and Kobe Dimock-Heisler Community Safety and Violence Prevention Act called for departments, which was not feasible. The proposed departments were replaced with organizational units. Councilmember Lawrence-Anderson asked how organizational units impact the Brooklyn Center organizational chart. Dr. Edwards stated the only existing governmental unit from Resolution 2021-073 is the Office of Community Prevention, Health, and Safety. There is an alternative response program that is merely a pilot program. Each department has divisions. Councilmember Lawrence-Anderson stated the proposed version of Resolution 2021-073 is much 3/10/25 -3- DRAFT cleaner. She asked how the Council could proceed. Mayor Graves stated Councilmember Jerzak wants to toss the edits out and stop discussing the Daunte Wright and Kobe Dimock-Heisler Community Safety and Violence Prevention Act. Mayor Graves explained she believes there are values to the proposed edits. She doesn’t want to take up more Study Session time on the matter or to continue fighting; its successes should be celebrated. Councilmember Kragness noted her agreement with Mayor Graves. The document doesn’t obligate the City to create new departments. It was her understanding that the discussions were intended to bring the Resolution up-to-date with what is feasible for Brooklyn Center to do. If the outcome is to revert to the original document, the discussions over the past few years were unnecessary. She doesn’t want additional trauma to be imposed on the community or for the Council to waste more time. Councilmember Moore explained she hopes the public doesn’t see their disagreements and discussions as fighting. The Daunte Wright and Kobe Dimock-Heisler Community Safety and Violence Prevention Act has come up for discussion over and over again for one reason. The work of the Implementation Committee has been important to the City, and Staff has put in work to propose a new Committee. Mayor Graves asked if the Council has reached a consensus to stop making edits to the Daunte Wright and Kobe Dimock-Heisler Community Safety and Violence Prevention Act and revert to the original version that was passed in May 2021. Alternatively, the Council could continue the discussion or accept the proposed edits. Councilmember Kragness stated she would like to accept the edits made by Staff. The Council has previously reached a consensus on edits. Councilmember Lawrence-Anderson agreed she liked the cleaner version of the document. Mayor Graves moved to approve the edited version of Resolution 2021-073. Dr. Edwards stated the Study Session is intended to reach a consensus rather than to make a motion. The motion failed for lack of a second. It was the consensus of the Council to approve the edits of Resolution 2021-073. Councilmember Jerzak stated he supports the approval of the edits, and he doesn’t want to discuss Resolution 2021-073. Dr. Edwards stated if there is consensus of the Council for approval, then it can be moved to the Consent Agenda. Mayor Graves stated Study Session Council Miscellaneous Discussion Item A. Discussion of Resolution 2021-073 will become Regular Session Consent Agenda Item E. 3/10/25 -4- DRAFT Resolution 2021-073. Councilmember Moore asked what would be on the Consent Agenda. Mayor Graves stated the amended version of Resolution 2021-073. Councilmember Moore stated there are a number of versions in the packet. City Attorney Siobhan Tolar stated the edited version shows the edits first, then there is a clean version of the edited version in the packet. Councilmember Moore stated she doesn’t support the change from department to an organizational unit. It is a department. It has supervisors and is a permanent change. Because she doesn’t support it, it cannot be a Consent Agenda item. Councilmember Moore made a motion to move Study Session Council Miscellaneous Discussion Item A. Discussion of Resolution 2021-073 to become Regular Session Council Consideration Item D. Resolution 2021-073. The motion failed for lack of a second. Dr. Edwards explained the original Daunte Wright and Kobe Dimock-Heisler Community Safety and Violence Prevention Act called for the creation of three new departments and two existing departments. The Office can be renamed to a Department if the Council would like. Councilmember Moore stated she would agree to the name change and would support approval of the edits to Resolution 2021-073. It was the consensus of the Council for Study Session Council Miscellaneous Discussion Item A. Discussion of Resolution 2021-073 to become Regular Session Consent Agenda Item E. Resolution 2021-073. Councilmember Moore stated she would like the Council to agree to take down the Wall of Fame and return the items to their owners. It was discussed in December and January. Mayor Graves stated there was consensus of the Council to hang photos of the current Council. Dr. Edwards confirmed Staff would move more expeditiously on the matter. Mayor Graves added some items could be moved to the Heritage Center if the owners cannot be located or do not want the item. Councilmember Lawrence-Anderson agreed the Heritage Center would be a good place for the items. Councilmember Kragness pointed out there was an issue with the minutes. It states there was not an invocation at the previous meeting, but it was completed by Councilmember Lawrence- Anderson. 3/10/25 -5- DRAFT Mayor Graves asked for an update on the Commission openings and how the various neighborhoods are represented. City Clerk Barb Suciu stated there is one opening on the Planning Commission, one voting position on the Cultural and Public Arts Commission, and one non-voting position on the Cultural and Public Arts Commission. She doesn’t have the neighborhoods available, but she would provide the information to the Council over email. Mayor Graves asked how the Crime Prevention Committee was set up. It seems as though the same people have been on the Committee for a while. Ms. Suciu stated the Crime Prevention Committee is a 501c3, so it is a separate entity from Brooklyn Center. Mayor Graves asked when the Crime Prevention Committee was established. Ms. Suciu stated it was established in 1986. Mayor Graves asked if there is an option for other commissions to do larger projects and receive funding. Councilmember Jerzak explained the Crime Prevention Committee was created to provide reward monies for reporting crimes or providing information on crimes. They have a separate set of bylaws and membership process. The participants have been consistent over the years. The scope has expanded. Their new bylaws were recently adopted. Their monies are separate from the City’s budget because they accept donations. Mayor Graves asked for Councilmember Jerzak to provide her with contact information for representatives of the Crime Prevention Committee. Councilmember Jerzak confirmed he would provide their contact information and provide a summary of the Committee. Dr. Edwards pointed out that any group of people can form a 501c3. It would not be appropriate or legal for the City to set up a funded group as a 501c3. He offered for Staff to look into legal options. The City’s commissions and committees are intended to advise the Council. Mayor Graves noted the Crime Prevention Committee is fairly integrated into the Police Department and community. She asked how the connections were made. Dr. Edwards stated it is not likely for a similar entity to be recreated. Councilmember Moore explained she requested the appointments to the Cultural and Public Arts Commission be tabled from the previous meeting. There was a new applicant to be considered. Mayor Graves stated she hadn’t reviewed the newest application. Councilmember Moore asked if the process for the Council to provide input is to respond to the email with the application. Mayor Graves stated Councilmembers may email the Clerk in that manner or share comments at the Council meeting. Ms. Suciu stated all of the applications for the Cultural and Public Arts Commission are for voting member positions. Mayor Graves asked what the requirements are to be a voting member or to be 3/10/25 -6- DRAFT a non-voting member. Ms. Suciu stated residents can be non-voting members, but they may not understand that they don’t have voting power. CITY MANAGER MISCELLANEOUS DISCUSSION ITEMS City Manager Reggie Edwards stated he doesn’t have any items to discuss. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Graves closed the Study Session at 6:40 p.m.