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Record of Proceedings

Edina City Council Meeting - September 22, 2026: City Manager Contract Approval

City Council — Tuesday, September 22, 2026
BodyEdina, Minnesota
SessionCity Council
DateTuesday, September 22, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 25:48

Original source
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Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.

Speaker 1

0:00

Ready.

Unassigned speaker

0:01

I think

Speaker 1

0:01

we're it looks like we got a green light ready to

Unassigned speaker

0:04

go.

Speaker 1

0:04

All right.

Unassigned speaker

0:08

Well,

Speaker 1

0:08

good evening, everybody.

0:09

It is Tuesday, September 22nd, 2026, 601 p.m.

0:14

This is a meeting of the Adina City Council.

0:17

Um I'm gonna call the meeting to order.

0:21

Uh I guess we may be doing usual, having people watching remotely.

0:26

And so we're handling these meetings in a this one.

Speaker 2

0:29

There's no opportunity for any comment at

Speaker 1

0:31

tonight's.

0:31

But they can watch remotely, and so these uh there's no um public comment in the agenda this evening and no public hearings.

0:38

It's a uh limited purpose sort of meeting.

0:41

So uh but nonetheless there may be people watching it remotely uh on YouTube.com or Edenatv or otherwise.

0:48

Uh and so let's call the meeting to order and ask our uh let's ask let's have the role called or the uh roll call, please.

Speaker 3

0:58

Councilmember Agney Councilmember Agnon.

Speaker 4

1:06

Uh here.

Speaker 3

1:07

Councilmember Pierce.

1:08

Present.

1:09

Councilmember Ritzer.

Speaker 4

1:11

Here.

Speaker 3

1:12

Councilmember Jackson.

Speaker 5

1:13

Here.

Speaker 3

1:13

Mayor

Speaker 1

1:14

Hovland.

1:15

Here.

1:15

All right.

1:16

We've got a form of meeting agenda in front of us.

1:18

Uh that's been published for the benefit of the public and for our council members.

1:23

Um does anybody have any changes or additions to the meeting agenda?

Unassigned speaker

1:27

Is

Speaker 1

1:28

there a motion to approve the meeting agenda is published?

Speaker 6

1:30

So moved.

Speaker 1

1:31

Second.

1:32

Rejection moves.

1:33

Member Pierce seconds the adoption of the meeting agenda is published.

1:35

Any further discussion?

1:38

Roll call, please.

Speaker 3

1:39

Councilmember Agnew.

Speaker 4

1:41

Aye.

Speaker 3

1:42

Councilmember Pierce.

1:43

Aye.

1:44

Council Member Councilmember Ritzer.

Speaker 7

1:46

Hi.

Speaker 3

1:46

Councilmember Jackson.

Speaker 7

1:48

Hi.

Speaker 3

1:48

And Mayor Hoplin.

Speaker 1

1:50

Hi.

1:50

Hi.

1:50

We have a meeting agenda.

1:52

Uh we have a singular item on the agenda this evening, and that's the city manager's employment contract.

1:58

And I'm going to turn now to our deputy city manager, Ari Lenz, for introduction to the topic.

2:03

And uh and then we will uh discuss the contract that we have with us this evening.

2:08

I think you'll you'll handle all of that.

2:10

Uh we hope will be our new city manager sitting in the audience.

2:14

I think she's signed the signed the agreement already, and uh it's up to us to have a little conversation about it and approve that as well as the council.

2:20

So and first of all, I want to thank our colleagues uh Carolyn Jackson and James Pierce for doing all the work that they did representing our council.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Personnel Matters█████████████████████████████████████████████71%
Community Engagement████████13%
Procedural██████10%
Technology and Innovation████6%
Summary of Proceedings

Edina City Council Meeting - September 22, 2026

The Edina City Council met on September 22, 2026, at 6:01 PM in the City Hall Council Chambers. The sole agenda item was the approval of an employment contract for a new city manager, Lori Hokenan, to replace retiring City Manager Scott Neal. The meeting included a presentation of the recruitment process, introductions, council discussion, and a unanimous vote.

Discussion Items

  • Deputy City Manager Ari Lenz presented the recruitment process: a community survey garnered over 150 responses from the public and about 40 staff members; 60 applicants were considered; the field was narrowed through video and in-person interviews; final interviews occurred on September 10, 2026, leading to the selection of Lori Hokenan.
  • Lori Hokenan introduced herself, noting 20 years of local government experience, a bachelor's and master's in public administration, and previous roles as city manager in Chanhassen and Victoria, and administrative services director in Plymouth. She highlighted achievements in Chanhassen, including a new civic campus, a voter-approved community center, and improved community engagement.
  • Councilmember Ritzer expressed a concern about the contract's Section 9, which references a membership in the Edina Chamber of Commerce, noting potential legal and ethical issues with public funds for private memberships and citing resident concerns about past ARPA and Spark funding to the Chamber. She suggested the city manager might not need to serve on the board.
  • Councilmember Pierce stated the contract mirrors the current city manager's contract with minor changes, and he saw no issues; he encouraged community engagement and thanked colleagues for ensuring broad input. Mayor Hovland clarified that the city itself holds a chamber membership, not the manager personally, and that the city, business community, and school district have a longstanding three-legged stool partnership, with the city manager, mayor, and superintendent serving ex-officio on the chamber board to provide guidance, not for personal gain.
  • The Mayor noted the planned start date is December 7, 2026, allowing overlap with the retiring city manager through January 2027.

Key Outcomes

  • The council voted unanimously (5-0) to approve the employment contract for Lori Hokenan, who had already executed the contract.
  • The contract includes onboarding support from DDA consulting over the next year; Councilmembers Jackson and Pierce will continue to assist with the onboarding process.
  • Lori Hokenan's official start date is December 7, 2026.

Meeting Transcript

Ready. I think we're it looks like we got a green light ready to go. All right. Well, good evening, everybody. It is Tuesday, September 22nd, 2026, 601 p.m. This is a meeting of the Adina City Council. Um I'm gonna call the meeting to order. Uh I guess we may be doing usual, having people watching remotely. And so we're handling these meetings in a this one. There's no opportunity for any comment at tonight's. But they can watch remotely, and so these uh there's no um public comment in the agenda this evening and no public hearings. It's a uh limited purpose sort of meeting. So uh but nonetheless there may be people watching it remotely uh on YouTube.com or Edenatv or otherwise. Uh and so let's call the meeting to order and ask our uh let's ask let's have the role called or the uh roll call, please. Councilmember Agney Councilmember Agnon. Uh here. Councilmember Pierce. Present. Councilmember Ritzer. Here. Councilmember Jackson. Here. Mayor Hovland. Here. All right. We've got a form of meeting agenda in front of us. Uh that's been published for the benefit of the public and for our council members. Um does anybody have any changes or additions to the meeting agenda? Is there a motion to approve the meeting agenda is published? So moved. Second. Rejection moves. Member Pierce seconds the adoption of the meeting agenda is published. Any further discussion? Roll call, please. Councilmember Agnew. Aye. Councilmember Pierce. Aye. Council Member Councilmember Ritzer. Hi. Councilmember Jackson. Hi. And Mayor Hoplin.

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