City Council - Regular Meeting

Welcome everybody to our October 12, 2026 City Council study session. We have a bare bones council here. We have four council members. Council member Palmer is somewhere in the hallway, so we know he's here. And we have the mayor. And we have three topics on our agenda. First off, we have a report from the Rochester Olmstead Youth Council members' trip to Germany. I'm looking forward to that. And then we have a discussion on parks and recreation marketing and awareness efforts. And then we'll wrap things up with another discussion on council rules and policy items. So to begin things, I'm goin

Yes, we have two of our members from ROYC, depending on who you talk to. Alex Yovchev and Isha Jayakumar. And you can, we typically sit over here, if that's all right. And they're going to share a little bit about their experience going on the sister city exchange in June.

Could we go back to the slide right in front of us? is really kind of an amazing room. It's part of their, thank you, it's part of their city hall. And their city hall during the war was bombed. In the understanding that that might happen, they actually took down all that woodwork, tore the room apart, and hid it in a cave. The war happened, city hall in fact was completely demolished. So when they built the new modern structure, they put this room back together, someone, at some point after the war, found the pieces that were in storage. And they've recreated the room. And it's really quite s

Just to echo what the mayor said, I mean, one, our delegation was 16 members and the two of you were a joy to be there with us and just give us some youthful energy. And I think we all fed off of that. So thank you for being there and being our companions for 10 days. I agree with the mayor on the stall log. What was interesting also is that That camp was not bombed. There was some agreement between the behind the scenes agreement between the city and the allied forces to avoid bombing the Stalag. The development of that area since 1945, it's not completely there. It's a lot of acreage as a pa

And maybe also worth noting that there was a gentleman when he was a teenager came during that very first year when we had people from Mooseburg come to Rochester that met us there. I actually found out about him through a resident in Rochester who participated in the exchanges Many of you know him. And he gave us a name and we contacted him and he met us there. And he was just a teenager at that time. And of course, now I think he's a dentist or something. He's an adult. But that was really fun, too, to maintain that relationship from the 1980s.

One thing that I found fascinating, and I'm sure my colleagues will find fascinating as well, is both in Mooseburg and Munster, they have city councils of 60 to 80 members. And they have, I think, what is it, four mayors? First mayor, second mayor, third mayor. And so just the turnover and finding a coalition, I think many of them said they found difficult. So council member. Yeah.

Yeah. Thanks. I really appreciate having both of you here and kind of sharing your experience, but also just representing the youth in Rochester. And so it's appreciated. Alex, I noticed when you did your summaries of your two cities, you talked about the Bavarian region or the Rhine region. Are those like states or what did you mean? Is that a cultural statement or what type of statement is that?

Okay. And then I noticed you talked about the sustainability and the percent. I think you're talking electricity. One thing that I noticed is, and I've dealt with some of the German delegations that have come here, they do a lot more talk about biogases and things like that than we do. Is that a big part of their sustainability or is just one of the things that they just mentioned?

I don't know who, I don't want to get into this too much, but is that mostly through organics?

Yeah, okay. Because they are trying to do more of that in Olmstead County here and trying to get started on waste sorting. So there's good learning there. So thank you.

In Mooseburg, you said that the youth from their side and you shared perspectives on each other's home countries. You didn't necessarily say what those perspectives were.

So I'm a big believer in international travel because I believe it shrinks not only distance, but it shrinks the distance between spirits. You have an advantage over the other people on the Youth Council because you were on this trip. How will this change your spirit for the next 70 years?

Thank you. So what's next for you two, kind of from a personal standpoint?

And I'm just gonna interject here because not too long ago I got to go to an award ceremony and Isha was part of that Black Data Processors Association, that group, and they took first in the country. So congratulations Isha for your role in that. Thank you. That was fun. When I arrived and there she was, part of the team, very cool.

And we look forward to watching your journey over the next many years, maybe not 70 years, but we hope you stay close to Rochester too and keep us informed. So good luck and thanks for speaking to us. Of course, thank you.

Next up we have Parks and Recreation Marketing and Awareness Efforts. Jenna Bowman and team.

And just to be clear, Ms. Boven, when you say regional sports center, that's the regional sports center at RCTC?

Question for you, on the second page, you've got all things for the Recreation Center. I see prices in there, but I don't see anywhere in there that we do a scholarship or we would help out with that. Have any thought going into like doing a free day or a coupon day or skate for free or bring one in? Something to motivate people because, you know, I'm $6 per person and three bucks for ice skating is $9. I mean, so if you have any thoughts on that?

I looked at your numbers before on the middle class. If you're looking at those numbers, they still have trouble paying. I just would think that having a two-for-one or some kind of coupon to get them in the door to expose them to it, because not everybody's been to the rec center, or some corporate sponsors that said, I don't know if you go out and look for that, to say, hey, sponsor this day and underwrite it.

Part of your information is 40% is word of mouth. So, I mean, if you get people in and talking to that, this is what I did, that would be, okay. Yes.

Thanks. Yeah, I was kind of watching the, I think a lot of what we're talking about here has been awareness, but I noticed you also talked about access, and I'll call it equity, but that idea of financial, and Council Member Palmer talks about it. If I would go through here just as I would at home, just kind of flipping it, we're not looking for anything specific, I wouldn't pick anything out that this is something I can do without worrying about it. I noticed in Pipsqueak it does have the fees, but some of the other ones, it's really focusing on the awareness as opposed to the equity access t

Okay. I really do like the idea of the books and this sort of thing arriving in the mail. I think people do have a tendency to flip through it. Similar to community ed comes, that's a little more dense, where this is a little more of just awareness and maybe the reading things would be good. I especially like to see the library stuff in here too, because I think at the end of the day, this, I mean, we talk about it as access to, you know, the parks and rec, but this is, in my view, this is like, we have all these things that are underutilized, including the library, and trying to make them mor

The last point I want to make, and I think this is a communication thing, is Council President Shubring pointed out, by the rec center, you mean RCTC. And I think there's a tendency for the experts to think everyone knows what they're talking about. Even here saying the rec center, it means something to me, because when I came, it was the Olmstead County Rec Center. But I think people right now call that 125. And I notice you have 125 in here, which is interesting because that is city space, but it's activated by another group. I did not know that Pipsqueaks was really a city park and rec thin

I have a long question that ultimately is about metrics. We have spent 28,000, we're proposing to spend 27,000 more. Do we have any real metrics that show what we have done with the first 28,000 has made a difference in terms of people's, I think the big question is awareness, that because we did this, 10% more people are aware of or attended something Because we did passports to the pool with the stickers this summer, that so many more people became aware of our program offerings. Do we have any metrics that say, because we did this, that's why we're doubling down on using the rest of our mon

Correct, yes. And I think it's important to know that. I don't think there's hardly, well, there probably are some who don't spend their advertising dollars very well on the business side. But I would guess that most businesses, when they invest X number of dollars with a local media company, expect a bump. And they somehow are trying to figure out, how did we get that bump? And if we can figure that out, then we know, boy, we got to do word of mouth harder. Or we need to do, it's not Facebook or TikTok, it's Instagram. We need to do Instagram harder because I've heard that's the big one. What

Yeah, a couple of things. One, thank you for the presentation. This is literally something from the day I stepped into office that I started talking about. And of course, COVID got in the way of everything. But one of my first tour was over at the rec center trying to figure out how do we let the community know this is for them? They think it's for clubs or they just didn't know. So I'm thrilled that you're getting here. So the first question I have is, Do we have the staff, if we start advertising more, if you start actually hitting people that are seeing it and word of mouth gets out and peo

I appreciate that. And opening a facility is one thing. Having it programmable and safe for people is another. And so I guess I'm not going to be around in the years to come. But I really do hope that the council and the park board seriously look at being able to maximize what we've invested so much in over the years and which our community clearly tells us they're interested in. So how can we maximize it? How can we have the appropriate staffing so we don't have problems? You never want that. That's one point. The other one I wanted to make is a lot of our park and rec is outdoors, which is i

Thank you, Mayor. Juan, thank you so much for giving us this report and especially giving us a report halfway through the 55,000.

When I saw it, I'm like, oh, good, there's 27,000 more. So I see two pieces of this.

And I think we have to really be distinct about the marketing and awareness piece. And then there is the accessibility piece. And I think having a strategy around both is really key. I think with marketing and awareness, I couldn't agree more strongly with my colleague, Council Member Wall, in that We really do need to have metrics on those new uses and what is the uptick, and I would suggest with some of that 27,000 that's left to really put some rigor into what those metrics are so that when you come back to us and report on what we've seen over the course of this year, somewhat pilot projec

I think there's something happening there. I really appreciate that you're bringing some attention to it, but I think more on that in the future. With that, Council Member Palmer.

I'm just going off what Mr. Shoebring was saying. It'd be helpful, I think, for your staff to be instructed to ask, is this your first time here, or how did you hear about us? When they sign up, it's a cheap thing to do. They can keep a tally of it. um i think if it's their first time to make sure the staff understand it ask do you know where the locker rooms are do you know where this is a real concerted effort to to really be um out there friendly um to the to the people you can take even just a month and say we did it for a month but but i think you know you go to restaurants and anywhere e

All right. Thank you very much. It's, what, 439, and we're at our final topic? I can't believe that. I think I can take you to 6 p.m. Council rules and policy items. Administrator Zalms.

Yeah, I'll comment on this one just because I was around when we made these rules. I would support simplifying our budgeting and just having the higher level budget. One of the reasons is there are council members who end up, like President Schubert right now is on the League of Cities and may have more things. Council Member Miller is on a committee now with National League. And I think sometimes they're representing the city, but at the same time, it looks like they're going over the budget, supporting things that I think are good for us to be doing. So I think going back to the rules of you

Yeah, I think flexibility in there. What I'm not understanding is, and maybe you'll get to it in the next question, is so there's a council budget that's, I don't remember. Correct.

So that was my question is because, I mean, if... If the mayor, the future mayor, does not have as much travel, is there flexibility between the mayor's travel budget and the council's travel budget?

Yeah, I I'm I agree with councilmember Keene is Flexibility on that individual piece at this point would be good mayor Norton and I'll just add a comment that I I

because of covet and a whole variety of other things that if for instance many mayors bring their assistant with them on their travel i have not done that if i did it would come out of my budget and i would have to manage that but our as a staff person michonne doesn't have a separate budget it's expected to come out of mine historically although they do You know I haven't done that but just know there are mayors who travel with staff often and it would come out of that budget so Just to be aware.

That's how that would be managed Councilmember wall if we are to offer that kind of flexibility where does the onus lie for approving a Conference for instance I need $8,000 to go to a week-long conference somewhere Because it's well over what we would consider our fair share amongst the seven. Who has to make that call?

You know, I'm all for self-regulation. Maybe I read the wrong things. but I read all the time of politicians who abuse travel budgets and $8,000 isn't a lot of money to spend on a week-long trip to Bemidji if you spend it in the wrong places. So I'm not sold.

I mean, I'll give you an example. You could go to a Disney leadership conference and you'll spend $1,500 a day, three days, $4,500 for a conference. Then you have reasonable housing and food. Beyond that, travel. Boy, it's not hard to spend money in our day. I don't want to place that onus say, with the administrator or with a comptroller to say, golly, I guess you spent $7,000 on this conference and we're going to have to go to the council and the council is going to... Yikes.

I guess my point is if someone thought, and I don't know what the, because I never planned to reach the uppermost limit, but if someone thought that, you know, reasonably I can spend $3,500 and I have this large expenditure ahead of me, if I know that my limit is 35, I'm absolutely going to get pre-approval and not run into troubles.

Yeah, Ms. Zelms, you made a point about the mayor's assistant is booking the travel, does? Okay. I mean, that's a check in the process. And I know that I have used any travel I've done, I've used the mayor's assistant to book that travel. That is a place where that can be monitored. So, Council Member Palma.

Well, we've had this conversation before, and I agree with Mr. Wall that I like the limit.

I think that if you go over the limit, you can pay for it yourself, and there's nothing wrong with that.

We all make a good salary, and we should be able to do that. The other side of that is I could run in on January 4th and decide that I want to spend $8,000 on something at Bemidji and decide that's for me, and then everybody else goes, well, but I don't get to go anywhere. I think that that's... a problem that we could have. I think you're assuming everybody is of the utmost, but we've had people who have tried to stretch the system and it's not worked out well for us.

May I add just one detail? Go ahead. I think that some people's eyebrows raised when I used some figures before. A Disney one-day conference is $1,950, and a multi-day course is $5,700 for leadership. Actually, I got a grant. The reason I know this, I got a grant and actually went to a one-day conference one time, and I was shocked. It was great. I was shocked at what it cost. So we can spend the money. in Minneapolis or Rochester.

I have a question for the mayor. So with my new role with the League of Minnesota Cities, I'm reimbursed for anything that I participate in, and this is in state. in holding positions with the National League of Cities or the Conference of Mayors, is there a reimbursement that comes for mayors or council members who are on committees?

Yeah. I take that back. If you're on the strategic partners, if you're part of the strategic partners, I don't know what leadership track. That one is paid for, everything else. But you go to the conferences anyway. So if you go to NLC as mayor, you go to your meetings while you're there. There's one exception, and that's a summer leadership program, which is usually two to three days. And that one is on you. I think the first year, they paid for mine because I spoke at it. So that's an exception. If you're a speaker, they will reimburse you for being a speaker, but not for serving on their bo

And would it make sense for you to ask the City Administrator to check what appears that are not here and make sure, you know, what you bring forward has a chance of getting four votes?

Yeah, this is different than, I believe it is different, because we did an ordinance.

Is it worth the time to sit and talk about this if we have three people gone and we don't know? I mean, right now it's a two-to-two tie.

Yeah, that's why I'm saying it's, I'm trying to help the staff figure out what they would bring back, and I think we would want them to check with the other members.

Yeah, I can just, you know, I, I walked into the system that's been in place for 40 years or 50 years or however long we've had an assistant to help the mayor. Um, but certainly mayor Brady and, and the mayor before. So I can tell you I keep Michonne quite busy. We have our initiatives. We have work. She also has to manage the desk if no other staff are available, which happens periodically. So her expectation would not be that she would take on additional staff. She wasn't hired to do that. She was hired as the mayor's assistant. And the mayor is the one that does the supervision. So if you'r

Yeah and I know that some council members who are not here today are interested in having some support and that's where this comes from and I think it has to do with having a balance of the with with the place that we are now and we will be having a new mayor come on board in January is is there a way that the the assistant whoever that person may be uh that there is some uh way that they that uh their work whether it comes from uh the council president the mayor or uh one of the other council members is there some management to make sure that there's some balance that that person's time is is

So can I, in response I would say again, I think we need to go back to, I did not hire, I did not just say Michonne is my person.

Mayor, I think we need to discuss this without talking about individuals because that's not.

No, because Michonne is in that role and that was going to be my question is my understanding she will stay in that role. I did not hire her. Got to be part of the final interviews But she went through a huge HR process in order to be one of the three final Selected and it is my understanding that she stays in that role when I leave So I think we need to be very careful about job descriptions and that sort of thing dealing with HR is all I'm saying.

Yeah, no, I think you clarified my position, Mr. Parrish, and I think I mean, maybe it's not the existing executive assistant, but it's that pool of support, and I think the objective is support for council members.

So I'm just kind of watching the discussion, but I have a couple of points. I think it's difficult talking about the mayor's assistant under the topic of council rules. I think we have to be careful of this, because I do think there's a separation there, and we can't make rules about the mayor's office as a separate elected official. It's also difficult separating out the current operations, the way they work, and what is... you know, transition in the upcoming couple of months. It's going to be different. And I think we should be prepared for that. As far as my take is that whatever that posi

Well, it's always been my opinion that the Office of the Mayor is separate from City Council, and I'm going to go back to other mayors who had jobs, full-time jobs, and then you'd want to have somebody there to answer the phone and be there to greet somebody, say yes, I'm in the Office of the Mayor, Because they call the mayor for everything. They don't call their council member. They call the mayor, I'm mad because my tree fell down, and they're going to call the mayor. And that's what they do. And that's what that person is there to do is represent that office the best that they can. And I g

I have no real dragons to slay in this one, except to say that for the past four years, I believe that administratively I've been supported very kindly.

Thank you. Just to add, and it's clear we are missing some voices at the table today, I think What we're trying to do is prepare and I think we are also a, to somewhat counter Council Member Palmer's words, I as a council member and council president have had calls from people whose streets have fallen down and we are a growing city and we do need to think beyond where we've been and look at the future as the city grows. And I'm sure in cities of 200,000 people or 300,000 people, when their tree falls down, they don't call the mayor, they call their council members. And I know that's happening

Yeah, and just for clarity, often when we talk about boards and commissions, we think of the ones that come through the board packets. Most of those, like RPU, are in charter. So if you want to change, the mayor has been given authority to make the selections and send it to the council for final approval. That's in the charter for almost all of them in there. So if you're thinking of those ones, that's a charter change.

And thanks for that clarification, Mayor. This, I think we're talking about the appointments that the council president nominates to the council for approval. And the airport board membership, that's something that I initiated because it does say in the statute that it is the council member at large. And my reason for Opening it up was really to provide more opportunities for council members to participate in another board similar to RPU or the Housing Coalition or the Amateur Sports Commission. giving me more opportunities to put people into proposed places and giving us more flexibility on t

I guess I'll comment. I did read it. I was kind of, my notes were about the staffing model. I was thinking more what Mayor Norton was talking about, what our interactions are there. And I think that, again, is probably best handled through best practices more so than through council rules. That'd be the thing about, you know, can we nominate people for certain things like that? And I think we can. It's just more informal and not through our rules. As far as the, again, the change, because I think then the thing in front of us would be do we support changing an ordinance so that we can change t

And I think it not only gives me the person who's nominating, but gives all of us that opportunity because anything I put before the council, the council has to approve.

Thank you. So the ordinance is not directed by state statute in this instance because we did find that in one airport committee had state statute tied to it. This is simply our ordinance that could be changed.

AND JUST YOU MENTIONED THE DMC BOARD, THAT DOES SAY THE COUNCIL MEMBER AT LARGE OR COUNCIL PRESIDENT OR DESIGNEE. SO THIS ONE DOES NOT CURRENTLY GIVE THAT FLEXIBILITY.

All right. I guess I'll just add, I don't know the logic that went in at the time that that was put in place. And it's a little disconcerting to be changing it without understanding why it was done that way in the first place. So I'll just add that to the discussion. But there's nothing in it that I've sat through an airport board meeting and I know the makeup of the group. I don't see a danger with the change, but I don't know what the logic was when they set it up to say, it's going to be the at-large.

But I would. Any thoughts on when we should reschedule Judge Lund.

That's what you do when you get silence. Mayor Norton.

Thank you. I just wanted to say thank you all for listening to Alex and Isha today. I had posted to the rest of the people that traveled with us together that it was going to be on. And through the whole meeting, they've been sending kudos for Isha and Alex's comments. And someone actually sent them a copy of the so they could watch it. So that's why I had my phone out today. It was just kept 16 people.

Yes, they will likely be sitting in our places someday if they want to. With that, we are adjourned.