Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening. I'm going to call to order the May 26th, 2026 council meeting of the Richfield City Council. It's 7 p.m. If you're able, please rise and join us for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. So our first item of business is the approval of the agenda.

I move approval of the agenda. Second.

It's been moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? All in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed. And we've approved the agenda. Next, we'll move on to approval of minutes.

I move approval of all sets of minutes. I'll second it.

It's been moved and seconded to approve the minutes from the City Council work session of May 12th and the City Council regular meeting of May 12th. Is there any discussion? All in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed? All right, we've passed both sets of minutes. Moving on to open forum. Participants pay share their comments in person by voicemail or email. and may also request to participate virtually. For more information on submitting comments, refer to this council agenda and minutes page on richfieldmn.gov slash city council. If you could, when you get to the microphone, if you can state your name and your city of residence, and when we get, you have three minutes to speak to the council. When we get to 30 seconds left, I'll hold up the yellow card. And when time is up, I'll hold up the red card as a reminder. At the moment, we have a card from Birgit Johnson. So if you want to come forward.

Birgit Johnson, Richfield. At the 512 City Council meeting, two statements stand out. One by Mayor Supple before the open forum and the other by a speaker during the open forum. The mayor's statement asked for respect and kindness. The other statement appeared to be a form of victim blaming. Shaming the person for calling the police in a recent police shooting where a young man was killed and a police officer was injured. Words she spoke in pain, I assume. In today's world, it's see something, say something, not see something and say nothing. It is akin to telling a woman she invited rape when she wore the wrong clothes. This was a trigger for victims of violence. Property crimes do need to be addressed by the police. Do we want people defending their properties themselves? Are we going to have gun battles in the street with so many people having guns? People have been shot recently encountering or confronting car prowlers. It is not against the law to not lock your car. All of us forget sometimes it is to pull a gun out at a police officer. There was nothing said about the gun on the person that was shot. The speaker at the open forum did speak about the history of the killed man. That was enlightening. His name was DeSava Hollis. and his troubles did not start the day he was shot in Ridgefield. We found out that his father was murdered when he was seven. To me, we all failed him. We will all have to live with his death. We live with a legacy of slavery, colonialism, poverty, and my country of birth is not without blame. I have been in a situation where a gun was pulled on me multiple times by someone with a conceal and carry permit. And it's not one I want to relive. Police officers have many stressful and frustrating encounters all the time. They deal with our collective drama. Think of that. We will create more victims in a world without consequences. Take a look at our Facebook community page and a lot of the discourse there. So much disrespect. Never look at a person and think this person had it so easy. We want progress, not regress or selective progress. You never know about this other person. Be kind to others and with yourself. Lastly, the guns are the problem. What accountability and actions by authorities should have been taken to prevent individuals who should not have had access to guns?

Thank you. Is there anyone else who wishes to speak for open forum? All right. Then we'll move on to our next item, which is the proclamation celebrating Pride Month. And so I'd like to invite Kim Lutz to join me from the Human Rights Commission to receive the proclamation. Thank you. This is a proclamation of the city of Richfield. Whereas Pride Month is a positive stance against discrimination and violence towards individuals who identify as two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and or questioning, intersex, and asexual, otherwise known as 2SLGBTQIA+, and celebrates sexual and gender identities, and Whereas the month of June was chosen for Pride Month to commemorate the Stonewall Riots, which occurred in June 1969, championed in part by two transgender women of color, Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, and became a catalyst for the 2SLGBTQIA Plus movement. And whereas the Richfield City Council and staff identified the strategic importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion, as core values and key components of a thriving hometown. And whereas the citizens of Richfield's Ward 2 elected its first openly gay city council member, Sean Hayford O'Leary, who has been their voice on the city council since 2021. And whereas Lee Finke was elected in 2021 to the Minnesota House of Representatives, becoming the first openly transgender person to ever serve in the Minnesota legislature. And whereas in 2011, Two years prior to same-sex marriage becoming legal in the state of Minnesota, the city of Richfield established a domestic partnership registry as means by which unmarried committed couples who resided or worked in Richfield and who shared a life and home together could document their relationship. And whereas, while the 2SLGBTQIA plus civil rights movement has achieved great progress The federal government and many states threaten that progress by enacting dehumanizing policies designed to dismantle the basic human rights of our neighbors and friends in the 2SLGBTQIA plus community. And whereas we see and acknowledge the trauma experienced by our 2SLGBTQIA plus neighbors and friends in the context of the current political environment and stand with them in compassion and resolve, remembering in particular our transgender neighbors. And whereas the 2SLGBTQIA plus community has made and continues to make great and lasting contributions to the city of Richfield and the greater community. And whereas the Richfield Human Rights Commission supported this proclamation at its May 5th, 2026 meeting and recommended the Richfield City Council do the same. Now, therefore, I, Mary Supple, Mayor of Richfield, on behalf of the Richfield City Council, do hereby proclaim the month of June 2026 as Pride Month in the City of Richfield and call on the people of Richfield to observe this month with appropriate programs, activities, and ceremonies and continue to honor the contributions of 2SLGBTQIA plus residents throughout the year. proclaim this 26th day of May, 2026. Commissioner Lutz, would you like to say something?

Thank you. I'm honored to be here and to accept this proclamation recognizing Pride Month and celebrating our two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and our questioning intersex and asexual friends and neighbors. As a member of this community, I know the importance of being able to live authentically and to be seen and valued for the unique individual that I am. I am proud of my hometown, Richfield, for upholding its commitment to protecting human rights, celebrating the contribution of this diverse population, and making this a safe and welcoming community in which to thrive. Thank you.

Next, we'll move on to the consent calendar. City Manager Rodriguez.

Thank you, Mayor. The consent calendar contains several separate items which are acted upon by the city council in one motion. Once the consent calendar has been approved, the individual items and recommended actions have also been approved. No further council action on these items is necessary. On tonight's consent calendar, item A, approve disbursements claims. Item B, approve a work order in the amount of $680,570 with Stantec Consulting Services Inc. for engineering services for the 69th Street reconstruction project. Item C, consider approval of a request for a new secondhand goods dealer license for EcoATM LLC located at 826 West 66th Street inside Speedway. Item D, consider the approval of the second reading of an ordinance amending subsection 210.01 of the city code related to the city council salaries for 2027 and 2028 and summary publication of said ordinance. And I submit these items for your consideration as part of tonight's consent calendar. Thank you.

Thank you. Do we have a motion to approve the consent calendar items?

So moved.

Second. It's been moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Hearing none, all in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed? And we've approved the consent calendar. Next, we'll move on to other business, and I'm going to turn it over to Council Member Burke.

So the item for consideration is to consider alternate appointment to fill a vacancy on the Human Rights Commission. City Council interviews candidates yearly in November and designates commission appointees and alternates in case a vacancy arises. The City Council designated Jocelyn Klaus as an alternate appointment. The Human Rights Commissioner has vacated their seat, and Jocelyn has agreed to join the Human Rights Commission with the term expiring January 31st, 2029. Maintaining a full commission roster allows for a diverse range of perspectives to be shared during each commission meeting. Maintaining a full roster allows for more flexibility in instances where a quorum is needed to conduct official business. Any comments by the way? So I move to approve the appointment of Jocelyn Claus as human rights commissioner commencing on May 26, 2026 and ending January 31, 2029. Second.

It's been moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? I would just like to thank our new commissioner for stepping up, and I really appreciate and welcome them to the commission. So thank you very much. All right. Any other comments or questions? All in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed? And the motion passes. Next, we'll move on to the city manager's report. City Manager Rodriguez. Yes, thank you, Mayor.

I just wanted to thank Representative Mike Howard and Senator Melissa Wicklin for their tireless efforts to secure funding, $2 million in funding for the Nicollet Avenue reconstruction project. It goes a long way. towards covering approximately 8 million of the city's local share. I want to thank Council, because I know you showed up at bonding tours, et cetera. Also, Mayor Supple and Council Member Hayford O'Leary, because you testified. Also, the team at, the staff team at Public Works. They did great work in their advocacy. So, good news. Thank you.

Thank you. Are there any questions for City Manager Rodriguez?

All right.

Thank you. Next, we'll move on to the council discussion. You can do either hats off to hometown hits or council liaison reports. So we'll start with council member Christensen.

I have nothing to report tonight.

Council member Hayford Leary.

I'm assuming somebody is going to say more about Memorial Day, but thanks to honoring all veterans Memorial group for doing that event again. But what I did want to share, I think I mentioned in advance of this meeting, or in advance of the event, that we were going to do this tour of Richfield infrastructure for this visiting conference, NACTO. So we did that tour two weeks ago Friday, and it went really well. We had about 25 people from across the country walk through Richfield from 66th Street and 35W to Portland Avenue. Got a lot of feedback, honestly a lot of just Compliments and admiration a lot of people are really impressed at what we've done as a small city And basically like how do we do this in our town? So that was great to hear but there was one particular moment that I wanted to share especially in light of this being the Pride Month resolution One of the people on the tour asked about our rainbow roundabout at 67th and Lindale and What was the origin of that they complimented that it was both nice to see and it was like a nice landmark of just wayfinding And I complimented that was done by the Arts Commission. That was not explicitly political messaging, but I sort of joked as a gay council member, it is I do enjoy seeing our quote unquote informal pride roundabout. Later on the tour, somebody who was a young transportation professional just out of college in Texas approached me and he was gay. And he just said that it really impressed him that what he Would have assumed was a conservative suburb was willing to welcome gay people in that way that they were comfortable with that And that it was meaningful to him to see that rainbow roundabout. So It was a reminder to me that like sometimes Symbols can feel unimportant in the business of government But they do you never know when it's gonna mean something to somebody and it was nice to hear that Thank You councilmember Burke

I recently drove by and then walked by and then bicycled by the pool. And I'll tell you, it looks amazing. Please go and see that pool. I want to thank residents who supported the resolution that made it happen to raise the funds for it. The slide looks great. The walkway that walks over the people sliding was kept. Even the fence around the darn thing looks great. So please, I encourage you all to get out there to the pool, at least see it, and more importantly, go play in it. And have a good time.

Thank you.

Last week was National Public Works Week from May 17th to the 23rd. So I want to do a shout out to our Public Works Department and all of the things they do to keep us safe and to keep the lights on literally and to keep everything going. So we appreciate that. I also... Council member Hayford O'Leary mentioned the Honoring All Veterans Memorial. I do want to thank the board and all the volunteers that helped make that possible. There was a, if I can get my phone open here, there was a great celebration yesterday. The Richfield Symphonic Band provided the music. There was a color guard presentation, a flyover performance by the T6 Thunder, and our keynote was Lieutenant of the special guerrilla unit and Who were newly recognized as veterans by the state of Minnesota and much more so it was a really touching Ceremony and I want to thank everybody that organized that With that I have no further agenda items. Is there a motion to adjourn the meeting so moved second It's been moved and seconded. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. And all opposed? We stand adjourned. Thank you.