City Council - Regular Meeting

332.

The music. Oh. Call the meeting of the St Paul City Council to order. Roll call, please.

Coleman. Here. Kim. Here. Yang. Here. Bowie. Here. Jost. Here. Johnson. Here. President Maker. Here. I'm so sorry.

Seven present. Seven present, none absent. Welcome everyone to our Saint Paul City Council meeting. Thank you all so much for joining us. We invite everyone to join us in standing 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, liberty and justice for all.

Is that with me? Yep. Okay. And I start with consent. Yep. Okay. Consent agenda items three through 24 are before you

for your consideration. Is there anything to be taken for separate consideration? It doesn't look like it. I do want to acknowledge, by the way, that Ms. Tilander is reading for the very first time as our brand new city clerk, and we have not rehearsed. If you see any snags along the way, that is just us getting into our rhythm. But welcome, very excited. Thank you. Seeing that there is nothing to be taken for separate consideration, I'll take a motion from Ms. Johnson for the balance of the consent agenda. All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed?

Seven in favor, none opposed. The consent agenda is adopted. So next item is item number 25, resolution 26 dash six sixty two, approving the mayor's appointment of Deb Barber to serve as the city's director of public works.

And I want to, first of all, acknowledge that we have three different appointments today. We're very excited to continue filling out our new team. These are a little bit awkward because there isn't a lot to say sometimes about brand new folks who we don't know yet. But we are really excited and want to welcome both staff and all their families who are here with them for this important occasion, recognizing that this is not just a one person sport. These appointments and the work is very much a team effort. So excited to see so many folks here today to support our new appointees. With that, I will take a motion from Vice President Yang for approval. Is there any discussion of the motion before we do the swearing in? All right. Seeing none, excited to welcome Ms. Barber to the role of Director of Public Works. All in

favor say aye. Aye. All opposed? Seven in favor? None opposed? The resolution is adopted.

And we will welcome Ms. Barber and family up for this or just Ms. Barber? Anyone that's wearing it?

Okay. If you could raise your right hand and repeat after me. I, state your name. I, Deb Barber Do solemnly swear Do solemnly swear to support the constitutions. To support the constitutions. Of The United States. Of The United States. And of the state of Minnesota. And of

the state of Minnesota.

And to just discharge faithfully. And to discharge faithfully. The duties devolving upon me. The duties devolving upon me. As the director of Public Works. As the Director of Public Works. Of the City Of Saint Paul. Of the City Of Saint Paul. To the best of my judgment and ability. To the best of my judgment and ability. Congratulations. Thank you. Next item is item 26, resolution 20 six-six 63, approving the mayor's appointment of Joe Harney to serve as the city's Office of Financial Services Director.

All right. I will take a motion from Ms. Kim for approval. Is there any discussion of the motion? Seeing none, all in favor say aye. Aye.

All opposed? Seven in favor, none opposed. The resolution is adopted.

Welcome up Mr. Harney and or family for the swearing in.

Please raise your right hand and repeat after me. I state your name. I, Joe Arne. Do solemnly swear. Do solemnly swear. To support the constitutions.

To support the constitutions.

Of The United States.

Of The United States.

And the state of Minnesota.

And the state of Minnesota.

And to discharge faithfully. And to discharge faithfully. The duties devolving upon me.

The duties devolving upon me.

As the.

As the director of the office of financial services.

Of the of the city of Saint Paul. The city of Saint Paul. To the best of my judgment and ability.

To the best of my judgment and ability. Congratulations. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Item number 27 is resolution twenty six dash six six seven, approving the mayor's appointment of Kevin Yong as communications manager assistant to the mayor one.

I will take a motion for approval from Ms. Bui. Is there any discussion of the motion? Seeing none all in favor say aye.

Aye. All opposed.

Seven in favor, none opposed. The resolution is adopted.

Welcome up. And any family or guests or anyone? For the swearing in, welcome. I didn't recognize family last time and I felt really bad about it. It. If you can tell, I'm trying to make up for the

last time. Please raise your right hand and repeat after me. I, state your name.

I, Kevin Young,

do solemnly swear Do solemnly swear to support the Constitutions constitutions Of The United States

Of The United States

And of the state of Minnesota And of the state of Minnesota And to discharge faithfully And to discharge faithfully The duties devolving upon me

The duties devolving upon me

Let me get this one. The communications manager, assistant to the mayor, one.

As the communications manager, assistant to the mayor, one.

Of the city of Saint Paul.

Of the

city of Saint Paul. To the best of my judgment and ability.

To the best of my judgment and ability. Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you.

And actually I am going to move 29 to the next item just because we have a lot of folks here for that item and I want to take that one first.

Item 29 is Resolution 20 six-six 72, Honoring the Legacy of Youssef Imgini in the City of St. Paul. Welcome Ms. Bui.

Good afternoon colleagues and everyone here. If you are here to honor the life and legacy of Youssef Imgini, can you please join me at the podium. We welcome everyone. If you are able to join us, we would love to have you here with us. So, as we're getting started, just want to just pause to just honor the life and legacy of Youssef M.

Guinea. And this resolution is deeply personal to me. I know this body has brought forth resolutions to recognize many leaders in our community. And, when I think about the life and legacy of Yousef, he was a mentor, a trusted leader in so many ways and a steady source of wisdom. For many of us whether we were elected officials or the chief of police or a staffer here in the city of Saint Paul.

And, if you ever found yourself in his presence, you didn't leave empty handed. He was just a wealth of knowledge and wisdom and every single time I had a chance to be with him, I always left with golden nuggets and that was the type of leadership that I know seek to continue and I know we all take that charge seriously. Yousef was also a walking encyclopedia. So, you could only imagine the the the challenge I had going through different iterations of a resolution and I also just want to recognize my my staff up here, Fulford, as he understands the seriousness of like, no, we have to do more. We have to source this.

We should cite that or I just found out Yousef worked here. He had an impact in Minneapolis or he made an impact in in this organization and we just tried really hard to get everything in here. So, if as I read the resolution and if there's something that's missing, please charge it to my head and not my heart. And, when I just think about just like the the leadership and the guidance that he grounded me with. It was these powerful set of questions that I still carry on with my work every day.

And, I was just thinking through like my first week in the ward one's office and just thinking about all the council members and all the Rondo leaders that helped pave the way for me to be there and being on the phone with him and receiving that guidance. Those three questions I really, you know, stick with how I, you know, make decisions were who benefits, who pays the cost, and is it the right thing to do? And, those three questions really is the compass around how you are able to govern with truth and transparency. And, you know, with that, I will move to read this resolution. It's pretty lengthy resolution and we have some speakers here as well that will represent organizations and use of impact in the community.

We also have joining us either the first assistant mayor, Erica Schumacher, or if the mayor is able to make it, she will be providing her proclamation as well. So, begins or actually,

I'm not

going to read from here because I don't have the glasses for that. But, here it starts, honoring the life and legacy of Youssef M. Guinea. Whereas Youssef M Guinea, a devoted husband, father, historian, journalist, community educator, and civil rights leader passed away on 04/07/2026 leaving behind a legacy that will echo through generations. Whereas, born Charles Anderson and raised in the historic Rondo community to Charles Crane Anderson and Teresa Agnes Baker Anderson, he was shaped by a family deeply engaged in civic religious and cultural life including Saint Peter Claver Catholic Church in the Halleke Brown Community Center.

Whereas, he carried forward a multi generational legacy of civil rights leadership as the grand nephew of Frederick L. McGee, one of Minnesota's first black attorneys and co founder of the Niagara Movement, founder of the Minnesota's first NAACP chapter and the co founder of the Saint Paul Peter Saint or excuse me, Saint Peter Claver Catholic Church. Whereas, his early intellectual foundation was shaped by his grandmother, Constant Connie Anderson, who instilled in him a lifelong discipline of reading, study, and critical thought rooted in the works of Richard Wright and Carter G. Woodson. Whereas, as a student of the Saint Paul Central High School, he both central, he witnessed defining moments of the civil rights movement including hearing the Reverend Doctor.

Martin Luther King Junior in learning of organizing efforts led by a Philip Randolph here at the Union Depot. Whereas, in 1972, he formally took an African Yoruba name, Yusuf M Guinea, reflecting his commitment to heritage, dignity, and purpose and graduated from the Metro State University in 1974 with a degree in journalism. Whereas, he began producing programming at KUOM radio in 1973 and contributed to the Malcolm x Pan African Institute using media as a tool to educate and inform community voices. Whereas, he helped organize Minnesota's participation in the nineteen ninety five million man march demonstrating his commitment to civic engagement and national movement building. Whereas, he founded Yousef M Guinea and Associates LLC and served as a director of the office of educational equity for Saint Paul Public Schools from 2006 to 2012, advancing equity and education and opportunity for students.

Whereas, he led Saint Paul Strong from 2013 to 2016 advocating for transparency, accountability, and representative government in city hall. Whereas, he served as an active member of the Saint Paul branch of NAACP since 1988 later rising to serve as the vice president of also the Minnesota chapter. Whereas, he provided steady leadership on issues of public safety and civil rights including helping to negotiate Saint Paul's police body camera policy with SPPD. Whereas, through that leadership, he played a critical role in establishing the 2001 groundbreaking community policing or community police covenant agreement between the Saint Paul police and the Saint Paul NWCP. This was a landmark agreement in response to a long standing community concerns and advocacy regarding police brutality and excess use of force, which strengthened accountability, improved community trust, and contribute to sustain reductions in excess excess forest practices excess, excuse me, forest practices.

Whereas, Youssef M'Guinee dedicated his life to preserving and advancing the history of black Minnesotans and maintaining a vast and valuable archive of speeches, books, articles, photographs, and primary source materials that documented generations of black leadership, resilience, and community life. Whereas, through his work with the Minnesota Historical Society and the Minnesota spokesman recorder, Youssef Mgini served as a trusted voice in historical authority documenting, interpreting and preserving the lived experience of the black lived experiences of black Minnesotans, ensuring that the stories of our community were told with truth, depth and dignity. Whereas his leadership extended across influential community institutions including Sabathany Community Center, KMOJ radio, the Urban Coalition, Hallie Q Brown, and so many more where he contributed contributed to efforts that strengthen black institutions rooted in service collective progress. Whereas in 2024, his expertise as a historian informed the Saint Paul Heritage Preservation Commission in the city council's decision to permanently restore Rondeau Avenue, Ensuring that the work was grounded in historical accuracy and repair. Whereas, widely recognized as a keeper of our stories, Yousef M Guinea mentored generations of elected officials, leaders, strengthen the cultural and civic fabric of Saint Paul.

And last but not least, therefore be it resolved that the Saint Paul City Council hereby honors the life and legacy of Yousef M'Guine and expresses its deep gratitude for his decades of service, leadership, and unwavering commitment to truth, community, and justice. And be it further resolved that the city of Saint Paul calls on our residents, institutions, and leaders to carry forward Yusuf and Guinea's legacy by champion the spirit of his name. Yusuf, one who seeks wisdom to benefit others. That was his legacy. M Guinea, a visitor from far a visitor from a far away place.

Ensuring that his purpose and impact continues to live through the actions we take as a city. Thank you so much. We're going to have here the speaker have the state president of the Minnesota and Regional excuse me, Reverend Richard Pittman speaking. And we'll have two minutes and I'll transition to the next speaker as well.

Good afternoon.

Good afternoon. If

well, they're all here. The president of the Saint Paul branch, Mother Akita Jim, if you could are you good there? Yes. And chief, if you could come

around.

We we worked closely with Yousef over the last several years and and have meeting with the chief and working on the agreement between the NAACP and Saint Paul Police Department. Yousef was a instrument in this activity, and the these are members of the Saint Paul branch n double a c p, that represented here today. I'm I stand here as the state conference, Dakota and Minnesota branch. Youssef is heavily missed. On behalf of the NAACP, I stand today not just to honor a man, but to recognize a movement that lived in a man.

Youssef M. Ginny was more than a name in the Rondo community. He was a living bridge between the past, our present, and our future. He understands that history is not just something you study, it is something you carry. And he carried the story of Rondo with dignity, with truth, and with responsibility.

As a longtime servant of the NAACP and as the vice president within our state conference, Youssef did not simply hold a title, he fulfilled an assignment. He showed up, He stood firm. He spoke when it mattered, and he worked quietly, consistently, and faithfully. For justice and for the people, as an educator, he didn't just teach lessons, he shaped minds. As a historian, he didn't just preserve fact, he preserved identity.

As a community community liaison, he didn't just connect systems, he connected people. And in a time where communities are often divided, Yusuf was a unifier, respected in the streets, respected in institutions, and trusted by those who knew that his words meant something. But beyond all of his accomplishments, he was a husband, a father, a man of character, and a servant leader who believed that legacy is not what you leave behind, it's what you build into others. The Roundup community is stronger because he walked among us. The NAACP is better because he served among us.

And this city is richer because he gave himself to it. So today, this proclamation is not just recognition, it is confirmation. Confirmation that a life well lived will always speak. Confirmation that service still matters. And confirmation that Yusuf M. Jenny impacted impact will outlive us all. May we not only remember him, but may we continue to work he so faithfully carry. Thank you.

Thank you.

And we're going to have speak next is King Demetrius, who is a family member also representing the journalism community. And then, we'll have after that the see here, a representative from Hallie Q. Brown. I don't think I see okay. Okay. And then or Hallie Q. Brown and or the African American Leadership Council.

Hello everybody. First of all, I just wanna let you all know that my heart is really heavy from this gut wrenching experience. We know death is no one know the time nor the hour. Like Anika Boy indicated, my uncle, Yousef and Jeanie was a walking encyclopedia when she said that she said a mouthful. My uncle last text messages that he sent me was, there are always at least two ways of spreading the light.

You can be the candle or you can be the mirror that reflects it. When I asked him why did he pick this certain author, he told me that this woman was so amazing and I was just perplexed about finding out the type of work that she did. She wrote 40 books in forty years. Ethan Ellison. I really appreciate the knowledge that he basically had gifted me and along with my children as well.

The month of February, myself and my children sat on the floor of his home and just listened to him as he was able to speak power to truth. I'm just so overwhelmed with grief right now as well. It says, whenever an elder die, we lose a library. Yourself was definitely a library. He was not a lie. He was a gentleman and a scholar.

He was a

gentle giant. He also taught me, it's better to ask for permission than it is to ask for forgiveness. So I just wanna thank you all and the NAACP and all the people that's right here that knew my uncle Yousef and will continue his legacy. The last words that he told me when he was in the hospital he said, you know what it's like getting old? I said, no uncle.

And he said, it's when the doctor come in your room and he tells you that there's nothing else we can do for you. He said, I hope whoever that I breathed on and whoever I communicated with, They can water the seed and watch it grow. I want them to do me one favor. Bury the man and continue the plan. Alright.

ALC folks, come on

up. Excuse me.

Good afternoon, president of the council council members. My name is Tyrone Terrell, president of the African American Leadership Council. And I have some of my members standing here with me, including council member Boyd. But my work with brother, Yusef, goes way back. And he had always in my first twenty five years, was in Minneapolis, and you see I was one of the few brothers that would have to come over and work with me and brother Spike Moss and many others on we believe there was no river, that the work that impacted the black community, no matter whether you were in Saint Cloud, Rochester, Moorhead, you impact all people in the black community.

So brother Youssef always stood up. He was in the room the night that we named the Men of March that took 2,500 black men to the Million Man March in 1995. He was in the room. We did the agreement in 2001 with chief Finney for the agreement between the NAACP and other black organizations in Saint Paul. So he's physically gone, but Youssef will live in all of

us,

in all of us that truly believe in because the work is not done. I tell people all the time and I know the council president and have had this conversation, when we still talk about DEI in 2026, there's something wrong

with us. There

shouldn't be a time that we have to talk about diversity, equity, inclusion in 2026.

Yes.

It should be part of the air we breathe, what we do every day. And that's what USF was about. USF was about doing this work. And so long as it's an AALC, an NAACP, and I also speak with the black minister of alliance who's not here. He was also a partner with the alliance. And so all of us stand unified in remembering brother Youthell. So thank you.

Thank you.

And,

my apologies, but also on that list is Elder Frank White, who is historian and a great friend. You probably remember Elder Frank White from some years ago or maybe last year when we were recognizing his contributions to documenting African American history. And also, we have the mayor here as well, if you don't mind joining us. But, we'll have a few words from Frank White and then the mayor's office and then I'll just recognize all the organizations that's here, and then I'll just move for adoption. Thank you.

Good afternoon, and so many things could be said about Yousef, some of them have already been said. I will share this. We are working on a community celebration that will be set together after the funeral. I didn't want to complicate the funeral and family ahead of time. Jeannie could not be here today because she's still in shock.

She's still going through some things. Youssef and I, again, have known each other for a long time. Over the last couple years, we probably talked every day, counseling each other, sharing stories, and and I could tell you many, many stories that all of us could. Youssef was a very special person. In addition to that, many people don't know, I just shared with his nephew, Youssef's sister, Jody, was raised and adopted by my grandparents.

So we also, in addition to our friendship, we're almost like family. We had we had done many things. We have done a number of things together. One of the most recent was sharing information about changing the name Concordia back to Rondo and working with the former council member Russell and then also with council member Bowie to make sure that it was done correctly and not necessarily going along Concordia Avenue, which at Western and Concordia, you're really at Western And Carroll. So let me just share this again.

So many things have been said, I could talk until we go to dinner, but I won't. So in addition to being a former referee and being yelled at by some people behind the dice, people have considered me the baseball guy. So let me share a quote from Jackie Robinson. A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives. Truly, truly, Youssef has accomplished that.

Thank you.

We'll see.

Council President, would it be okay if I said a couple words before I read the proclamation? Please, Mayor. So, when Council Member Bouie asked me if I would participate today, it was a resounding yes that I it was absolutely necessary for me to

be here. Because, don't think I've ever

told this story to anyone before, but when I ran for office in 2018 as a state representative, I didn't know anybody and I didn't know anything about the political process. And, one of the first people that I spoke to was Youssef. And, I didn't know who he was. I didn't know anything about him, but he was a '64 a resident and I was running to be the state representative for '64 a. And, I didn't know anything about the caucus process or how to call delegates or what to do and and Yousef talked to me and he had coffee with me and he walked me through the process and that I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for those first early conversations.

And so, I am forever indebted to his willingness to share his social, his culture, and his political capital with me. As a refugee kid, I had none of that. All the only people I knew lived at Mount Airy or McDonough homes and those people have no political capital. And so, fact that somebody who has been a stalwart of the neighborhood and had been there for generations was willing to share his political capital with me meant a great for me to be able to actually get to where I am today. So, I just wanted to make sure that that was noted for the record of, like me being here in this office is a direct connection to him as well.

So, with that, I wanted to share today the proclamation that the city of Saint Paul put together to honor Yousef. So, it says, whereas Yousef Emgeny, who's passing on 04/07/2026, has left a hole in the civic fabric of our city, was an educator, historian, community organizer, advocate, and much appreciated member of community in Saint Paul. And, whereas the work of Youssef M. Jenny has touched every life in the city of Saint Paul from changing the way our schools teach black and ethnic history, to the groundbreaking community based model strengthening community relations with the Saint Paul police in 2020 2001 and his leadership at the NAACP Saint Paul chapter has made the city more equitable and fair. And, whereas through his work with the Sabath is it Sabathany Community Center contributing and supporting various independent media and helping to establish KMOJ radio to ensure the voices of black Minnesotans are heard.

Youssef M. Jenny has lifted the legacy and presence of black communities in Saint Paul and neighboring cities. And, whereas Youssef M. Jenny has advocated for and continuously stood beside the Rondo neighborhood against the systemic discrimination and barriers faced by black Minnesotans and residents of Saint Paul including eviction, criminal justice, education, healthcare, and housing. And, whereas the record and historiography of black Minnesotans preserved by Youssef M.

Jenny has included oral history, written work, and photography providing a unique primary source for the community voice and experience of black Minnesotans. And, whereas the city Of Saint Paul recognizes and honors Youssef M. Jenny for his contribution as a community role model and leader through his lifelong legacy of advocacy and commitment to serving others. And will be remembered for his unwavering dedication to his fellow Saint Paul residents. Now, therefore, I, Khali Hur, mayor of the City Of Saint Paul, do hereby proclaim 04/22/2026 to be Youssef Mjemi Day in the city of Saint Paul.

Thank you so much Mayor for sharing that really moving story. I just think about just not only the political capital, but just like so much wealth. We all are so much better because of of knowing Yousef. So, thank you for making ways to be here. I understand your schedule as a mayor is very hectic and it's really it's a demonstration of your character for you to be here today.

I just wanna just recognize before I move to a motion for discussion and adoption and then join us for a historic photo. But, I just wanna recognize the movement behind the giant that we're all talking about. We have here Keith Baker who's part of Reconnect representing the Rondo Roundtable. We have the president of the Twin Cities Urban League. Marquita Stephenson's here. We have Hallie Q Brown. We have the chief of police, Alex Henry here as well. The deputy director of St. Paul fire, Jamie Smith. We have the the body from the African American leadership council represents from the St.

Paul heritage preservation check yourself health and wellness center. I used to work there so I'm so happy to see you. And just the overall community at large that's here to celebrate. I just wanted to say just thank you again. We will continue to carry on the legacy. I will also share with the good news, the funeral and also look for updates on the community celebration that's going to take place. And with that, I'm going to motion for discussion. I do see council member or chair Johnson here as well. If you want to share some words part of your discussion so you don't have to go here. Mean you're welcome to join if you want.

So there's a motion for approval and is there any discussion of that motion. Ms. Johnson. Stand on ceremony.

Well yes, it's like what procedure, hello. And you sort of be like you got to stand right here, got to speak your part. So I just want to say really appreciate the time that we put in for this as well as a body. Think there are times and there are moments where it feels like business as usual and then there are times that deserve not only our space and our opportunity and our voice but also the voice of the community and when we lose an elder of the magnitude of service and dedication and passion and accountability and intentionality that was embedded in Yousef and everything that he did and how he operated in in our community, I think it's important for us to spend that space and time. And so as I was listening to the the comments today and as we've been able to just talk about legacy and as we've been thinking about people who are always thinking through of what black leadership looks like generationally after them, their impact that goes well beyond the years that we have on this earth, but that exceeds that and touches so many leaders.

I think that Youssef is a primary example of what it takes to not only lead with your heart and your passion, but to do so in a way that ensures that people who know him are forever changed. And so as somebody who did not grow up in Rondeau, but moved to the Twin Cities, there are many leaders that are standing alongside me, behind me, that were on a short list of folks that I just had to know because you would hear it from your elders, you would hear it from your grandma's cousin, you would hear it from your friend telling you of people that you had to know and use of those individuals. And so I'm really excited that we were able to do this. I am a firm believer sometimes that we have to honor our community members and our elders while they're still here. Yousef passed on my mother's birthday, and I remember just being able to talk to her about the full circle moment that is in existence of why that was you know such a big deal and why community members will forever miss Youssef.

And I think that that we've been able to do that here eloquently and so I'm thrilled to be able to be a voting member on this body. Us, we literally have council member, former council member Debbie Montgomery. I must all three of us, it's not dead on me that that is the weight of how many council members, female, black female council members that we've had here in the city of St. And so to be able to be in your presence, Mr. Montgomery, you know, I just think about the legacy and the giants that we hold and Youssef was one of them. So I look forward to approving the resolution.

Thank you, Ms. Johnson. Is there other discussion with the motion? Ms. Kim.

Yeah, I'll just be very brief. I just really appreciate this resolution and I was just so appreciative of the way that folks spoke about this person and I just I never met Youssef but I definitely knew of him and I'm even thinking in my own ways how can I help carry on his legacy because when I look at all of you and see the ways that he's touched your lives and I'm assuming multitudes of people more, right, that you've all been in connection with, that sort of sentiment and how you carry on his light is sort of that legacy and so, count me in and I'm so sorry for your loss and also I'll be looking forward to celebrate his life and also kind of what he leaves behind which I believe is all of you? I see all of your smiling faces in the way that your face lights up when we've been speaking about him. So, thank you for being here today.

Thank you, Ms. Kim. Is there any other discussion of the motion? I will just say it's very hard to add to what's already been said. We have obviously lost a leading light in our community. And I will say that every time I saw Yousef here and he was here so many times because he cared about so many different issues, and I think that that says something about the kind of person he was too. Whenever I saw him here, I knew we were in for a treat because I knew when he got up to speak, he was going to say something truly profound and something truly wise. And so I agree with Ms. Kim. I think just looking at I know you can't see yourselves, but we can see you.

Looking at this group that is standing here, think your legacy is also often who you're remembered by and the community and the relationships that you've built. And just looking at this group, it is truly remarkable. So he will be so missed and I'm so glad that we have had this opportunity today. Thanks to you, Ms. Bowie and Ms. Johnson to honor him. So with that, there's a motion for approval. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed?

Seven in favor, none opposed. The resolution is adopted as amended.

Everybody quiet.

Alright. Thank you all again so much. We are gonna do what council member Kim calls a heart pivot as we move on

I didn't know I was

gonna see you today.

With our agenda.

Yeah. I see. We've we've got a I know. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. There you

Just wait one more time.

Let Here we go.

Item 28 is Resolution 20 six-six 19, urging European financial institutions to divest from companies that enable the United States Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement and supporting the delegation of Twin Cities residents advocating for this divestment.

May I ask Kim?

Awesome. Yeah. I really appreciate this. This resolution is in support of a delegation of residents that are currently in Europe who are meeting with human rights organizations to cross share resources sharing what happened here in the Twin Cities in building the transatlantic relationships that this political moment demands. It calls in European financial institutions to examine what their capital is funding and how any investments in these corporations can have caused real harm.

In the weeks and months since Operation Metro Surge put Saint Paul in the international spotlight, civil and human rights organizations across the world have reached out to local organizations here, sharing strategies, amplifying calls for accountability, and standing in solidarity with communities facing state violence. That connection is not accidental. It reflects an understanding that the fight for immigrant dignity, for the right to live free from fear and surveillance don't happen in vacuums. So, I really appreciate the council's consideration. I strongly appreciate your support for this resolution. Okay.

And Ms. Kim, is there version two that needs to be moved? I'm sorry. Was that for the

oh, nope. That was for

the resolution.

Not that I'm aware of.

Sounds like Never mind. That sounds like we're in our dance.

Perfect. Dance in a way I'll

make a motion to approve. Okay, motion to approve. Is there any discussion of the motion?

Ms. Bouie.

Thank you, council president. I I also I just wanna just give I don't feel comfortable supporting this, but I just want to just have on record just in transparency and respect for your leadership for bringing this forward. I would need more information for this. I think when I think about my responsibility as a council member, really prioritizing and focusing on local, You know, I'm I guess I'm missing just kind of the piece around just like how this action today is gonna have impacts and there's a lot of like impacts that I'm not even really feel like confident or specialize in or expertise on like foreign policy or even just the specificity or the specificity, excuse me, of the context of the resolution. So if I was to vote on it today, I think I will be a no, but I just wanted to just have on record just sharing that with you, Councilmember Kim.

Thanks. Ms. Bui, is there any other discussion of the motion? Ms. Johnson?

Yeah, I have a couple questions. I guess just, Councilmember Kim, can you share a little bit about, you know, I did have a chance to review the version that's in Legistar, and I guess I, to that point of Councilmember Bowie's remarks, you know, I whenever we make a stance on something or take a stance on something, even if it's a resolution, I think that it's important for us to also understand the impacts of the decision that we make. And so can you just say two more things about what this resolution does, why this is being brought to the council, and just kind of what your thoughts are around the overall impact that this, if it were to pass today, does have? And I'm sorry to put you on the spot. I just, prior to last week didn't actually know this was coming and so I didn't really also get a chance to fully understand just what the thoughts were.

So transparently I feel a little put on the spot so

I do want

to ask you to kind of share a little bit more.

Yep, absolutely. So the background on this, so Minneapolis passed the same resolution. There are local leaders that are right now in Europe on a tour kind of trading information, swapping strategies, getting a better understanding of how all of these systems are connected. And part of that tour is urging European financial institutions to invest from companies that enable our DHS and ICE to wreak havoc across the country. And so, it's a little bit about tracking money and urging them to divest from those investments and also supporting our delegation that's from the Twin Cities that's sharing our on the ground strategies and learnings from fighting fascists in our streets.

Yep. Ms. Kelly.

Does that

answer your question, Council Member Johnson?

Yeah, I think so I think it does. I think when it comes to just how involved we are, I guess I'm wondering just like the individuals that are there, can you just share a

little bit about who they are? The one that approached me was I just kind of wonder how comfortable they feel about it. But one of them is Jeanette who comes. She's a Ward 4 resident and she comes and has been very vocal around our city's divestment from resources that are directed towards ICE. And the others I don't know personally, so I don't want to speak on their behalf, but Jeanette was the one that approached me personally to pass this resolution in coordination with Minneapolis and in coordination with their tour. Okay.

Any further discussion of the motion? I appreciate the questions. I will just say I also feel a little bit uncomfortable supporting a delegation of folks that we don't know who is part of the delegation and haven't met with them or spoken with them before they went out and sort of putting our cities in premature behind them, given that they're already there and speaking and we're not sure who they are or what they're what they're saying. I think that I would I would want to have met with them and spoken with them before being asked to support their efforts. So, sounds like perhaps we should take a roll call vote. Is there any further discussion before we do that?

I just want to clarify that I know who they are, but I don't know how public they want to make their identities known. That's my only hesitancy on the record. I understand.

Ms. Johnson and Ms. Boogie. Yeah I appreciate that Councilmember Kim. I yeah and I don't want to force you to have to disclose anyone's identity especially without that preface of a conversation.

I think when we are thinking about resolutions and the impact and I did have a chance to review and if you haven't, I watched how the city of Minneapolis communicated about this and I think one of the things that's really important for us as a council, I see uniformity and I think whenever we are taking stances, especially ones that have international impact or foreign affairs related impact, especially for essentially telling another European financial institution to divest that we also need to make sure that our home is clean. And so like I just I don't necessarily fully understand what this would do. And so and it's definitely not because I, you know, have issues maybe with the overall sentiment, but I also just without that information it's really hard to kind of move forward. And so I'll be voting no today as well.

Thanks Ms. Johnson. Saw Ms. Bouie.

Thank you. And also Council Member Kim, thank you for you know just providing more context. And I do think you know in respects to confidentiality and you know there is some you know hesitation it seems like to disclose the names and no, I don't think it's worth ever having a public institution like the city of Saint Paul, like a government agency. It's like very heavy weighted to for us to put our name and endorsement, our empower, our take a public stance in solidarity if we're not even able to really know who we're standing behind. So that's why you know I am at a no.

And I also just think about just you know the purpose and tools of a resolution. You know, as someone who's served as a as a front liner in many movements, you know, I definitely would have wanted to actually build that authentic relationship or at least hear from, you know, some of those leaders who are making these efforts across the across The United or not United States, but in in Europe. Just the fact that, like, there has not been, you know, there hasn't been that connection, that collaboration, and I take that very, very seriously especially whatever, you know, as a council member I'm putting my name behind, I would just want to be more informed. So I just share with you just kind of from a council member to another council member, you know, as we're moving forward and bringing things to this body that like we do our due diligence to inform the other council members because I do think it's the opportunity to earn my support or earn our support, but I also I just wanna get get provide context of I I don't feel comfortable taking a stance in such a public manner with with the organization or group of people that have not you know you know built the relationship or even educated my office on this matter.

Ms. Yang. Thanks, Council President. Well, Council Morkimai, I want to thank you for bringing this forward. Want to need that for me. I

have a lot of trust

in the leadership of our Minneapolis council members who have voted to support a resolution like this and also in your leadership too. And I really appreciate our residents who are willing to who have the courage to approach you. I'm sure because they trust you and also have been very active in opposing Operation Metro Surge and the federal immigration operations that have happened all across our city and our country really. And so I'm prepared to vote in support of this. I'm wondering though based on feedback from the council members if you are not in a rush to approve this.

If you would be open to layover I think that that would be very appropriate given that it seems folks want to want more education and really information and a chance to be able to meet delegation directly. And so I would also be open to supporting that too.

So the delegation is there presently. I believe that our office had attempted to have this come to the agenda last week. And then we have our fifth Wednesday, and I'm not here the next two Wednesdays. So I'm certainly happy to do that, and then this council can take it on when I'm not present. So that's certainly an option. But in order for folks to meet with the delegation, they'll be returning from the strip. So happy to make that happen. And then I don't know the value truthfully of getting this passed, but still happy to bring it forward.

I appreciate the suggestion Ms. Yang. I look to you Ms. Kim, there's a motion. You've made a motion for approval if you want to withdraw your motion and move a layover or keep the motion to you.

I think that I am happy to address concerns of my colleagues to see this pass. Then also, it'll just happen when I'm not here then potentially, or the vote will happen when I'm not here. So, I'm happy to lay this over for we don't have a meeting next week, Wednesday. So, I'm happy to lay this over to May 6.

So the motion is to lay the matter over until May 6. Is there any discussion of the motion? Ms. Jost.

Thank you. I agree with the sentiments at the table. I for a layover, I mean, in more time, that means that we'll be spending more time on this for education. And I guess I it's still not clear to me what what outcome that this produces. I would prefer to put our my own effort into what are more tangible things I can do to support and change outcomes from the impacts of Operation Metro Surge or the impacts of ICE related to this issue rather than putting time into understanding the resolution. And so that would be my preference, so I won't be in support of a layover.

Okay. Any further discussion of the motion? All right. I guess we should do a roll call. All in favor of a sorry, roll

call Yes.

For a layover.

Yes. For a layover. Coleman? Yes. Kim? Yes. Yang? Yes. Bowie? No. Jost? No. Johnson? Aye. Okay. So five in favor. Sorry. I'm so sorry, President Maker. I vote aye. Aye. Five in favor, two opposed? Resolution is laid over to May 6.

If I may, really Ms. Kim. Council President, I am hearing the concerns here at the dais. I would just really appreciate if folks would just let me know if there's anything additional so that we can address that ahead of the next potential vote. We only heard concerns from one office prior to and I apologize, Councilman Rui. I know you had messaged me. But we just would love to hear these ahead of the dais so that we can address them accordingly and make adjustments as needed. So, very open, send an email, shoot me a call or send me a text, but happy to engage in this content moving forward. Thank you. Thanks Ms. Kim.

Item number 30 is the first reading of ordinance 20 six-twenty five amending chapter 66 of the legislative code to correct a scrivener's error related to allowing additional lot coverage for providing functional green roof space.

So this brings us to the ordinance section of our agenda. So for those who don't follow us every week religiously or what is one of our millions of viewers at home, we have three readings at least for every ordinance. We start with the first reading where we usually get a staff report or some basic background information on what we're considering. Then the ordinance the next week has a public hearing where we hear from the public and get feedback. And then either the next week it comes to us for final adoption or sometimes if we have more amendments, more work to do, we might lay it over for longer than that. So the ordinances that you're seeing in front of us right now for their first reading, we will either have a council member say something about them or we might have staff come up and just let folks know what they're all about. And then those ordinances, we'll have their public hearing next week. So I think for this one, I'm looking to Ms. Jost for a council member report instead of a staff report.

I'll keep it very brief. This is basically a scrivener's error to modify the percentage required. And it is because the master plan that this is related to was older than another change that was made, and so we need to update this to be consistent.

And that's basically what this is for.

Got it. Any questions for Ms. Jost? Otherwise, this will lay over.

I think we need it. Well, I'll

take a motion from Ms. Jost to

I don't think you have to

I think we need to make a motion. You just

say it's laid over next week.

I'm sorry. The ordinance is laid over to May 6 for second reading public hearing. Till May 6. Item 31, Ordinance 20 six-twenty six, updating Chapter three ten of the Legislative Code pertaining to uniform license procedures to extend payment of license renewal fees owed in calendar year 2026.

I want to welcome up Director Angie Wizzi with the Department of Safety Inspections. I want to just say before she presents that this is one of those items that in response to Operation Metro surge we heard loud and clear from small business owners in particular that they were suffering loss of revenue, loss of clientele, and that anything the city could do not only to direct financial assistance their way, but also to remove any financial burdens that we were placing on them, we should do. And in this case, one of the key financial levers that the city has to remove a burden is to not require that license renewals or license fees that would normally have to be paid at the beginning of this year be paid at the beginning of this year to give people that businesses that extra time. So it's taken us just a minute to get this ready, but I'm really pleased that Director Wissi and her team have worked so hard on this and excited to hear more from you now. And I just want to say to our media services folks, on our screen down here we keep seeing some random slide from a previous presentation.

Maybe Maybe HRA. So, we might need to change that when Director Racie speaks or later. Welcome.

Thank you, Council President. And, yes, thank you for your leadership with this ordinance change in particular, bringing together the chamber and downtown alliance and business owners to in the mayor's office to come up with something that is useful and valid and helpful to businesses. It's just one sliver of what these businesses need for support for recovering from operation Metro Search, but it is something tangible that we can do to help. And, I put all it applies really only to class n licenses. And so, not that I expect you to read this, but I wanted it part of the record. So these are all the licenses.

Oh, that was part of this presentation. Okay. Sorry. The slide we were looking at turns out was relevant to this presentation. You can bring it back up now. Sorry

about It's just a slide. That's it.

Right. It was just sitting there the whole time, and I thought it was a leftover. Sorry.

You were just so ready and on the ball.

And now we can't see anything. Okay. Keep going, Sorry.

It only applies to class n licenses and these do tend to be the higher priced licenses that that is with the city. And it does require an ordinance change because without this change, the department has no flexibility in when we accept licenses. When licenses are not like a gym membership, when you don't pay your gym membership, you don't have a gym membership. But for licenses, we actually have to take adverse action if you don't pay your license fee. That seems like adding insult to injury, especially with what these businesses have gone through this year.

So, really, we we need this ordinance change to give the department this flexibility during this year to have latitude for accepting class license and license fees late. It also includes some of the 2025 ones and that's because of the cyber attack when we didn't have invoicing happening for a portion of the year. Those, again, if we said you get a break, you know, some leeway on your 26 fee, but, oh, by the way, here's a bill for '25, that also seems like we're not meeting the goal of what we're trying to accomplish here. So, essentially, if you're invoiced for a business license, for a class n license in 2026, you have 2026 to pay it. As long as you pay it by the end of this year, you're good, you know, in in short terms, simple and easy.

And, again, it's only applicable to this year. So, next year, if the the same condition doesn't apply. And and, again, having the city attorneys review this, it's really because council grants the department what authorities that they can and cannot do and latitude with when things are paid is just not something that has been given to the department except for if this passes in the year 2026.

Thank you so much, Director. And I notice I appreciate the note about the average cost being $10.96 dollars I know that's the average, but licenses can often be much higher than that and even that alone is a big burden. So, appreciate not only the department's work, but also I think maybe originally there was some conversation about how long the grace period should be for three months, six months and I think that the twelve months that we landed on really does give businesses that needed breathing room. So appreciate that we got there. And I assume that we have not been charging any late fees up until this point for anything that hasn't come in yet this year.

I can't say that for certain because I haven't asked, but I would I'm trying to highly unlikely that we charged a late fee to date. Oh, this was in progress. Yes. And, you can see some of the licenses here. Many of our licensees actually have multiple license at the same location. So, it's not just a single like on sale liquor license. It's the additional of with entertainment, with Sunday, with you know, a gambling license. Now, you're looking at a lot of costs stacked on top of each other. So, it really can add up and this is hopefully will provide some relief.

Any questions for Director Wiese? Otherwise, thank you so much again and this will lay over till May 6 for a public hearing.

Thank you. Item 32, ordinance 26 dash 19 adding chapter 44 a to the administrative code to institute training reporting and programming related to the city's relationship with civil immigration laws and enforcement practices under administrative code chapter 44. Ms. Coleman. The public hearing.

I'm so sorry. So this one doesn't follow the very neat framework that I laid out earlier. This is an ordinance that is before us for final adoption, but because of additional information that was part of the record last week, we actually reopened the public hearing to give people another opportunity to comment. So actually we will hold a public hearing on this item before we consider it. So this is a public hearing. If you're here to testify when I call for your number, we ask that you come to the front, stand in between the two microphones. You don't need to adjust them. They will pick you up just fine. You also don't need to bend over towards them. And you'll have two minutes.

We ask that you start with your name and where you're coming from. And then when you're done testifying, please sign in on either of the two clipboards. And with that, if you're here to testify on item 32, this is your public hearing. Please come on up. Don't all jump at once.

Welcome. Sorry, did you say like if we call your number?

Sorry. Yes, item 32.

Oh, okay. I

thought I was like,

I don't remember taking the number. Hello council members. My name is Laurel St. Marie Jerusha and I live in Ward 7 Of St. Paul and I am a leader with Unidos, Minnesota, also known as Monarcha.

Unidos and myself are in strong support of ordinance twenty six twenty six nineteen because it offers better training, increased scrutiny, transparency, public reporting options, and accountability for city officials, particularly the Saint Paul Police Department. If we want to reestablish trust between city officials and residents, we will need to strengthen our existing separation ordinance to ensure residents are protected from ICE agents who do not respect their constitutional rights. It is essential that our city officials are properly trained to know under what circumstances they can or cannot interact with ICE. After seeing what happened on 11/25/2025 and mayor Hur's refusal to do an independent investigation into the matter, I do not have any confidence that the mayor or department heads will institute this kind of training or scrutiny. This is why Unidos and myself support this ordinance in in its original form.

Thank you, council members.

Thank you so much. Make sure to sign in. Welcome up.

Hello. Good evening, counselors. My name is Lauren Allen. I'm in 55107. And I would like to speak very strongly in favor of adopting this ordinance.

I'm so sorry. Can you pause just a minute? Just need to make sure we get the timer right. There we go. Go ahead.

Okay. I read the statement that the city attorney has written regarding this ordinance, and it seems like the crux of it is that the mayor will get her toes stepped on by you following this ordinance. The mayor, with respect, is very resilient and she can tolerate having her toes stepped on. In the meantime, we need action now. We need action yesterday and this will actually go a long way towards addressing the problems that the citizens are seeing, the residents are seeing in the city.

Okay? There's other fed agencies that you'll probably have to deal with through ordinance in the future. And, I just want to emphasize, do not betray the residents of Saint Paul by not taking action to hold police and city actors accountable to due process, law, and the wishes of the people of Saint Paul. This is a necessary start to the healing of the relationship between the city and the residents. Short of this action, what?

There is nothing else that people are seeing that you're doing. At the moment, cannot trust police or the process. We're seeing police disobey the law left and right, working with federal agencies and they need to be trained on how to do that properly or how not to do that properly. Okay? Without that, there is no civil contract. Without that, there is no social contract. I would argue very strongly that you guys adopt this proposal. If the mayor decides to veto it, please override that veto. Thank you for your time.

Thank you very much. Make sure to sign in. And welcome up.

Good afternoon, council president and council members. My name is Benjamin Goodman, Ward 3 lifelong St. Paul resident, Ten year Parks and Rec employee. I'm here to speak in favor of the ordinance. The guidance around interaction with immigration enforcement that we received ground from the mayor was crucial, but unfortunately inadequate.

A little bit too little and a little bit too late. General service employees of the city didn't have the contact information and relevant procedures for reporting when it would have mattered the most. I can share with you in January, off the clock, encountered ICE at Arlington ArcGray Ball Fields, and they went straight to abduct a father and two children from their home at a nearby house. I realized on my way home that I didn't know who to report this to or if it was something that I needed to report, obviously, off the clock. But still, I pride myself on being an involved and informed civil servant.

I'm a steward of my labor union, is Launa, and I strive to be a helpful source of information for my union siblings. I found myself that night, as I often do, without an answer to provide to them. And my colleagues asked me time and time again throughout the search what they should do if they encountered ICE. They asked me, as is often the case with questions I'm asked as a steward, because of a lack of a clear answer from the department or city administration. Training program is urgently needed.

I'm skeptical it'll be established and rolled out in time for the midterms when many of our recreation centers become polling places and therefore targets. But I would ask you to support this resolution. We need training. We do. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Make sure to sign in. So anyone else here to speak on this item? Seeing none, I will take a motion from Ms. Coleman to close the public hearing. All in favor say aye. Aye.

All opposed? Seven in favor, none opposed. The public hearing is closed.

Ms. Coleman. Thank you, Council President. I try to keep this short. I went back and looked at what I said when we first introduced this and I talked for a really long time then. So I'll keep it shorter today. I really wanna thank everybody who came today, particularly to our last testifier. That was just a very moving story. Thank you for sharing it and I think it echoes so much of what we've been hearing for months from our city employees about how they are looking for clarification. They are looking for guidance.

They want this training. How crucial clear reporting mechanisms are. How essential it is to the points of our other testifiers that we have those mechanisms for public oversight and public accountability. These are I think very common sense steps that we can take to ensure that our separation ordinance is something that people can have faith in, can rely on, can ensure that is actually being implemented in the way that it was intended when it was passed over twenty years ago. Really, the only other things that I have to say, I just have a couple of thank yous.

I want to say a huge, huge thank you to the council staff team that worked on this, in particular, Tim Greenfield and Jenny Nelson. It has been many, many months of meetings with city departments, with mayor's office, with city attorney's office, with community partners, with everybody sitting at this table. There has been so much work that has gone into this, so many different opinions and perspectives that we have taken into account. And I just an incredible testament particularly to the work of Tim and Jenny. So I want to say a huge thank you to them.

I want to say a huge thank you to everybody at this table, to all my colleagues on the council. Again, this has just been these have been ongoing conversations since November, December. Certainly they've picked up an intensity in January and February. I think that the care that everybody has taken to make sure that we are reflecting what we are hearing from the community and making sure that that is enshrined in ordinance. So that is not something that can be changed when new council members are elected or when a new mayor is elected, really saying that this is a bedrock of how we operate as a city.

As you know, to the extent that this ordinance is able to do that, it is a reflection of the work that has been done by folks on this council. And then finally, again, I will just thank everybody who has been here week in and week out, month in and month out at this point to speak about the impact of occupation or Operation Metro surge on our community. To Unidos in particular, I was thinking about the meetings that we were having in the winter where we were going to Mama's on Snelling and having to go in not able to get in unless you were able to knock and make eye contact with an employee because our businesses were locked. People were not able to move freely about our city. But Unidos and so many other community organizations and community partners continue to show up and make sure that we felt the pressure and we felt the urgency.

But we also took the time to get this right and to take the lessons that we've learned over the last six months to strengthen our city's approach to civil immigration enforcement to responding when federal agents are in town and to really support to supporting every single bump of our community, most importantly our immigrant community. So that's all I have. I look forward to the discussion at the table. And I don't know if

I need

to make motion but I would move approval.

Thank you, Ms. Coleman. There's a motion for approval. Is there any discussion of that motion? I see Ms. Johnson and then Ms. Jost.

Thank you so much, Council President. Thank you, Councilmember Coleman as well. I think one of the things that I just wanted to be able to share especially you know I do appreciate all of my constituents that have come out over the last several months to speak specifically about some of the changes that they want us to see. And even today, know, with L'orel St. Marie, you've been in contact with our office multiple times around the issue, and I know that it takes time to come out here during a Wednesday, during midday, and so your dedication to that is noted and something that is really important to me.

And I also really do enjoy operating out of transparency, especially surrounding explaining some of the votes and where I have stood on the issues, especially because some of the ordinances that have been put forward, know, I wasn't here for some of the votes. For the votes that I have been able to be here because of the maternity leave and now that I'm back, you know, one of the things that I think is really important is that upon reviewing a lot of the public testimony and the public record, we heard time and time again about what our community members wanted to see and needed to see to feel like they could trust not only this body but also our city and overall just like what our stands were, especially because the separation ordinance has been in place for years. And that came from multiple time from multiple space, multiple time and experience with an ordinance that was already in place. And so to me this change or this this attempt to strengthen the requirement for trainings and the requirements that are needed really isn't you know meant to interfere with anyone's ability to run the city, especially not the mayor's.

I think it does not dictate how staffing and operations and resources are utilized, but it does ensure that an existing city policy is implemented consistently, clearly, and transparently across all departments, which I think is going to be really important to not only passing policy, but also uplifting our responsibility for ensuring that the policy is actually followed. And so sometimes without clear expectations for training and reporting, we risk inconsistency, we risk confusion, and ultimately a breakdown in trust. And I think that that's where what has been at the center of this. Know, we can have policies in place, but if we don't have trainings, if we don't allow staff to know how to interpret them, and if we aren't clear, especially as policymakers about what the intent is, twenty years from now, thirty years from now, folks beg the question. So I hope that folks when they are looking at this particular policy, but also all the ordinances that council, this particular council has passed during this timeframe, that they recognize not only the intent has been made clear, but also the purpose in which they exist or has as well.

And so for me, this has been about being clear as a policymaker, and it's about making sure that we have accountability, and it's about making sure that our policy means something, and it's not just on paper. It's not just something that we put and pass together, but that we actually anticipate being implemented. And so I just want to say thank you to all the community members and to the city for the partnership when it comes to just trying to meet the moment that we are in. I think some of these things get glossed over because they're not as substantial, but really truly training and reporting are basic things that we should have the ability to ask. And so you know I was the last council member to join out as a co sponsor and that was because I wanted to see and wanted to fully understand you know with respect to all of the record including the memo that was attached.

And we can look at the same policies and see them and interpret them differently. And I think in this case we are, but I'm really, you know, excited to support that and to support this ordinance change and also see it as really a part of the package that we have been working endlessly on as a council to continue to keep our word to the residents that we that truly elected us, but also more importantly that experienced a very traumatic event, especially on the East Side Of Saint Paul. And so just want to say thank you, Councilmember Coleman, to our city Chief Policy Officer, Mr. Greenfield, to Ward Forrest's legislative aide, know, Jenny Nelson, and also just to many people who have been able to show up over the last few months. These type of policies don't happen without you.

And so I hope that this is a primary example of what it looks like when community members are asking for something clearly. We have to respond. And it doesn't matter who you know is the person requesting it here at the city, we're all policymakers and the goal is to have a plan and so folks can know exactly what they're learning, city staffers can know how to interpret it, and more importantly community members can know how to hold it accountable if broken.

Thanks Ms. Johnson. Ms. Jost.

Thank you, Council President. I also want to thank Council Member Coleman for bringing this forward. I really appreciate all of your effort and especially the effort of your staff, Jenny Nelson and our Chief Policy Officer, Mr. Greenfield. I think chapter 44 a is very reasonable and pragmatic in the it mostly just provides training information and reporting information like everyone has been saying.

And as someone that is an engineer and that is used operating within codes and policy or requirements and so many things, I really appreciate that for the problem here that we're trying to solve. Without any clear information about what that training entail or what the transparency around the reporting, we don't have a baseline to measure any accountability. We don't have anything that we can point to where we can say this is something we need to improve or this is something that we need to change. And if we don't have that, we can't expect things to change. And our community members have said that that is not acceptable to them. It's not acceptable to me. And so, I'll be voting yes today.

Thanks, Ms. Jost. Other discussion of the motion? Ms. Bui.

Thank you. I just want to echo, excuse me, everything that was said earlier to Councilmember Ahn Coleman, your leadership on this and your staff, and just how we have listened and learned, you know, over the months. And I just want to also just say thank you to Council Member Yeager, Vice Chair Yang, excuse me, on having those weekly public hearings and, you know, ensuring that we have accountability built into our processes and as we are thinking through of what are the best ways to move forward. And when I think about just good leadership, good leadership acts not when there's pressure, but when there is collaboration. And I also want to just share, you know, I I really value your approach and, you know, there's no such thing as over communicating when it comes to policy making and I know we've seen versions of this and the evolution of it.

So, I appreciate the consistency that we've seen from this body And I'm just thinking of too, like council member Jules had mentioned, like, this is really pragmatic and reasonable steps forward to not only more transparency, but having a plan that we understand that is simple and is able to be implemented. I just think about my time when I was the vice president for the Minneapolis NOACP and how it was groundbreaking work. I believe it took nearly a decade just to get police body cameras implemented into our cities and the training that went into it and the fights on the federal, the state, the county and local level and just today we were able to honor elder Youssef in Guinea and I'm just thinking of how far we came to be able to accelerate and streamline these type of changes that we shouldn't normalize processes that demand community members to beg and plead and take time out of their lives to know for us to take action. So, I really appreciate the urgency even when the intensity is no longer in the room, but we are still committed to this change. So, I'm excited to cross the finish line with you all and you know thank you so much again Councilmember Coleman for your steady leadership on this.

Thank you Ms. Bui.

Vice President Yang. Thank you, Council President. I'd like to echo everything that's been shared at the table here by my colleagues. Thank you to you, Councilmember Coleman for leading the policy here. And also thank you to our testifiers. Many of you have been here week after week. And everything that you shared at the podium, it was spot on with why I believe this is a very important ordinance for us to pass. What we experienced during Operation Metro surge was unlawful, it was unjust, and I want to bring into perspective how real it is. It could be again that we lived through a moment like that. We are still living under the Trump Trump administration.

And so, the a dictatorship and also authoritarian government is still right here with us. And so, we have to be ready. We have to take action and also be prepared to be proactive as much as possible. And so, that's why it's very urgent and important for us to pass this ordinance. I also want to extend a thank you to our council staff, especially Tim, our Chief Policy Officer who put in so much work around this, also our attorneys.

And, I really appreciate the conversations had between customer Coleman's office, especially and also the mayor's office too. And, what I'm holding at heart is really the rage that was brought into City Hall here. The fire in our bellies to fight back and to resist. And, what we saw during Operation Metro Surge was that it really brought to light the need for consistent city staff training and reporting whenever federal immigration operations occur in our city. And, this is an important ordinance because it does set this expectation to ensure that we deliver on our promises to all of our residents, to our city staff, everybody who comes to St.

Paul to visit, to work, to play. That our employees resources and our city employees and resources won't be used to carry out federal immigration operations and that we continue being a welcoming city to all. Also, I have high hopes that this will pass unanimously today. And if and when this is vetoed, I want to make it really clear that I will be here at the table ready to override that.

Thank you so much, Vice President. Any other discussion of the motion? I will just it's hard to go after so much eloquence. I will also just again say thank you to Ms. Coleman, to the staff. I agree with so much of what my colleagues have said, especially about the fact that this council still feels that same passion and urgency despite the fact that we may not have a room full of people demanding it. We know we have people demanding it who may not be here today. I also want to thank everyone who came out to testify. I want to echo what was said about this being fully within the authority of the council. I know this has been well researched.

This has been well thought through. And I believe that if we can have a Chapter 44, we can have a Chapter 44 A. And then I would echo what you said, Ms. Bouley, about the overcommunication, the intense collaboration that Ms. Coleman has had with the rest of us along the way and that has really helped us understand what we're getting here today to do. I just also want to be really clear that one of the key questions we got from constituents in November, in January, in February throughout what I would agree is occupation, metro surge, was this question about what's the council's oversight function? You have the separation ordinance, but how does the council take responsibility? And I found myself unable to answer that question. I knew we had an extremely strong separation ordinance. I didn't know how we had accountability for it.

And what I think 44 does in addition to what my colleagues have said is it really ensures that we have oversight. It has that training, it has that reporting mechanism spelled out codified. So we will be getting that insight into what's going on in the future in a way that we haven't been to this point. And so we can respond to our constituents who ask us for accountability in the affirmative. And so I'm excited about that. So with that, I think it sounds like we've got some support around the table. The motion is for approval. All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed.

Seven in favor, none opposed. The ordinance is adopted. Item number 33 is resolution public hearing 26 dash 80 authorizing the Department of Public Works to accept the donation of $4,416 from the St. Paul Parks Conservancy to support a variety of projects and programs including employee development initiatives and to amend the 2026 budget to support the appropriations. Hard pivot.

This is a public hearing. Is there anyone here to speak to this item? Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Ms. Jost to close the public hearing and approve. All in favor say aye. Aye.

All opposed? Seven in favor, none opposed. The resolution is adopted. Item 34, Resolution Public Hearing 20 six-ninety approving the application of XL Energy for a sound level variance in order to present amplified sound for XL Energy infrastructureutility work on the CP Railroad Crossing at Eagle Parkway and Shepherd Road from Thursday, May 7 to Thursday, 05/21/2026 on Eagle Parkway from Shepherd Road to North Chestnut Street.

This is a public hearing. Is there anyone here to speak

on this item? Come on up.

Greetings, council presidents, council members. Thank you so much. My name is Elisa Rasmussen. I'm the senior manager of community relations with Xcel Energy. I'm here with my colleague Sean. We really appreciate the opportunity to share more details regarding at Sound Variance. We're making significant upgrades to our electric infrastructure. This particular project happens to be underneath the CP Railroad. I'm here with Sean, who is an expert in the field and is going to just share a few more details regarding the why behind this request.

Welcome. My

name is Sean Peterson. I'm a general foreman for the construction crews for the East Metro for with Xcel Energy. And like Lisa stated that trying to keep our our infrastructure well and and secure is why the reason we're looking for to install these casings under the railroad tracks. It is gonna make some noise overnight, Probably 85 decibels at the the pit where the machine's gonna be running, and then it'll be a couple other pieces of equipment out front during the night to do other scopes of the project. So

We just wanted to be here to answer any questions that individuals may have in regards to the why behind the twenty four hour a day project running requested between May 7 through the twenty first.

I guess, really, first of all, appreciate you being here. Do we expect it will be twenty four hours a day for each of those days? Or is this just to give you the opportunity and the option?

No, it will be around the clock for those two I'm or three

really glad you're here. Thank you.

Other discussion or questions? Ms. Bui.

Thank you, Council President. Thank you so much for being here as well for this information. I actually live pretty close to that construction site there. I'm just curious, this might be a very technical question, but what is like the distance in terms of when a person can actually hear? Like I mean, of course, like if you're within blocks, but 's like a range, like how far like, what is the distance particularly of when you actually, you know, will hear it at that that range of 80 decimals?

Well, the one machine will running inside of a pit. So being up out of the pit and away from the pit, has dropped down about 60 decibels. Some of the machines are running part time overnight. Will be a little bit lower than that, but won't be at the peak 85 as the machine doing the boring.

It doesn't look like we have other questions. Thank you all so much. And it sounds like important work and our our infrastructure needs to be maintained and sometimes that comes along with sound. I will certainly be moving in support of this motion. Any further discussion of the motion? So I'm moving to close public hearing and approve. All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed.

Seven in favor, none opposed. The resolution is adopted. Item 35, Resolution Public Hearing 20 six-ninety two, amending the financing and spending plans in the fire department in the amount of 20,594.31 for the Minnesota Task Force One reimbursement from the city of Edina.

And as we always say it's a great day in St. Paul when we're taking money from the city of Edina. This is a public hearing. Is there anyone here to speak to this item? Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Ms. Kim to close the public hearing and approve. All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed.

I'm sorry, have a point. Do I say six? Do we no,

do we Yes, I would say six in favor.

Okay. Six in favor, none opposed. The resolution is adopted. Item 36, resolution public hearing twenty six dash ninety four amending the financing and spending plans in the fire department in the amount of $4,666.66 for the donations from the Saint Paul Fire Foundation and Firefighters Union Local twenty one to support the fire explorers program.

This is a public hearing is there anyone here to speak to this item? Seeing none I'll take a motion from Vice President Yang to close the public hearing and approve. All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed.

Six in favor none opposed the resolution is adopted. Item 37, Resolution Public Hearing twenty six-ninety five amending the financing and spending plans in the fire department in the amount of $5,812.5 for the reimbursement from the Minnesota Professional Firefighters Association for firefighter helmets for fire ops 101 training.

This is a public hearing. Is there anyone here to speak to this item? Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Ms. Johnson to close the public hearing and approve. All in favor say aye.

Aye. All opposed? Six in favor, none opposed. The resolution

is adopted. This brings us to the legislative hearing agenda section, legislative hearing section of our agenda.

Legislative hearing consent agenda items 38 through 53 are before you for your consideration. Welcome Ms. Mormont. Good afternoon, Council President, Council Members. To the best of my knowledge, there is no one here to testify.

Okay. So we will hold a public hearing on items 38 through 53. So if you are here for any one of those items, please let us know. Items 38 to 53. Okay. It doesn't look like there is anyone here to testify, so I will take a motion from Ms. Bui to close the public hearing and approve the items with the amendations and recommendations of the legislative hearing officer. All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed.

Six in favor, none opposed. The legislative hearing consent agenda is adopted as amended. That brings us to the end

of our agenda and one of our favorite times of the week, news from the wards. Any news from the wards?

Ms. Kim? Mine is really far in the future, but I may or may not have sent it to all of your wards already. But our rec center soapbox Derby kids have started their builds. And so, you may or may not have seen an invite from my office, June 2. They raced down Hidden Falls Drive. Staff members apparently yank kids off a soapbox before they crash. But like, maybe see what rec like, reach out to your rec person. Your rec center might have a team. And so keep it on your calendar.

I will send more details as it comes. But the soapbox oh, sorry, the last part, which you saw in my invite. The reason why this one feels particularly important, even though they've hosted it a few years in a row, is this year Minneapolis is competing. Yes. So, please reach out to your rec group, see who's competing, and let's get some St. Paul winners across the finish line this year.

Love it. Thank you, Ms. Kim. Other good news from the wards, Ms. Johnson, Ms. Josten, and Ms. Coleman. Okay.

So I have a couple of events that are taking place. I think April are just busy days throughout the city, but for sure in on the East Side, we have just our resilience in bloom events. It's a group exhibition of paintings, photographs, prints, textiles, sculptures. It's at art at 967 Payne from five to nine. I also have two cleanups that I am aware of, especially just from the Eastside Community cleanups taking place this weekend. One is on pain as well. But you know, it's just really cool to kind of see that folks are gonna be joining out from community. It's from 08:30 to 01:30 p. M. So it's really all throughout the day.

There are different locations. One's at Cadence Records and Coffee, and that's in the morning at 08:30 and nine. And then the cleanup area is gonna be from Payne Avenue to Arcade. And so they said lunch is provided, know, and that's incentivizing for me. We can go through and spend some time cleaning up. And then also our office and myself has been have been invited to the Parkway Little League opening day that is taking place on Saturday and so

There will be two Nakers playing.

I'm looking forward to seeing some of the Nakers play.

And they have the best concessions? Okay. Sorry.

Yes. You're Yes. No. I I am looking forward to it. I I had you in mind when I said yes. So I will be planning to come over there in the morning to cheer on the little leagues because I pass by there all the time and honestly it's always it's it's just really cute to see them play and separately I'm looking forward to being a part of it this year.

Best news I've heard all week. Miss Joseph and Miss Coleman.

Thank you, council president. I just wanna recognize that today is Earth Day, is why I'm wearing this this shirt. And it's it's such an important day to, you know, recognize how important it is that we take care of our planet. This is a council that's committed to climate action, and it's just such an important issue. And so with that, I've got a couple of citywide cleanup events that are happening in my ward.

Saturday is very, very busy, like Councilmember Johnson said. So Hidden Falls Regional Park, the Mississippi Park Connection is hosting a cleanup from twelve to three. And at the Edgecombe Rec Center, the McAllister Groll and Community Council is hosting a cleanup from ten to twelve. And then also, I want to add my support for the Soapbox Derby event at Hidden Falls Regional Park. I will do my best to be there. It's such a cool event and it's in Ward 3, so I hope people can join us. And I really want to make sure that we beat Minneapolis.

You're here. Miss Coleman.

Thank you. I didn't process that all of these trash cleanups were happening because it was Earth Day. So this is making a lot more sense now. I also have a trash cleanup to share. But I will say if you are listening to this and deciding which of the many trash cleanups to go to, this one builds a trash mountain. So really excited to share about the Hamlin Midway Coalition big old trash party. Cleanup starts at ten. There are four different locations. You can sign up online. And then at 01:30, the after party starts at Blackheart where we will build a trash mountain.

Last time, it was very impressive. So pick up some trash and then head out and support one of our local businesses. And I think the loons play at 03:30, so it's gonna be a great Saturday in Midway. And then the one other thing that I wanted to share is this Sunday, after you spend all weekend picking up garbage, really wanna encourage folks to go to Rebel Lune of Minnesota, Keep On Shining. It's a benefit concert taking place at Celtic Junction, also word four, 05:00 to 10:00 Sunday night.

It is a benefit concert raising money for a couple of organizations that are continuing to provide really essential support in the wake of Operation Metro Surge, including two indigenous and Zion community commons. So I'm really looking forward to that. It's going be a great night of music and community and a chance to support really essential ongoing efforts to help folks recover. Thank you, Ms. Coleman.

I will just share that and this is next Thursday, but kind of as Ms. Kim said, we're not going to meet next Wednesday. I want to make sure people plenty of notice. There will be a groundbreaking next Thursday from 02:30 to 03:30 for the new downtown Aldi. The ground won't really be broken because there is an existing store there. So I really hope we're not breaking the ground. But we will be celebrating the fact that a new Aldi will be coming in. And I'm very proud of myself for saying Aldi and not Aldis because I've been made fun of that for that before. So it's very exciting for not just downtown, but the entire community, invite people to come help us break the ground.

Ms. Bowie and then Ms. Johnson. Thank you, council president. So I have quite a few here, but I'll go with ones that's all taking place at Hallie Q Brown.

They're having a really lively week here, actually today for our million viewers who are watching. If you want to go to Hallie Q Brown at 6PM, just in a few minutes, they're in partnership with the Minnesota Opera and also having a circus and an opera performance by Reguero Luian Cavallo, gripping tragedy Pagliacci, hopefully my Italian is not that good, so I tried my best. But, it's an evening of circus aerial performances by local business owners and performers. It's going to be a music set of opera, guests, artists who's not only from Minnesota, but also there will be a panel conversation that's going to intertwine the past and the future of the Rondo community through opera. So, sounds really exciting.

And then, this Friday, April 24 at the State Capitol is going to be the African Heritage Day on the Hill hosted by the Council of Minnesota of African Heritage. We'll have some of the partners there, the links, and I believe some of the Divine Nine fraternity sororities will be there as well. And then, in Ward 1, next Saturday, because I believe we will be meeting after that, May 2 from noon to three, there's gonna be a really exciting fashion show. So it's hosted by the Minnesota spokesman recorder, their sister organization, the sister spokesman will be having their annual fashion show and hopefully you might see someone you that's familiar in that fashion show. And then last but not least, tomorrow is the last day of Hallie Q Brown's Partners and Prevention Community Clinic.

So that's where they have a partnering of different clinics. Metro State will be there inside of the canteen room that is Thursday, April 23 from eleven to two p. M. So, you get to get free screenings, free cardiac screenings, pre diabetes, you have a health coach there, free hand massages and dental screenings as well. And

yeah,

I believe that's it. There are tons of cleanups in Ward 1 as well. We have Frogtown Farm as we know one of the largest community owned city owned farming land. They're gonna have a cleanup at Western Sculpture Garden as well this Saturday is a community cleanup. But yeah, tons of things to do.

And we are not going to get bored in St. Paul over

the next couple

of weeks.

I think Ms. Johnson is going to close this up.

Yes, I forgot to mention before and wanted to mention this because our next council meeting will be a day before the event is being placed. So tenant protections goes into effect next month on May 14. We're already at that part where I have to talk about May, which is kind of crazy. The world is going so fast, but we are doing a tenant protections event, a community conversation that can just talk a little bit more about the ordinance, about what's included, what's not included, how to best prepare especially for landlords and renters. That's gonna be at the North End Community Center on May 7.

So we're working on finalizing it. It's going to be from six to 07:30. I am working with the Fair Housing Coordinator with the Department of Safety and Inspections, the Mayor's Office, and the Office of Financial Empowerment to really get a citywide discussion. And so we're working on finalizing the flyer. It'll go live most likely before the end of the week. But wanted to give folks at least two weeks notice and then when we get back and have another council meeting, it'll be the day before. And so that just isn't the adequate notice that I want to provide you all as well. So as the millions of viewers that is watching at home and especially for people who have been really advocating for the policy will do a community conversation on that the week before it goes into effect and I'm very excited about that.

Thank you, Ms. Johnson. And Ms. Bui just surreptitiously reminded me through ESP that also there is Cinco de Mayo. Thank you Ms. Bui happening on the West Side on May 2. So definitely go there before you go to there's something happening after that was the

fashion show.

The fashion show. Right. I was thinking to myself, I can go to Cinco and then the fashion show. All right. With that, I think we've taken more time with our good news and with our meeting. Thank you all for a great long day. We are adjourned.

Thank you.