City Council - Regular Meeting

25 miles per hour. Residential side streets are now 20 miles per hour. If there are no speed signs on the street it is a 20 mile per hour street. Let's make our streets safer for every one of us.

Thank you.

Stop. As soon as you're ready. Love it. But we need a different bag. Thank you so much. Welcome, everyone, to our St. Paul City Council meeting. We're glad you could join us today. We invite everyone to join us in standing for the Pledge of Allegiance. Have allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, And we are also going to do a roll call because we went right into it. That was me. Johnson.

Here. Jost.

Here. Kim. Here. Yang. Here. Bowie. Here. Coleman. Here. Council President Naker. Here. Seven present and absent. Consent agenda items 2 through 31 are before you for your consideration. Item 4 has been withdrawn.

And I know that we are pulling items 16, 30, and 31 for separate consideration. Is there anything else to come off of consent? Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Vice President Yang 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 as amended.

Take a motion from Ms. Coleman for suspension of the rules to consider item 26-1544. An item from the city attorney's office. All in favor of suspending the rules, please say aye.

Aye.

All opposed? Seven in favor, none opposed. The rules are suspended. Resolution 26-1544, appointing the Public Rights Project as special counsel for the purpose of providing legal representation to the city of St. Paul in affirmative litigation to challenge a federal rule related to grants.

And this is sort of late-breaking legislation. the federal government, and it was something we needed to get on the agenda somewhat quickly. So I'm grateful to my colleagues for being willing to bring it under suspension. I will move 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. Item 16, resolution 26-1399, authorizing the police department to apply for the fiscal year 2026 CPD microgrants program from the US Department of Justice.

Ms. Kim. Wonderful. I just pulled this to get a greater transparency and ask some questions. So I'd like to invite D.C. Hallstrom. Sorry if I got your rank wrong. D.C. Hallstrom, come on up. Perfect. So really I put them in the email, so hopefully you came prepared. But we sort of had three general questions around this grant application. One, what is sort of the scope of work? What are we applying for? And then two, what is the proposed budget?

The proposed budget was $200,000 in the fiscal year 27-28. The intent to apply for the funds was to add to our DDP drone program that's currently in use in the city.

Okay, and so is that for staff that man the drone? Is that to purchase additional drones? Can you speak a little bit more specifically around where those dollars are going?

It's equipment-based, so it's specifically listed in there for equipment, and it would be to add on to the three drones that we're currently utilizing.

Okay. That sounds good. The last question that I had is it appeared that the application period has now passed. This resolution is before council today. Can you speak a little bit about the timing? Is there presently an application in? Did we receive an extension and we're going to be applying after the passage of this resolution?

The application was put in and the notices were, to my knowledge, they were put in by our grant manager. And it can be rescheduled. Pulled back, but the application was due last week or the 24th or whatever it was so It was submitted, but it's certainly by no means a binding submission

Okay. Wonderful. I think just one additional question. What kind of data contract that is connected to the footage that we might be collecting from the drone? Do we have a current contract that would be managing or maintaining any of the information collected through the drone program?

It would be the same systems in which we're using now. All of that data is collected in our axon. platform, just the same platform that has body camera, in-car camera, many of the evidence pictures that are collected at evidence scenes. Each category has its own retention policies. Each category has its own data privacy laws associated with it. Each different category has different retention periods in which how long it needs to be kept, when it should be deleted, and restrictions and requirements upon the police department.

Okay, that sounds good. And I did lie, I have one more question. In order for the council to sort of fully consider, even though the application has been submitted, but to approve the... I guess, authorizing you to apply for the funds. Does a week layover change anything in terms of the present status of the application? It doesn't sound like it, since it sounds like we've already submitted it on time.

The application has been submitted. I mean, I would believe that the sooner we can retract it would probably be in the benefit of the city's reputation with the application receivers. But beyond that I don't believe there's any other ramifications involved.

Great. Thank you. Those are all the questions that I had. Thank you, Ms. Kim.

I think I saw Vice President Yang. Thank you, Council President. I want to say thank you to you, Council Member Kim, for your questions. And thank you so much for coming and answering your questions, too. I know it was probably on very short notice. It absolutely was for me. I just want to be really transparent with folks that I appreciate that question, Council Member Kim, about just what are the impacts of a one-week layover? Do we have flexibility to be able to to consider that, because I am interested in a layover. I had a couple of community members who reached out to me just maybe a few days ago asking, well, they did have direct asks around don't support FLOG, don't support the Skydio contract, and to me, I'm just trying to understand, is this the same thing as that? So can you clarify for us about that? And as you know, last week, the council passed a resolution in opposition to the use of vlog cameras. And so I'm just wanting to make sure I'm on the same page and have accurate information about what this contract is. And one last thing I'll add, too, is that I know in the, I think maybe a year or two ago was when our police department came and You all had a public hearing about the use of drone cameras. And so there was really a process laid out around that piece already. And overall, there was approval to move forward in using the drone cameras. I don't think that it was something the council voted on, but that was more of like a department decision and maybe like the mayor's office at the time to move forward with this. So just trying to recollect everything that happened. And if you can try to... just get us on the same page, facts, information, so we understand, that'd be really helpful.

There was a lot to unwrap there, so I hope that I can get all the questions still. This is not flock related, has absolutely zero to do with flock. These are drones from Skydio, which is an Axon company, which is the platforms that I had previously mentioned that our body cameras, our in-car cameras, our tasers, many of the, our RMS system, our evidence management system is Axon based. So it's just a continuation of what the drone program is that we are currently operating. our docked drone program. So it's adding additional units to that. Each drone can fly for 20 minutes up to a two-mile radius. So we don't provide coverage to the full city in the six months that we've been flying, just short of that. We've had remarkable success with the program. And I'd love to come back and talk to you further on that if you want to.

Okay, thank you. Well, Council President, I would just wrap up my thoughts with if we were to take a vote on this, I wouldn't be ready to vote on it because I do have more questions that I want to be able to have a deeper dive with our police department about. I really appreciate folks who've reached out to us, especially those who've expressed their concerns around the contract with Sky Deal and One thing I do want to point out is, again, that process that I mentioned, which took place maybe a year or two ago. And when that did happen, we didn't, I just don't recall there being any sort of opposition at the time around the use of the drones here. And so I would really love to understand, basically, if there's been any sort of change in terms of a community stance from then to now. And basically, what has been the result of the drone usage from when that process took place until now, too? So my motion would be for a one-week layover so that we have more time for each council member to dig into the details if they're interested. Great. Thank you, Vice President. So the motion on the table is for a one-week layover.

I was looking this way. I'm not sure what order people's hands were. I think I'll go Ms. Johnson, Ms. Jost, Ms. Coleman. Ms. Johnson.

Thank you. And thank you, Chief Holstrom. I just had a question about the grants, everything about the scope. Is there any part of the grant that we're applying for that's new costs that the city would incur? So is this like offsetting the costs that the city already incurs by seeking out additional resources to the federal government? Or is this costs that we are? funding that we're trying to offset anything that we would normally pay at the city, or is this a grant that we're receiving to expand from what we're already paying?

This is just a grant application to expand the current program. So there's no additional expenses to the city associated with this application.

And how long is the grant period for?

27, 28 calendar year.

Okay, thank you.

Thanks, Ms. Johnson. Ms. Jost? I have a question and then I have a comment on the motion. So it's my understanding this is an expansion of the program using this grant money. So if you don't get the grant money and we don't expand the program, will the police department be looking for another way to fund this expansion out of their own budget or another funding resource?

We would, there's no budget to expand this program. These devices are quite expensive to operate and utilize. We would be looking for additional resources, grant funding sources that we would try to utilize There's no means for us to do this without grant funds.

Okay. I'll just say that I am supportive of the layover. I think this is kind of the first time I'm hearing about this being pulled and maybe for a discussion. I didn't get information from your office, Board 5. I don't think you've reached out to us with information about what we were going to be talking about today or what was going to the decision that was going to be made ahead of us. So I don't feel prepared to To vote either I want to make sure that I have all the information and can make an informed decision. I do appreciate the your comments WG Paulstrom about the budget because one of my big concerns was while we're talking today about you know The the budget and the parks and libraries we were literally looking to fill $200,000 in each of those budgets I didn't want to then create another $200,000 budget gap that we would have to figure out with the decision before us on this on this program that would make things a little Not impossible, but I just wanted to know if that was what we were dealing with. So I am supportive of the one-week layover. I appreciate that because as one of the offices that co-sponsored the flock resolution last week and put effort into that and trying to understand how that worked, I would like the same level of effort to be put in this by our council as we consider if we should move forward on this or not. Great. Thanks, Ms. Jones. Ms. Coleman?

Thank you, Consul President. This is not a question, so no need to do all of it waiting for a question. Just a comment on the motion. I'm happy to support a one-week layover. I want to make sure folks have the time that they need to make an informed decision on this. I will say that whether we vote today or next week, I will be voting no on this grant application. I think that there are a couple of reasons that I just wanted to lay out for that. The first is that we have been having, over the last several months, but really in a very intense way over the last several weeks, a big conversation within the city and really within the country more broadly about how we balance our policing needs with our surveillance and our privacy and our civil rights. And I think that as we had the conversation around Flock last week, it was... and I think many of us at this table expressed that we need to have a much broader conversation about how we are approaching that and that we need to ensure that we are building community trust in our policing decisions, that we are putting frameworks and regulations in place that govern how we approach new technology, recognizing that right now the conversation is around axon and flock and skydio but next week or next year it's going to be around a new company as these companies are moving quickly to maximize their profits and that that is having a direct impact on again our safety and our rights here in the city it's really critical to me that we don't make these decisions kind of one after the other, this contract, that contract, this grant application, that grant application, but have a much bigger understanding of how we want to approach this decision making in the future and what technologies we want to be using, when, under what circumstances, how we want to be funding those, and again, how, most critically, we're building public trust in our policing institution and in our city as a whole. Given where we are in that process, which is not even really at the starting line, I don't feel comfortable voting support a grant application to expand a program that I think we are in those active conversations around. My calculation might be different if this would have other budgetary impacts. I appreciate the questions from my colleagues about ensuring that this, if we don't apply for this grant, we don't then have to fill a budget gap or have other budget solves that are necessary in this very difficult budget year. But since that isn't the case, we don't know whether that's today or next week.

Thanks, Ms. Coleman. I think I saw Ms. Bowie and then Ms. Kim.

Thank you, Council President. And I just appreciate everything that everyone said and the alignment and the agreement. I also just want to say thank you so much for making yourself available to be here. I think it's really important that we keep a consistency of transparency and information. As you can see, this is becoming a very hot-button topic globally in terms of how we are analyzing and making decisions, particularly around mass surveillance and our equipment. Hello? low concert, low concert intermission, and how we are really just like considering how to make our community safer. And it seems like the mic kind of turned up a little bit. I do have a question because I just want to just make sure in like all the things that was said in terms of like policy directions, discussing further around establishing a starting place. The question, do we want to support drones? I think that is something worth for council to talk about. But I have a technical question, particularly around this vote, which is connected to just the technical part of the application. So have the department applied for this grant in the past? Is this a new grant, specifically for the DOJ Community Policing Grant Program?

There's a number of categories that are eligible under this grant, this DOJ grant. And they're released almost every year, different criteria for the DOJ grants. This is a microgrant, so it's not as associated with many of the other DOJ grants. This is a COPS grant. So we have applied for COPS grants in the past. What they've all entailed over the years, I couldn't tell you off the top of my head.

Yeah, I'm not asking for the details. I'm just curious to know if we've been recipients of these grants in the past. And also, when you are considering these grant applications and the funds that we're looking for, what type of conversations are had, particularly with other departments, our council members, our ONS, because I applied for some of these grants in the past and other positions here. I'm just curious to know if this is an eligibility use, because when I think about, especially like normally, community policing, or more so like community alternatives, or backfilling, or funding the non-fatal shooting unit, more like hands-on. I haven't really seen this type of grant used for hiring, or excuse me, not hiring, purchasing equipment. So if you could just speak to if this is the first time that we're applying for a grant, particularly for a drones program.

This is the first time we've applied for a grant to supplement the drone program that's currently operational. There are a number of, like I said, there's probably 20 categories that cover this grant, and this one was specifically targeted towards technology. And that's why we saw it, and we thought we would try it.

Well, thank you so much. I also just want to say I will be supporting the layover. I do want to further explore this conversation. I know we had touched on it a little bit with the Public Safety Committee meeting, particularly around all our surveillance equipment and SPPD. I do want to just learn more about it. I think there's some pros and cons. Obviously, the position that we had took last week was more so in terms of the manufacturing company that was attached to the flock cameras, and I don't want to conflate that. I think this deserves the attention it needs. to understand entirely around the use and also the public safety advancements. And I want to just also highlight that you did provide a one-pager that gives that information. I just wanted to make sure that we all get a chance to ask our questions kind of offline and come back with a more informed decision. So thank you.

Thanks, Ms. Bowie. I think I saw Ms. Kim.

Yeah, I really appreciate it. I'll start by saying that if we vote on it today or if we support a layover next week, I'm not planning on supporting our application of this contract for the reasons that my astute colleague, Councilmember Coleman, mentioned. To speak directly to the question that I received from Councilmember Joe as part of it was that it was flagged for me on Monday evening. I sent an email. at 6.21 p.m. after I had messaged our public safety chair and vice chair to see if anyone knew anything about this. And so I didn't have information to share with my colleagues because this was the information that was being requested. And my goal in this was to create transparency over what this grant was for and how we would use it and where the money was going. So it's just to say I have a deep gratitude for you, DC Hallstrom, to come. to share about the information of this grant so that we can bring it to light and so that my colleagues can make an informed decision on the matter. But that was the goal, was transparency. So I appreciate you coming today. And again, on incredibly short notice, again, I sent this Monday, 6.20 PM, and it was after I had connected with the public safety chair and vice chair.

Thank you, Ms. Kim. It doesn't look like there's further discussion. I will just say, first of all, thank you to Ms. Kim for pulling this off of consent so we could discuss it. I think it is really important to have these conversations publicly We are in the midst of a conversation about surveillance, about technology, and most importantly, about our data and about transparency. So I'm really grateful that we're having this conversation. I will support the motion for a one-week layover as well. I agree with Councilmember Bowie. I think it's really important that we understand each of these technologies individually and ask questions and really ask the same questions about each of them. I'll probably have additional questions in between this week and next week, Deputy Chief, but because I do think it's important to be public about her questions, I want to ask some of them now. So first of all, who owns the data that drones collect?

We do. The city of St. Paul, St. Paul Police Department specifically.

And is that shared with other agencies?

No.

Is there any way for people to, I mean, the questions I hear from people are, is there a drone outside my window? Is it following me? Am I being surveilled? Is there a way for people to know when a drone is operational, where they go, when they've been out? Do we have any kind of transparency around that?

Yeah. Every drone flight is posted publicly on a web page within 12 hours of its flight. The city of St. Paul drones have red and blue blinking lights on them. I can't speak to is there a drone out your window? Am I being followed by a drone? They're certainly not ours. Conduct or behavior in which we would we would support condone and would be against policy in the law You know, so we don't fly for that. We don't conduct any surveillance with these drones These drones are dispatched when a call for service comes in only There are exceptions written in this into the state law for when we can and cannot fly these drones So, you know that I could I could have a very long and lengthy conversation, but I think that answer to your questions yeah and are people able to look themselves is there any kind of public facing way to to see information about drone flights where they've been yep that that that web page that i i mentioned back in june when we were here but there's a web page it has it has the flight paths locations so if you look at the at the maps you'll see that they all originate from three general locations and there's a gen you know we can't tell you the exact street address where the drone was dispatched to, but it has the call type and the location in which the general drone was dispatched. But just the last two or three days, we've answered a lot of questions. One from Councilmember Bui about a drone downtown. That is not our drone. We would actually hope to expand our ability to be able to help identify the drones and be able to respond to potential threats and things from non, government drones that are in the area, and there's a lot of them out there.

Thank you. And then I think my last question for now, and then I will likely have more in between. I know when you presented a few months ago, and as Vice President Yang mentioned, we did, I know, have a public conversation about our drone policy when it was first adopted. Is that policy, is that something that you can resend to all of us and that we can have attached to the record next week? How our drones are used, what our guardrails are?

Sure. I mean, we provided that all in June, but I can certainly send it again tomorrow.

I think that would be really helpful. Again, I want to echo my colleagues. Thanks to you for coming. Again, Ms. Kim, thank you so much for pulling this. I look forward to the continued conversation. And with that, it sounds like the motion is for a one-week layover. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed?

Seven in favor, none opposed. The resolution is laid over. Item 31, resolution 26-1492, appointing Corinne Dennis as communications lead, Reggie Evans as reparations legislative aide, and Joanna Zimney as legislative hearing officer.

It is always fun to get to welcome new staff. So this is a hard pivot. Sorry. So with this, we will be appointing some new colleagues. So we're going to do the resolution first, and then we'll do the swearings in. I will make a motion for approval. And I will start the discussion by just saying how much I have already enjoyed. Well, I've been working with Ms. Imne for quite a while, but I'm excited about her new position. And it has just been an absolute delight to work with Ms. Dennis and Mr. Evans over the last couple days and months, respectively, and can't wait to continue that work. So thank you so much for giving your time and your talent to the city. Is there other discussion of the motion? Ms. Johnson. And maybe Mr. Wilms. Sometimes gets in on these, even though he's not a council member.

Yeah, I just want to just share that I also am very excited to have Ms. Dennis and Mr. Evans as colleagues, and hopefully soon Prince, but also looking into the process and just the work that has been already put in by both. I mean, coming into the reparations work, Mr. Evans had to basically plan it. with the partnership with the community, a massive tour with our Home Report contractors. But then his first week, Dennis basically came in and we're like, we need a press release and we need all of our social medias. And oh yeah, you also have to run the entire intercommunications role for the council during the midst of really complex times and encampment closures. And so I just want to give a huge shout out to you all. You all continue the tradition of being baptized by fire here at the council and here at the city. So just know it's nothing is not necessarily special or particular to you all. We all have been there. And so I just want to share that and say welcome to the city and welcome to the council. And it's a pleasure and honor to work with both of you.

Thank you, Ms. Johnson. In the Ward 2 office, we call it non-boarding. Glad you could experience that. Mr. Wilms.

Thank you, Council President and Council Members. I just wanted to request your support for these appointments. I'm really excited to have you all. Three be sworn in, two new employees, and one... long time employee i'm just really grateful for the work that you do on behalf of the council and the city of st paul and would echo councilmember johnson's comments about our two newest employees and how they've just jumped in with with both feet and it's been amazing to watch and really think we are building out a great team here in council and so just wanted to say share my excitement and my gratitude for the work that you've done and the work that you'll continue to do, and excited to join in on that work with you.

Thank you, Mr. Wilms. Any further discussion of the motion? Seeing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed? Seven in favor, none opposed. The resolution is adopted. First will be Ms. Dennis. Come on up. And since Ms. Dennis is our communications lead and therefore can't take a picture of herself getting sworn in...

You should make sure to do that. Ms. Camazano.

All right. Please raise your right hand and repeat after me. I, state your name. I, Corinne Dennis. 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 discharge faithfully. And to discharge faithfully. The duties devolving upon me. The duties devolving upon me. As the communications lead. As the communications lead. Of the city of St. Paul to the best of my judgment and ability. To the city of St. Paul to the best of my judgment and my ability. Congratulations.

Thank you.

I think Mr. Evans is behind you.

Mr. Evans.

Congratulations.

Yay. Family can come up.

Okay. Please raise your right hand and repeat after me.

I state your name. I, Reggie Evans. Do solemnly swear. Do solemnly swear. To support the Constitution. To support the Constitution. 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.

As the reparations legislative aide.

As reparations legislative aide. Of the city of St. Paul. Of the city of St. Paul. To the best of my judgment and ability. To the best of my judgment and ability. Congratulations.

Congratulations. And while Ms. Zimney is coming up with her guests, I want to acknowledge that there are family and friends of all of our inductees, or swearing-in-ees, appointees, whatever, today. And we thank you as well, because we know that this takes a village and takes a team. And we appreciate your letting your family members and friends be part of our team.

Raise your right hand. And repeat after me. I state your name. I, Joanna Zimney. 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 discharge faithfully. And to discharge faithfully. The duties devolving upon me. The duties devolving upon me. As the legislative hearing officer. As the legislative hearing officer. Of the city of St. Paul. Of the city of St. Paul. To the best of my judgment and ability. To the best of my judgment and ability. Congratulations.

Congratulations to you and to all three of you. Can't wait to continue working together.

Item 32, staff report 26-186, staff report on the state of our youth address. Ms. Kim.

Awesome, thank you. While my illustrious intern, JC, takes the stand, is the computer on and ready to rock? Does it look good? Awesome. We had a fabulous inaugural State of the Youth. And therefore, it is equally important that we get a staff report on how it went. Some of my colleagues were able to make it. For those that couldn't, I'm not going to say you missed out, but you mostly missed out. And I'm sure for good reasons. But next year, the bar will be even higher. One of the best number one feedback we received was that we need a bigger room. because it was standing room only, and it spilled out into the hallway. So with that, I'm going to turn it over to my wonderful Ride Track intern, JC Johnson-Becker, for a staff report on how the State of the Youth Address went.

Thank you, Councilmember Kim. All right, well, this year we hosted our first inaugural youth address. Our speakers came from the Youth on Boards program, which hopefully you'll probably see in resolutions coming soon, and we had youth poets and speeches. Our speakers came from wards one, three, four, and seven, and they all had varying asks of the city. So now I'd like to see and ask if OTC could play the cued video.

Kids should not be at protests. Wait, what? Let me say that again. I don't believe children should be at protests, ever. We're supposed to be learning about algebra and geometry, not what color of skin makes someone inferior. We're supposed to be running to catch a bus, not running from a man with a mask and a rifle. But somehow we ended up holding signs instead of pencils, our voices crackling through megaphones instead of presenting to our class, our feet carrying us through the streets to the Capitol instead of to third period. We shouldn't know what injustice feels like before we can even drive. We shouldn't have to demand equal rights before we can vote. We shouldn't have to memorize emergency protocols and statistics and the names of things that should never even happened. We are children. We're supposed to be loud because we're cheering for our friends, not because our voices need to be carried over crowds. We're supposed to cry over scraped knees and breakups, not because we're scared of the systems and people who are supposed to protect us. We're supposed to be tired because we're up too late finishing a movie, not because we're reading the news, wondering how many more people are going to die before our country realizes that the burdens of injustice should not fall onto the shoulders of children. That kids shouldn't protest, shouldn't speak up, not because they can't, but they shouldn't have to. But yet, here we are, standing on steps too tall for us, speaking into microphones bigger than our raised fists, trying to get the people in power to listen. Adults say you're so brave, but bravery shouldn't be required just to grow up. We shouldn't need to be brave. I want to be loud not because my voice needs to be heard, but because my friend just said the funniest thing literally ever. I want to cry because I lost a soccer game. I want to be tired because I was up studying for a test. I want to be able to leave school without teachers in neon vests guarding the perimeter. I want classrooms without fear, news that doesn't feel about me, about us. I want to trust that the people in charge actually know how to be in charge. Because when children start marching, something is already wrong. When kids are organizing, writing speeches, skipping school, that's not brave. That's not inspirational. That should be a warning. Kids shouldn't have to protest. We should be able to inherit a world that works, not one that we need to fix. Our job should be to imagine our future, not beg for one.

That would be Eliza Johnson, a semi-finalist in a poetry competition. I would like to briefly read over some quotes from the speeches just to highlight them. First, we have Charlie St. Dennis who said, we can have the stronger multi-model transportation options. We can promote the use of cleaner energy. We can have robust tree canopy that not only looks beautiful but makes the air we breathe cleaner. We can work with intergovernmental partners to have municipal composting, strong public transit, and better parks. I hope that we remember that investing in sustainability is investing in young people. We are a generation that will inherit the decisions made in the coming months. We will live with the transportation systems funded, the trees planted, the air we breathe, the parks we maintain, and the climate that results from the choices we make today. For Emmanuel Aragon, me and my family were personally affected because They were scared that something would happen to one of us, especially with ice being spotted around our neighborhood. So I had to take pictures of my younger siblings' documents to make sure if anything were to happen, at least I have proof that they belong here. I was isolated at home. I only went to school and came right back home because my parents didn't know what could happen. It has affected a lot of people. Also in my community, I went around asking people about their experience. What I heard was devastating. People could not even leave their house to get basic needs for the family, like toiletry or food, because they feared they would get racially profiled. A good friend of mine had church members that were taken across the country and put in detention centers just to get released.

From Mariah Anderson...

When you don't have reliable housing, it dismantles every other aspect of your life, and it makes it nearly impossible to put it back together. In 2025, remember how much I hated my life and how I lived. Everything in my life was unorganized and unsustainable. I couldn't be alone. I couldn't even focus on my appearance, which is wildly out of character for me. And I was incapable of living outside of my day today. It was very helpful at the time to find something to help me feel human again. Fortunately for something that is substances or harmful acts. But for me, that was my friends. They were my home. Imagine how different my experience could have been if housing was treated like a right rather than a privilege for everyone, but especially youth. From Gaylor Ta. Right track has taught me more than a lot of things I have experienced that were supposed to give me an idea of what work is like. RightTrack did something for me that many other things didn't do that allowed me to actually face it head on with proper guidance and expectancy. As someone who doesn't even know what they really want to do in the future, this opportunity finally gave me a clear vision of what I was truly passionate about. Right Track gave a ton of opportunities for all kinds of different areas everybody specializes in. This was a first-time experience for me. However, it was also an experience that actually gave me an idea of what I fully expect to do when I actually enter a professional environment. Right Track did exactly that and guided me to U-Fund boards, which led me to ultimately get the full expectancy of working in an unusual environment. and myself. This year, Wright Track only had enough internships for half of their applicants, which means these internships are what we are looking for. For us, it means our future. I would love to see my friends and the youth all around the city getting opportunities that will mean something to them. Opportunities to connect with career professionals and time spent in the workplace is not something that we take for granted. So I ask from the city is to grow programs dedicated to giving us work experience, whether that is increasing funding or expanding types of internships offered, connecting with local businesses. And lastly, from Fernando. We didn't just lose time in the classroom. We also lost the opportunity to spend time together, talk with our classmates, and feel that we had a community around us. In addition to the anxiety of leaving our houses with the terror that if we left that door, we might not come back to close it. Many of us had to rely on neighbors and friends to take the trash or get the food delivered to the door. For many students, including myself, that isolation had a huge impact on our mental health. It got to the point where I lost my way and wanted to end my life. While we tried to focus on our classes, many of us were also worried about much more basic things. Would my family have a home to live in? Would we have food? Would our family and friends be safe? On our worst day, we need a designated team to rapidly respond to the city's only designated unit, is the Community Alternative Response Emergency Care Services, or CARES. Please keep this designated unit as a part of the St. Paul Fire Department. So the specific asset we have gotten from the city are such of interest in the climate director to help foster interest in sustainable and renewable programs in the city, to increase the funding for Ride Track, to adopt Housing First policies, to assist with legal aid for immigrants, keeping the CARES unit, and safer biking routes for sustainable transportation. Thank you for watching my presentation, and I hope to see you all next year. Thank you.

Thank you, JC, for this amazing report. I think we have a resolution coming in just a moment that is going to follow up on anything I might say and definitely exceed it. I also want to thank you, Ms. Kim, for your leadership in bringing our first annual State of the Youth Address to us. Looking forward to future years. I leave the floor to you, Ms. Kim. I know there isn't a formal motion, but do you want to have any? Other words?

I don't have any other words. I just remain in awe. JC not only graduated from high school, had his grad party, was the star in Circus Juventus whimsy, and was doing two shows a day for a while. and also managed to pull off an incredibly successful state of our youth address. I had a moment where I was stressed out about getting kids to think this was cool. And then I was stressed out about getting kids, like people in the room, to listen to the powerful speeches that we had. And I do mean it. The best feedback we got was that we just need a bigger room next year. So I'm looking forward to working with you again, JC. Carla Frank goes in the room, so I'm saying that on record. I'm looking forward to working with him again next year. And somehow we set a bar very, very high, but I'm looking forward to exceeding it with you again next year. Thank you so much for the work that you've put in, the thoughtfulness, and the attention to detail to make this just beyond words. So thank you so much.

With that, maybe we should segue to item 30.

Item 30, resolution 26-1493, proclaiming September 2nd, 2026 as JC Johnson Becker Day in the city of St. Paul.

Jacey's very surprised, which is a good thing. Surprise! I will say this won't happen every year, but this is just because of how wonderful you are, but also just how great you did. I'm going to do the annoying thing and read this under the record because there are a lot of things that I think all of you should know about Jacey. Whereas J.C. Johnson Becker was born and raised in St. Paul two and a half weeks early and has always been in a hurry. J.C. is described as a voracious reader. He learned his alphabet before he was two years old but stubbornly did not want to learn X, Y, Z and was once convinced that he'd be fine with A through W. As a child, J.C. could often be found surrounded by piles of books he has read. JC's first language was German and demonstrated his proficiency early in life as he navigated Vienna, Austria's light rail system at six years old, speaking only German just to get his favorite ice cream and to this day reads book series and watches movies with his mother fully in German. J.C.'s love of sports and academics has led him to admired myriad, I chose that word, of different activities like t-ball and gymnastics, dance, and circus. J.C. danced in the Nutcracker, performed as Mowgli in the Jungle Book, and has won a bronze and silver at nationals for the academic decathlon. And recently, J.C. fills his pastime with practicing aerobics. aerobics, theater, vault mini, fire jump rope, I have no idea what that is and I don't want to know, and a see-through ladder. JC was awarded Circus Juventus' All-Around Performer for his portrayal of Augustus Gloop and an Oompa Loompa in this summer's performance of Whimsy. And despite his 13 year of love of circus performance, he turned down the opportunity to meet and train with Cirque du Soleil to meet his political hero, Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan. In 2023, JC started his employment journey with Right Track, the city of St. Paul's youth employment training program. J.C. began working with the Youth on Boards Initiative, which led him to his appointment to serve as a commissioner on the St. Paul Planning Commission, where he currently continues to serve in this capacity. J.C. has continued to grow his skills by continued participation in Right Track programs in summers of 2024, 25, 26, where he served as a financial justice intern with OFE and interned with former Mayor Melvin Carter's office. And most recently, having served as the Ward 5 City Council intern for Council Member Hwa Jung Kim, where he led the city's inaugural State of the Youth Address. And now, therefore, be it resolved, for his exemplary work leading the city's inaugural State of the Youth Address, the St. Paul City Council proclaims September 2, 2026, as JC Johnson Becker Day in the City of St. Paul. So typically people know this is coming, but if you'd like to say a few, if you want to try to say a few words, we'd love to hear it.

I just want to say this has been one of the most fun, and I guess interesting is the only word I can come up with now, internship I've had, and it was just such a blast to put this event together. I want to thank Councilmember Kim because I never really had much of an opportunity besides getting these internships with the city to really voice my opinions on the city. And I think it was just such a fantastic event. So thank you so much. And I hope to see you again next year. So yeah, thank you.

With that, I make a motion for approval.

There is a motion for approval. Is there any discussion of the motion? Vice President Yang.

Thank you, Council President. That was very heartfelt. JC, I want to say congratulations to you. And this is so well deserving in terms of the resolution and the day being dedicated to you. I want to commend you, along with Council Member Kim, for your partnership with our incredible Right Track staff members and even the youths who were part of Sprocket. Because, you know, what I saw from the event, being there myself and just even seeing the reflections that, Jason, you shared with us earlier, is that there truly was that partnership and intersection that you both created. And it was really phenomenal. I want to say thank you for continuing to bring on youths into your work. And, Customer Kim, in the decade that we've known each other, you've continue to be a staunch advocate for our youths and created space for them. The State of the Youth Address is clearly a great example of that. And I'm really excited for the ways in which you will continue to foster leadership and just mentor our youths in your office. All of this work was pulled off, I believe, during a time when there wasn't a legislative aid available in your office. And so JCA just really speaks volumes about the workload you can carry, your commitment, your passion to the work here. And I'm just truly in awe of everything that happened at the State of the Youth Address. I'm really excited for the event to continue happening and look forward to it being a tradition every single year. So great job to the both of you and to everybody who was involved in this.

Thank you, Vice President. Other discussion of the motion? Seeing none, I will just... echo everything Vice President Yang just said and Ms. Kim said. We have been honored to get to work with you and can't wait to keep doing it. And I didn't know this was a surprise.

So I hope that I didn't keep referring to this resolution that was coming and giving you the heads up.

But you looked surprised. And also, just want to acknowledge that you also have, it looks like, family and friends here. And grateful to all of you for taking time. And clearly, you have had amazing love and support around you for a long time, including right now. So really grateful that you all could be here for this special moment. With that, all in favor say aye. Aye.

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

Congratulations again.

Item 33, resolution public hearing 26-210, approving the application of the University of St. Thomas for a sound level variance in order to present amplified sound for Tommy Fest homecoming event on Friday, September 25th at 2115 Summit Avenue, JP Monahan.

OK, now this is a real hard pivot. We are moving on to our public hearing section of our agenda. If you are here for a public hearing, when your item is called, we ask you to please, if you want to testify, come on up. Stand in between the two microphones. You don't need to touch them or move them or adjust them. You can stand up straight. They'll pick you up just fine. You'll have two minutes to testify. We ask that you start with your name and where you're coming from, and that when you're done, you sign in on either of the two sign-in sheets. There's a clock right in front of you to help you know how your time is going, and I'm also here to help you with that. They do go by quickly. So with that, this is a public hearing on item 33. If you are here to testify, please come on up. Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Ms. Coleman 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 26-217, approving the application of University of St. Thomas for a sound level variance in order to present amplified sound for the Creighton-Durham Hall football events on Thursday, October 8, and Wednesday, October 21, 2026, at 2115 Summit Avenue, O'Shaughnessy Stadium.

This is a public hearing. Is there anyone here to speak to this item? Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Ms. Coleman 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 35, Resolution Public Hearing 26-221, approving the application of Anderson Race Management for a sound level variance in order to present amplified sound for a Walk for Water event on Saturday, September 26th at 226 Spring Street, Upper Landing Park. 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 3626-222, amending the spending plan in the fire department public safety aid projects to more accurately account for the expenditures.

This is a public hearing. Is there anyone here to speak to this item? Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Ms. Bui 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 37, Resolution Public Hearing 26-236, amending the financing and spending plans in the fire department in the amount of $108,118.15 for the contribution received from the Minnesota Board of Firefighter Training and Education to pay for the training for firefighters.

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? Seven in favor, none opposed. Resolution is adopted. Item 38, resolution public hearing 26-237, amending the financing and spending plans in the fire department in the amount of $8,500 for a payment received for selling a trailer that was no longer needed for department use.

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? Seven in favor, none opposed. The resolution is adopted. Item 39, resolution public hearing 26-238, amending the financing and spending plans in the fire department for the amount of $37,000 for the amount received from the sale of the land located at 1683 Energy Park Drive.

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?

Seven in favor, none opposed. The resolution is adopted. Item 40, RLHRR 26-16, amending second making finding on the appealed substantial abatement ordered for 947 Fremont Avenue in Council Fire RLH 25-34.

Ms. Mormont. Council President, Council Members, you have this case in front of you for quite a while. Last week, or two weeks ago, you asked that there be updated information on the percent of completion so that that could inform your decision on completion. moving forward, particularly as it relates to forfeiture of part of the performance deposit. What I've recommended in the resolution is the $5,000 of the $15,000 that they've ended up posting be forfeit. The council actually did that about a month ago. Second part of my recommendation was to forfeit $2,500 for each subsequent month that the project remains incomplete. The council could go with that recommendation it strikes me that I could put a couple other options in front of the council to to consider or discuss You could not forfeit any additional money of course just taking no action You could modify to forfeit less less frequently than once a month you could also instead of doing a forfeiture of the existing performance deposit require that additional performance deposit be posted and In a case like this were the council to choose a path like that. I would say no less than $10,000 So those I think are the options there was some information added I don't even know if it's hit your records yet right before the council meeting we got some information from Jay Mitchell, who's representing the owner, the money man, LLC, and he's provided an engineering report and so on that shows that there is progress being made, but that, of course, the inspection that occurred, I believe, yesterday morning showed 5% at zero. So it's negligible.

Great. Thanks, Ms. Mormont. Let's go to Ms. Johnson.

Thank you, Council President, and thanks, Ms. Moorman. And just to confirm then that right now, since we did the performance inspection, the performance inspection found that the city conducted found that we were at about 5% of completion for repairs. Okay, and then also from previous, if I'm remembering from the record correctly, the estimated time that the owner is looking at is how many months? Have they shared?

I would have to pull that up. I'm assuming that it's a 180-day timeline that they're working off of to complete the project. That would be the standard grant of time. And I can get detail from a different file.

OK. And then just to clarify, so the $5,000 is forfeited. And what is the remaining balance of the performance?

Originally required to post $5,000, like everybody else. 0% completion at the six-month mark. Instead of forfeiting at that point, require an additional 10 be posted. At this mark now, where we're at 17 months out, I've asked the council, and the council did forfeit 5,000, so down to 10%. 15 posted, down to 10, and I suggest increments thereafter, but you do have options.

Okay, so we're down to 10 with 2,500 as the increment monthly.

Yeah, and I believe they have indicated that it will be impossible for them to do that timeline.

The 180-day timeline.

If it's forfeited monthly, the balance of the performance deposit will be evaporated before the 180 days is complete.

Okay, so how much would the monthly withdrawal be to align with the 180-day timeline? What would be the... Okay.

Of course you asked this.

It's OK. So what I would be asking my colleagues for is actually for the support that I have no qualms about the forfeiture. I do have a slight concern about the incremental forfeiture not aligned with the 180 days that we've already allotted for. And so my recommendation would be, actually, my amendment to the resolution would be to move forward the forfeiture, but the $2,500 forfeiture monthly to me My intent would be to align it with whatever dollar amount is allocated to ensure that it aligns with 180 days. That would actually be, unless I'm mistaken, every 45 days.

There would be a forfeiture to spread. If you spread $10,000 out over a period of six months.

OK, so that would be my recommendation, in part because I think to align with the time that we've already given, I think the deterring from that time frame that we've already expected seems a little inconsistent to me. So that would be my recommendation.

OK, so to forfeit the current performance. I want to make sure I'm stating the resolution, the motion. Forfeit the current performance deposit. And is that $5,000? Or the 10,000?

There's 15,000 posted now. You have already forfeited five a month ago. And so you're dealing with what the balance is and whether to forfeit and in what amount at what rate.

So to forfeit the remaining 10,000 every 45 days at an amount of 25. Until the work is complete. OK. Thank you, Ms. Johnson. Thank you, everyone, for bearing with me. Any discussion of the motion?

Ms. Vice President Yates. Thank you, Council President. I just wanted to share my support for the motion. All right.

Seeing no further discussion, all in favor say aye.

Aye. All opposed? Seven in favor, none opposed. The resolution is adopted as motioned. Legislative hearing consent agenda items 41 through 51 are before you for your consideration.

Is there anything to be taken separately, Ms. Mormont?

Yes, there is. Item 46, 4777 Ohio Street.

I'm sorry, which one? 46. 46. Item 46, RLHTA 26-158, ratifying the appealed special tax assessment for property at 777 Ohio Street.

Ms. Mormont. Council President, this is an unusual abatement charge to be in front of you. It is an interior abatement actually clearing a sewer line. The situation was that this property was referred by the police to the Department of Safety and Inspections as having dangerous conditions. That referral happened on March 8th, and the Department of Safety and Inspections began routing it among their staff right away on March 9th. The inspector did go out to the property, according to the records in front of me, promptly thereafter, and was denied access to the house. The police did indicate, and the referral says, the female is living in her home alone with stage four cancer. She has black mold covering her basement, and her sewage no longer works. Non-livable and unsafe conditions. She can't afford to fix her plumbing and hasn't been able to flush for weeks. So I know they went to Ramsey Action Programs. They went around looking for different kinds of things. What the city was able to do, and this happened then in the month of April, is at the end of March they hired an outside contractor. The contractor did work like a week later in the first week of April. And that was to clear out the sewer line entirely. That work happened. Then the charge that you're looking at in the assessment is $6,868 with fees attached. The sewer contractor did indicate that it was the worst situation of clog situation that they had ever encountered. So involving paper and non-flushable products, if you will. This was a no-show legislative hearing. I don't know if I mentioned that on two occasions. Between those two occasions, we made five phone calls and were unsuccessful in connecting with the property representative. The owner did pass in May, and there's information that has been attached to the file from earlier and also some information now that in May, The sewer line was also in bad condition, and they believe that the work, the problem that had happened in causing sewage to back up in the basement was because the city contractor did the job incorrectly. Testimony can correct this if I'm getting this wrong because this is all kind of on the fly. There was also attached to your file just recently a statement from a plumber who'd reviewed it and had something similar to say. The public health house calls program did, what I can tell from the record, provide two large dumpsters, which were used to remove items from the house at that time. I don't know if the Department of Safety and Inspections inspector indicated that house calls would be cleaning the floor in the basement also. I just heard that that didn't happen. I don't know what the situation is. I'd want to get more information from House Calls on that. And as I said, I don't have a hearing to refer on for a back and forth. So right now, my recommendation is to ratify the assessment and make it payable over one year. These are tragic circumstances. The city went in and did this in order that the owner could continue to stay in her home for the hospice time period. So it is It is sad. It's unusual. It's gross. It's just all of the bad things.

Thanks, Ms. Mormond. We'll hold the public hearing in a moment. But before that, as you mentioned, it's not usual to have the city do an interior abatement. I'm curious, you mentioned just now the circumstances that led to that, but what are the formal circumstances that need to be in place for us to make the decision to actually go into someone's home, perform work, and then assess them for the cost?

Generally speaking, they need to determine that it is a public nuisance. That kind of determination in the past, I know we've had cases where we've had rat and cockroach infestations that have impacted neighboring properties. I imagine what they were looking at, I'd need to follow up with them here, is just the germ spread in such a small area. That would be the biggest concern for a large amount of sewage in a basement. And that would be, and the owner absolutely wanted to work with the department. This was a request.

I was going to ask my next question. So this was done with the consent of the property owner? Yes, absolutely. And that allowed her to stay in the home, which was her desire. OK. I want to preview the public hearing by saying that my gut instinct is that it would be best to send this back to legislative hearing to actually let you sort through the facts of the case rather than doing that here. But we will go ahead and hold the public hearing. So thank you, Ms. Mormond. Sorry. Any other questions for Ms. Mormond?

I was in it to win it. OK.

We will now hold the public hearing. So if you're here to testify on this item, please come on up.

And you'll have two minutes.

And just start with your name, where you're coming from, and please focus on what your ask would be of the council.

My name is Jessica Klassen. This was my mother's house. I have typed something up. Sorry, a little nervous, guys. I'm here today because Ramsey County is claiming $6,800 in charges for work that They claimed was performed on my mother's property. I respectfully dispute these charges because I have evidence showing the work being billed was not performed properly. I have documentation and evidence supporting my position, including photos, videos, and invoices from a separate licensed and insured plumber who inspected and performed necessary plumbing work shortly after my mother had passed. The evidence shows that other than installation of the new pipe, the work the city claimed to have completed was either not performed or not necessary. That plumber was able to address the actual issue, which his evidence also contradicts certain descriptions of the condition of the plumbing that were used to justify the city charges. I respectfully ask the city council to look at the city-claimed $6,800 charge against the actual evidence and dismiss or fix the charges. Thank you for your time.

Thank you so much. Make sure to sign in. Is there anyone else here to speak on this item? Welcome up.

My name is Adam Lynn. Before Vicki died, Jessica was living in South Carolina, so I was dealing with this plumbing issue when I found out that my mom's sister was having these health issues. I personally talked with safety inspections multiple times. Some of the work that is being billed, I have a voicemail from the gentleman saying they purposely did not do that because they didn't feel it needed to be done. They just needed to get a jet truck out there to jet the lines. There's two charges on the bill, one for digging, one for jetting the pipe. They never did the digging. So we're not disputing the whole bill. It's just the part where they said they dug it up and replaced the pipe that they never replaced. And they also claim on the receipts that there's a three-month warranty. We were calling in May. They did the work in April. Nobody would ever come out to ask you a warranty. You had to come look at it. Vicki was in the hospital for three weeks, came home. The whole basement was still flooded. So it was completely unsafe for her to even be in there. And that's why the city of St. Paul got involved to begin with. So somewhere the ball got dropped. I just want to see it. I don't want Jessica to have to be responsible for something that was never done. Thank you.

Thank you very much. And make sure to sign in. Is there anyone else here to speak on this item? All right, I want to, first of all, extend my condolences to both of you on the loss of your mother and your aunt. Thank you so much for coming in. I'm so sorry that we're having this conversation in these circumstances. I'm going to move to close the public hearing. All in favor, say aye.

Aye.

All opposed?

Seven in favor, none opposed. Public hearing is closed.

I'm going to, so hearing everything that you've said, it sounds like there are some serious factual disputes about what happened and didn't happen. And to the request that you've both made, The city council does have a process for looking into these things and investigating them. And that process is exactly the legislative hearing that Ms. Moorman was referring to earlier. So I'm really glad that you're both here and that you can make the connection with her. My motion is going to be to refer this back to legislative hearings. So I would ask that you work with Ms. Moorman, respond to her requests to set a date and time for you to come in. That's the place where these factual disputes can really be ironed out, where we can hear from the different parties that did the work, the parties you're referencing, and really sort through it so that we can get a full recommendation from Ms. Moormand. So that's going to be my recommendation. Ms. Moormand, do you need anything more? Yes, please.

Could it be referred to legislative hearing for October 6 and council public hearing for October 14 so that there is a ratification that can occur on the council's timeline?

I will make that motion. Is there any discussion of the motion? Seeing none, all in favor say aye.

Aye. All opposed? Seven in favor, none opposed. The motion passes as stated.

All right. Is there anything else to come before us for separate consideration?

I'm not aware of anyone else here to testify.

In that case, we will hold a public hearing on the rest of the legislative hearing items. If there's anyone here to testify on items 41 through 51, now is your public hearing. Please come on up. Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Vice President Yang to close the public hearings and adopt the recommendations of the legislative hearing officer, along with any amendations or recommendations, et cetera. All in favor, say aye. Aye. All opposed?

Seven in favor, none opposed. The legislative hearing consent agenda is adopted as amended.

All right. With that, we are at the end of our agenda. This is the time for good news and or news from the wards. Looking to my colleagues, Vice President.

Council President, I wanted to share about a back-to-school backpack giveaway happening in the Eastside. It's on September 10th, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. and being hosted by Long American Partnership and JPMorgan Chase. They'll be giving away 200 backpacks filled with supplies such as notebooks, pens, pencils, and other school essentials. It's a first-come, first-served basis, and children must be present to receive a backpack. It's a limit of one backpack per child. It will be located at the Hmong American Partnership Building on 1075 Arcade Street.

Thanks, Vice President.

It is that season.

Other news? Okay. It doesn't look like it. And I didn't even have time to check to see if I had news, so that's fine. All right. With that, we are at the end of a busy day and a full agenda. Thanks to all. We are adjourned.