Board of Commissioners - Regular Meeting

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. . . Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

I'd like to order the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners roll call, please.

Jebin Singh.

Here.

Sorry about that. McGuire. Here. McMurtry. Here. Miller. Here. Moran. Here. Zong. Here. And Ortega.

Aye. Can we stand for the pledge of allegiance? And acknowledgement, Commissioner McGuire.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Every community owes its existence and vitality to generations from around the world who contributed their hopes, dreams, and energy to making the history that led to this moment. Some were brought here against their will. Some were drawn to leave their distant homes in hope of a better life. And some have lived on this land since time immemorial. Truth and acknowledgement are critical to building mutual respect and connection across all barriers of heritage and difference. We are standing on the ancestral lands of the Dakota people. We want to acknowledge the Ojibwe, the Ho-Chunk, and the other nations of people who also called this place home. We pay respects to their elders, past and present. Please take a moment to consider the treaties made by the tribal nations that entitle non-native people to live and work on traditional native lands. Consider the many legacies of violence, displacement, migration, and settlement that bring us together here today. And please join us in uncovering such truths at any and all public events.

Thank you. Thank you. I'll entertain a motion on the agenda of September 8, 2026. So moved.

Second.

Seeing no discussion, roll call.

McGuire. Aye. McMurtry. Aye. Miller. Aye. Moran. Aye. Xiong. Aye. Jebensingh. Aye. And Ortega.

Aye. I'll entertain a motion on the minutes of September 1, 2026. So moved.

Second.

Seeing no discussion, roll call.

McGuire. Aye. McMurtry. Aye. Miller. Aye. Moran. Aye. Zhong. Aye. Jebensingh. Aye. And Ortega.

Aye. Administrative agenda, Commissioner McGuire.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to move administrative item number three, the joint powers agreement with the Metro East Consortium for adult basic education services. Second.

Any discussion? Roll call.

McGuire. Aye. McMurtry? Aye. Miller? Aye. Moran? Aye. Zong? Aye. Devin Singh? Aye. And Ortega?

Aye. County Connections?

Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. I just wanted to remind everyone that we are in the midst of the 2027 supplemental budget process and our presentations, which will continue this week. Our last service team will be the Safety and Justice Service team in that meeting will be chaired by our budget chair, Commissioner Moran, on Thursday. The first public hearing on the 2027 supplemental budget will also take place that afternoon at 5 p.m. here at the St. Paul City Hall and Ramsey County Courthouse. Residents can sign up to comment with the chief clerk by calling 651-3255. 266-9200, or via email at chiefclerk at ramseycounty.us, or you can sign up at the meeting. In addition, if you do show up for those meetings, we do offer free parking vouchers at Victory Ramp. So if you park there, we'll be able to help you do that. After that, in terms of the next steps for the board's budget process, at the Tuesday, September 22nd board meeting. The board will set its 2027 maximum property tax levies. A full schedule of the upcoming meetings is posted on the budget and finance page on the Ramsey County website. I wanted to also call out that September is self-care awareness month with the changing seasons upon us. I know we were just commenting on It's the first day of school for a lot of our St. Paul public school students of September. Now is the perfect time to refocus and reprioritize some of your mental, physical, and emotional health. Self-care isn't just about adding one more thing to a to-do list. It's about making space for things that help make you feel well, connected, and able to navigate the many demands of life. There are three main pillars of self-care. Physical care, which is caring for your body through movement, rest, nutrition and regular health care, mental and emotional well-being, making space to manage stress and process emotions, and the last one, social and spiritual connections, which is nurturing relationships, community purpose, and things that bring meaning to your life. For our employees, there's a lot of good information about this on our intranet. Also, I would just encourage folks to check out our new EAP provider as well. That's available 24-7. And then lastly, I just wanted to call out some support that we've received from Minnesota Housing. I did email the board this late last week, but as part of our work in partnership with the City of St. Paul and the encampment response, there was a recent meeting with Minnesota Housing where we were able to talk with other regional partners. And I know that's a conversation we want to continue to have both with our state and partners and also regional partners over in Hennepin as well as the city of Minneapolis. After that recent meeting, the state reached out and let us know that they made an additional investment into Ramsey County, nearly $800,000, as part of supporting the work. They worked with the Interagency Council of Partners at the Department of Human Services to identify these additional resources. The funding will increase the state's contract with Radius Health and support three additional staff, which include a registered nurse, outreach worker, and an administrative HIMIS support, which is our data system for managing our housing unstable population. So that will bring that outreach program at Radius Health up to almost eight FTEs. So there will also be, as part of that, 800,000, 316,000 of direct assistance. to people experiencing homelessness. So that could support application fees, security deposits, transportation. So this funding can be used until the end of June of 2028. But we are going to put those resources to work now. And they're intended to complement the work that we are doing in Ramsey County. So I know Dr. Wilkins is working closely with Radius Health to figure out where they can kind of fill in gaps in other things that we're doing. So I wanted to thank Minnesota Housing for their support and for hearing of our additional needs at this real immediate time. But we look forward to continuing those conversations at the legislature in the next session, too, as we work with our state partners. Thank you. Thank you.

Did you raise your hand? Oh, I'm ready. Oh, OK. OK, outside board and committee reports, let's begin with Tara.

All righty. Let's do it. Well, I'll just say that last week was a pretty budget presentation-heavy week. And picking up on self-care month, I was able to enjoy a little bit of downtime over the weekend. So I appreciate that we have parks to hike in and lakes to paddle in and lots of places just to enjoy the last few days of summer. So I'm going to actually highlight, we don't have a board meeting next week. So I just wanted to highlight a couple of events that are coming up. One of them is the Lake Owasso Residents Family Picnic is on Saturday, September 12, from 12 to 3. And this is a wonderful community, really almost full of individuals who are served and live in our Lake Owasso residents and their family and their volunteers who come together. It's a really joyous time. They really, truly are part of the Badness Heights neighborhood that they're part of. So it's always a fun time to be there. If you haven't had a chance, as my colleagues, to tour the place or be there, it's a great day to do it. Then the North Oaks Guild has the Rummage Sale in the Shoreview Arena this weekend. There are days on Saturday and Sunday. And all of the funds go to support Children's Hospital. So it's a good fundraiser. I will say, if you are somebody who likes to thrift, as you all know I am a thrifter, it's a really great time to go and pick up some things, to keep things out of our landfills, to reuse clothes, but also, more importantly, to raise some money for the Children's Hospital. And then the Disability Pride Festival had been moved from the summertime, because there was a deep heat, I believe. So it's rescheduled for Wednesday, I was pulling that up when you called on me, Chair. It is Wednesday. Sorry. Wednesday, September 17th, from 10 to 2 at the State Capitol, and it's sponsored by ACT, bringing together self-advocates, families, friends, organizations, artists, policymakers, and community members from across Minnesota, a day of celebration, advocacy, and connection. I've been able to go every year, and really, I think it's a wonderful place to get resources and, again, connect. We'll be at the AMC Policy Conference in Bemidji, so I won't be able to attend, but I do encourage everybody, again, this is a wonderful day of celebration and connection.

That's all I got. Thank you. Garrison.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just want to highlight a couple of things from this past week. I had a chance to meet with health partners, Como Clinic staff, just to discuss the expansion and the new facility that they will be building in the St. Anthony Park neighborhood right off of Como. We just discussed the site plan as well as some of the new features that they'll be adding to this facility. including a health center for women, CT MRI services, and TRIA orthopedics, and TRIA urgent care will be added to this facility. So it was great to connect with their staff and learn more about the timeline for this construction. um it'll it'll definitely be an additional asset um uh to to the community so looking forward to uh more to come there uh i also had a chance to meet with the snelling university alliance this is a a group that um that is that consists of uh the hamlin midway coalition the midway chamber of commerce the union park district council and a number of other partners along the Snelling University corridor. They have been doing a study as well as getting a number of stakeholders together to form a Snelling University Alliance to determine how we can further develop that corridor, similar to what Rice-Larventer Alliance has done for Rice Street. So they just provided myself and Commissioner Moran with an update from their stakeholder meetings as well as Next Step. So looking forward to continuing to work with those partners and really build out a plan for the success of this corridor. And the last thing I wanted to highlight is that last Wednesday I also had a chance to participate in a town hall at 1666 Kaufman. It's a senior living home that's right off of Larpenter. I got a chance to speak with a number of the residents to provide an update on what we're doing at the county, specifically around the supplemental budget, but primarily the residents wanted to discuss the sale of the U of M's golf course and the role of the county as that golf course is in this process of what redevelopment will look like. So it was really nice to hear some of their concerns, but also just to clear up some of the concerns provide better understanding of the role of the city of Falcon Heights versus the role of the county and get some clarity around that. And then the last thing that I will highlight is an upcoming event on tomorrow. The mHealth Fairview Clinic right off of Rice Street will be holding their rescheduled community celebration and ribbon cutting, celebrating the recognition as the 2025 Foster G. McGaw Prize recipient, which is a national award from the American Hospital Association, as well as ribbon cutting for the opening of their community garden. So that's happening tomorrow at the M Health Fairview Clinic from 4.30 until six. Thank you. Thank you. Kelly?

I have no update. I just want to say today should be a holiday for back to school. Welcome. It's good to know all the parents and kids are back at school. I'm a very happy person. I do have my in-district hours coming up next Monday. I'll be in Maplewood from 10 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. And with that, I am done.

Okay. Mr. Chair. Really quick, over the past week, I spent time with residents, young people, community partners, and county staff across housing, public health, economic opportunity, and community safety. From touring the innovative housing models to celebrating youth leadership and reviewing and chairing the county presentations, and performance measures. Each connection that took place last week reinforced the values of dignity, partnership, and community-led solutions.

That's it for me.

GARY RITTER- Marie-Jean?

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. Last week, part of the Bronze Line team, we were able to host a few of the commissioners, council members, the Met Council members, to tour and physically go on site along the project route, which was really grateful to see, too, because I was able to go along and also just hear the conversations and discussions that they had. And overall, I think it just provided them just what we are working with and the constraints of the current right-of-way that we have. So it was just really helpful for them, including myself, too. And so I would encourage folks to go on the tour as well in the future. Thank you.

Thank you. Mary Jo.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Last week was a week of budget presentations and the state fair. So I go to the state fair often to participate in things that are going on there. the entertainment, of course, but on Saturday, Commissioner Carla Bingham and I from Washington County, we spoke on WCCO radio with Shaletta Brundage on our recycling energies business recycling program. So that was really exciting to really get that out into the community, and it was great to do it at the state fair. And just a shout-out to... All of the exhibitors at the fair, I spent a fair amount of time at the Eco Building, which is where we learn from all about sustainability. And the Pollution Control Agency is there, and transit organizations are there, all about sustainability. That was great, the education building where all the vendors are, you know, are education-related, and just to really see the amazing things that people are doing in this state. So it's over now, and we wait another year before the fair is again, but it was a great experience. So many thanks to everyone who presented there. Also, we have this coming week on Thursday, as we know, we have our budget presentation and our public hearing, but also the City of Roseville Climate Equity Action Plan is having a launch party. That's 6 to 8 at the Showtime Studio and Coffee in Roseville. Kudos to them. And then also that evening is the retirement event for Senator Sandy Pappas, who has spent many years serving our state. And she will be having a retirement event on Thursday evening. Many thanks to all of her work on behalf of our residents. in Ramsey County. Also, on Friday morning, the Ramsey County League of Local Governments is having their meeting. It's going to be on flock cameras. And so we know that these are those cameras that people are very concerned about, where you're balancing safety, which law enforcement believes it helps people, you know, helps them with their safety and also balancing people's privacy. So we'll be hearing from our Roseville Police Chief and also from the St. Paul Deputy Chief and Council President Rebecca Naker will be presenting at the Ramsey County League of Local Government. That is a Zoom call in the morning. It's at 8 o'clock in the morning, 8 to 9, and So I encourage all of you to listen to that. It'll be an interesting conversation. And then I want to give another shout out on the Lake Owasso Residents Picnic. Thank you, Commissioner Jevonsingh, for bringing that up. It is a great event. A lot of parents go. We get to meet the residents. And so I'm glad you brought the Lake Owasso family picnic up. A number of us will be at Impact Conference, which is a sustainability conference. And I know we're excited about that. And then we will head into the Association of Minnesota Counties Policy Conference, where we'll be debating our agenda and all of our policy issues for the coming year. So thank you, Mr. Chair. That's that.

Thank you. Following the board meeting, there will be an audit committee meeting chaired by Commissioner Jamin Singh, which includes McGuire and myself. That's pretty much it for the day, but we have a full day on Thursday, all day, and then a public hearing in the evening. So, Kelly, you should be happy. You can tell your kids they're not going to see you. We are adjourned.