The meeting of the St.

Paul City Council to order.

Roll call, please.

Here.

Coleman here.

Johnson.

Joest.

Here.

Kim.

Here.

Yang.

Here.

Council President Naker.

Here.

Six present, one absent, that being Councilmember Johnson, and she is excused.

Welcome everyone to our city council meeting.

Thank you all so much for joining us here.

We invite everyone to join us in standing for the Pledge of Allegiance.

Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States in America.

And to the Republic for which it stands.

One nation under God.

Indivisible.

Liberty and Justice Crawl.

Consent agenda items two through six are before you for your consideration.

Is there anything to be taken for separate consideration?

Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Ms.

Yang for the consent agenda.

Any discussion?

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed.

Six in favor, none opposed.

The consent agenda is adopted.

Item number seven is resolution 26-132, celebrating 140 years of the St.

Paul winter carnival.

I am beyond thrilled to welcome Lisa Jacobson and all of the other members of her team who I don't know to join me up here to accept.

Oh, yeah, just keep going to be present as I read this resolution.

I think there's so much darkness going on in our community right now, and it is important to take a moment to celebrate all of the things that are wonderful about our community, and that in this case have been wonderful for 140 years.

So I'm going to read a little bit of this resolution, not all of it, but this is your copy to take and read at home.

But truly, from the bottom of my heart, I want to thank you, Lisa, for your leadership.

I want to thank your entire team.

This event was started as a way of saying that St.

Paul is a special place.

Whereas for 140 years, the St.

Paul Winter Carnival has served as a beloved community tradition and gathering place in the heart of St.

Paul, celebrating winter through iconic events, parades, ice sculptures, cultural programming, and family-friendly activities that have inspired and united millions of residents and visitors from around the world.

Whereas the St.

Paul Winter Carnival is the nation's oldest and most renowned winter festival, showcasing the creativity, resilience, and spirit of Minnesota while honoring St.

Paul's rich history, cultural heritage, and commitment to community celebration.

And whereas the St.

Paul Winter Carnival has demonstrated a long-standing commitment to accessibility and inclusivity by offering free and low-cost events, welcoming people of all ages and backgrounds, removing barriers to attending, and reflecting the diversity of the communities it serves through its programming partnerships and volunteer engagement.

Now, therefore, be it resolved that we recognize and honor the St.

Paul Winter Carnival for its 140 years of service as a cultural, civic, and economic cornerstone of St.

Paul, enriching the city's identity and bringing people together in celebration of winter, even when it's hard to do.

And be it further resolved that this resolution stands as a token of deep appreciation for the St.

Paul Winter Carnival and a celebration of its 140-year legacy as an anchor institution in St.

Paul and for the lasting cultural, social and economic impact it continues to have on our community.

Thank you so much.

Do you want to say this with you?

This is yours to keep to track.

So thank you.

So we're looking forward to another 140 years in partnership with the city.

And thank you for being in the parade.

Dress warm.

And we're gonna have some fun.

Appreciate it.

And with that, I think we should take a motion.

Not in 1886, but February February 1st.

So I'll make the motion.

Is there any discussion?

Seeing none, all in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed.

Six in favor, none opposed.

The resolution is adopted.

Item number eight is resolution 25-1914 outlining the city's 2026 legislative agenda.

This was laid over from December 17th, 2025.

And this is going to be one of those meetings where we really go back and forth between all kinds of different topics.

So this is our city's legislative agenda, which for those of you who aren't familiar with that, it's it's what the city will be lobbying the legislature for when we're at the Capitol this year.

So there's some things that we can do as a city.

There's many things that we need our legislative partners to do.

And this is the first time that the council is being able to see the new administration's uh legislative agenda from um our brand new assistant mayor uh as of this meeting, uh Nick's Dumelanger.

So welcome and uh we look forward to hearing the presentation.

Thank you, Council President.

Uh so for the record, my name is Nick Stuomalanger, Assistant Mayor for Housing, Economic Vibrancy and Infrastructure with Mayor Herr.

And my name is Assistant Mayor New Vang Staff and Strategic Partnerships with the Office of Mayor Khaliher.

And we are notably not the IGR director or IGR associate.

Um I'll get to that in the slides here, but wanted to provide a good update, and we appreciate you all working with us.

Um, overview um and timeline.

Um, you've gotten this presentation or version of this from the previous administration on kind of the framing components, um, and then we'll go through some of the priorities here.

Um, so I will be relying a lot on the knowledge that I have.

Um, my most recent role prior to being here with the city of St.

Paul was with the House DFL caucus.

And so when I talk about the dynamics at to the legislature, speak from a place of experience there, so I just wanted to note that.

And uh legislative session will begin at noon on February 17th, so just about in a month here, and then we'll end on May 17th, 2026.

Um, the legislative um welcome back reception will be that following week.

And for folks who've not had experience at the Capitol, this year is a policy year.

Last year budgets were passed for many of the major departments.

Um, the relevant component here is that nothing must happen, which is sometimes challenging at the legislature.

So I get the not fun job of tempering expectations.

Um I just want to address a few of the different areas of uncertainty, um, which is a kind way of saying it.

Federal immigration enforcement and the impact it has on our residents and our businesses, um, the continued attention on fraud at the expense of other things, the fallout of the political assassination of Speaker Emerita and the uh political violence on Senator Hoffman and his family.

Um, the reconciliation bill fallout, which will have huge impacts on Medicaid services and a lot of other elements of state services and county services, uh structural budget imbalance in the planning years, which I think that Eric Peterson had previously kind of detailed for you all, and then a very close uh 3433 DFL majority in the Senate and a tie in the House, um, and then obviously midterm elections.

So as I mentioned, so just last week, um, hard to believe it was just last week, we announced that the mayor's office had hired General Rourke from Ramsey County to be our intergovernmental relations director, and she starts in early February.

Um so she's given notice at the county, and so that's why I'm up here kind of going through our agenda and hiring for our IGR associate is currently underway.

So moving to the kind of top city priorities.

Um we want to make sure and incorporate um a lot of the feedback from council members, city departments, partners such as the Port Authority, the Chamber, Downtown Alliance, Ramsey County, number of organizations across the city and across the region.

Um you've all gotten outreach from our staff to make sure that we incorporate your feedback, and that continues past today's presentation, too.

And wanted to share that some of the two goals that we have in building this agenda is both to maximize the economic impact that comes into the city, especially in this short challenging legislative session, and strategically positioning the city's asks um across a variety of areas.

Um folks I know on the council and other places have had experience at the legislature, and it often takes a couple bites at the apple to get a lot of these big projects done, and so we're excited to be uh at the beginning of that process.

Um, so we will go through, I know previous conversations at the council and um offline as well, have kind of centered on how lengthy the legislative agenda is and how the variety of different things that we can prioritize and what that looks like.

We have stripped we have attempted to consolidate as much as possible to have a one-page or one and a half pager, which is in your packets, and it's titled uh preliminary 2026 St.

Paul Legislative Priorities.

Um I couldn't quite get it down to one page.

I got kind of close.

Um, so uh forgive me there.

Um the top component is the arena complex um and surrounding entertainment district uh investments, and we have a policy statement in there talking about the different options that state assistants may take.

Cash bonding, capital bonding, annual appropriations, forgivable or interest-free loans, local option sales tax, and then exemptions on sales tax related to construction.

And I'll just note for this uh group here that the negotiations with the team are ongoing as we've getting gotten up to speed.

And this project would include funding for Grand Casino, River Center, Roy Wilkins, Eastbound Kellogg Bridge, and the River Center parking ramp, and would strive to include social district authorization as well.

A couple of the other components we're looking at that we've done some work on the impacts of the cyber incident are obviously still reverberating, and we wanted to add to the legislative agenda amending the definition of a natural disaster and state statute so that the cost incurred from the cyber attack could be 100% reimbursed from the state.

A few states across the country are doing this as cyber attacks are becoming pretty likely to continue.

And this would have that 100% reimbursement.

And I'll just note here that a Maurer County in southern Minnesota experienced a pretty crippling cyber attack last year in 2025.

And so we're hopeful that there's some bipartisan attention to that.

Another component is establishing and funding a reimbursement program for the law enforcement agencies that respond to protests and demonstrations at the Capitol Complex and the governor's residence.

We don't know exactly the mechanism that that could take, but there is some interest in that reimbursement because folks don't necessarily know the state patrol or in charge of the lawns, capital lawn, the governor's residence lawn, sidewalks, and beyond is usually SPPD.

And then if folks need assistance, fire and EMS services as well.

And so getting some of that reimbursement with kind of a larger increase in First Amendment activity and protest and really positive things, I think, for our residents.

We just want to make sure that there's some reimbursement and acknowledgement that we love having the capital complex and the governor's residence here, but we'd love to get that reimbursement.

Next is state and regional investments into the West 7th corridor.

So folks have probably noticed that MINDOT is leading a first of its kind partnership between the city, the county, and Met Council on kind of a full combination of redesign and reconstruction from Kellogg to all the way through down Highway 5 to MSP.

And this would be likely a multi-year ask and could take the form of a couple different ways in which we would ask for funding there.

Another component that we expect to be a topic of conversation with the legislature is making sure we establish reimbursements and supports for individuals, family, community organizations, businesses, and local governments for the costs that we're all seeing that they've incurred during this immigration surge.

Over the last, I guess how many days has it been?

15 days that we've been here, the mayor's office.

The impacts that they're having, businesses closing down, not having support for their staff or for other folks.

We want to make sure we prioritize that at the legislature, and this is written in a way that we can kind of be nimble as far as we're looking for that reimbursement.

And then incentivizing downtown redevelopment through some of the creative financing tools with TIFF, historic tax credit expansions for conversions, and then the Cub credits as well.

So those are the kind of top line priorities that we're looking at that we're willing we want to have feedback on and working with us as we get up to speed.

There are some other additional legislative items, capital investment projects.

Like we said, this is a policy year and/or a bonding year.

And so we're hopeful there's a robust bonding bill at the legislature this year.

So the Mississippi River Learning Center, phase two, the Como Big Cat exhibit, Randolph Avenue Bridge Reconstruction, and the historic walnut steps on Summit are all holdovers that I believe had been presented to you all previously that we want to make sure we keep.

Parks and recreation, there's reinstating funding for regional parks, which has not been a fully funded component since it's been in state statute.

An estimate that we had gathered was that St.

Paul is annually seeing about five million in lost revenue from that partnership that hasn't been funded, and then a number of supports for recreation centers and libraries.

I'll let you read those.

And then continuing on in the public safety area, repealing some of the local government preemption on common sense gun violence prevention measures, making sure that the city has authority to prohibit handguns and weapons in a number of different city controlled and leased spaces, designating libraries and rec centers and drug-free zones and making sure we add St.

Paul to the speed control camera pilot that I believe it's Moundsview and or Mendota Heights and Minneapolis participate in.

And then some of the other components reinstating some of the local cannabis aid, next steps on the copper wire theft and scrap protections and uh changes there, and then a few items from Hero on protection of labor standards complaints from complaint's from retaliation and subpoena power, and then another component.

We're in a really good spot with all the lead service line replacements.

We do need that additional funding from the state to make sure we kind of come through that full tenure vision uh from St.

Paul Water.

Um then I will just note this is obviously a long laundry list.

I had to use a lower, a smaller size font, so I apologize for that.

Um previously the platform is about 35 pages.

The document you have in front of you is about five and a half pages.

That's not because there are not things that we don't think are very important to advocate for or allow the IGR director and associate to be able to talk through with other folks.

It's that we want to make sure that we're being strategic as we communicate with folks.

We can build one pagers, we can do a lot of really wonderful things in talking through this work at the Capitol, and I think we will because Jen is a fantastic um, has a fantastic um relationship with folks all across uh the legislature already, but we just want to make sure we are naming the things that are our city priorities and values while also making sure the asks are strategic.

So next steps on what this looks like.

So we would love to incorporate council member subject matter experts from across the departments in testimony in helping us write letters to support as uh items come up in the legislature.

So I'm sure there are some of these items that you are more or less enthusiastic about as they are across your wards, and we want your feedback.

We want to be able to strategically use Team St.

Paul to the best most effective ability at the Capitol.

Um it's not too far of a walk if it's nice outside.

And then um, we are happy to adjust these items, add items um over the next couple weeks, and I believe, and I'll kind of look to the council president for this.

A final council vote and amendments of the legislative agenda is well set up to happen before the session starts on the fourth or the 11th of February.

So appreciate you bearing with me, as obviously this is um other duties as assigned, which is I think I've been describing this presentation, a lot of things that have been happening in the last 15 days, but really happy to be here and thank you for the time and the presentation here.

Well, assistant mayors, thank you so much.

Um, I was going to say I look forward to you not being our IGR directors, uh, not because you didn't do a fantastic job, but because I know how much else you have on your plates, and in the last 15 days, the fact that you've taken time to put this together is really uh is really impressive.

So thank you.

Um, and I also really appreciate the move towards uh fewer pages and specifically calling out we're not at one yet, but there's always room for improvement.

Um, what really are the priorities rather than uh if everything's a priority, nothing's a priority, and we've been saying that around this table for um some of us for a very, very long time.

So thank you.

I will look to my colleagues for questions and comments.

I will note my plan will be to lay this over until February 11th, giving us time to work with the administration between now and then and anything we want to add.

We do have a very, very full chamber today, and so I do want to be mindful of that, and our discussion can also continue with the administration in between this meeting and then but if anyone has comments they want to make sure they say right now, we should do it.

So, Vice President.

Yep, just very quickly, just really appreciate the ask for us to be included.

Like we we you've got seven more spokes people here that are willing to kind of go uh not fight with the legislature, but go lobby for the resources that we need, and certainly in partnership with the mayor's office.

So, really looking forward to um working with all of you on our legislative priorities.

Yeah, council vice president, council president.

I've been describing it as creative collaboration.

That's I think the name of the game here.

I like both of those words.

Other any other comments.

All right, seeing none, thank you both again very much, and we will uh make a movement make a motion to lay this matter over till uh February 11th.

All in favor say aye.

Aye, aye.

All opposed.

Six in favor, none opposed.

The item is laid over to February 11.

Item number nine is resolution 26-121, calling on Governor Walls to pass an eviction moratorium through executive order to support St.

Paul in keeping families in their homes and further protect them from ice.

Um before uh before we move to uh discuss this, I I want to move a version two, which is in Legislatar, um, I with the council vice president's uh support.

Um this comes out of a conversation that I had with um some small business owners and also with assistant Mayor Stu Malanger this morning about the issue that tenants who are small businesses are also facing, who are at risk of eviction, and often we focus on tenants who are residents only.

Um but a lot of our small businesses who don't own their buildings are also at risk.

So the version two basically adds in businesses as those tenants who are in need of protection.

So I will move that version two again with the author's uh blessing um before we uh discuss it further.

Do we need to take a vote on that?

If you can do it together, or you can do it now.

Should we just take the vote on all at once at the end?

Yeah, I can make a motion.

Okay, there's no um vice president.

Yep, thank you.

Um, I'm very proud to sponsor this resolution as a part of all my colleagues.

You know, we're facing a crisis that deserves immediate action.

For close to a year now, federal agents have flooded the twin cities, vulnerable and targeted communities and residents that are not able to safely go to work, send their kids to school, or child care, or even run errands.

This is having a widespread effect on businesses, child care centers, schools, and more.

No family should be forced to choose between risking arrest and detention and working to keep their house their home and their family housed.

So we are calling on the governor to issue an eviction moratorium, and it is a common sense, unprecedented action that the state has taken before.

In the COVID-19 pandemic, the governor issued an eviction moratorium.

These are not extenuating circumstances.

If these are not extenuating circumstances, I'm not sure what is.

So for months, neighbors and residents have hobbled together networks of care and support in response to the military occupation that's just been unleashing violence in our communities.

We've created networks of care, launched neighborhood patrols, become legal observers, and help deliver groceries.

Everyday residents have taken on the important role of public safety.

The risk is too high for our neighbors to leave their homes for work, school, or to practice space.

So in order to keep our residents safe, they need the ability to shelter in place.

Immigrant owned businesses need to stay open and continue to pay their workers.

The impacts of an economic and housing crisis in this moment will extend beyond the current immigration operation.

If the precedent exists, the legal authority exists.

And what we are in desperate need of now is the will to meet the moment and do everything within our powers to protect our immigrant communities.

So with that, I'll move a version two and with that old move version two.

Thanks so much, Vice President, for your leadership on this.

Their discussion of the motion.

Ms.

Yang.

Thank you, Council President, Council Vice President.

I would like to say thank you to you for your bold action and taking swift action to bring this in front of the council.

I'm very supportive of this.

And I want to give a shout out to organizations like local progress, also Minneapolis Councilmember Robin Wensley, who I first heard about this resolution from who have been organizing elected officials to really come together to unite and really call for this eviction moratorium.

I will be really honest, it hurts to be here again.

We were here during the pandemic and it called for um, you know, the governor issued an eviction moratorium during that time to protect families who were on the verge of eviction during the pandemic.

And as a person of color, as a woman of color, a council member representing a part of our city that is deeply impoverished.

And with the zip code 55106 being the neighborhood that has experienced the highest rates of eviction in our entire city, it really hurts to be here.

But I know that I'm preaching to the choir when I say that I am amongst people who care deeply about our working class community, about our black and brown community members, immigrants, refugees, our folks who are undocumented during this time to really protect them and to do everything that we can to champion them and make sure that they continue staying here home with us in our communities.

And so I want to say thank you to everybody who is in deep solidarity with this movement to call for um the governor to issue an eviction moratorium.

Thanks, Ms.

Yang.

Ms.

Coleman.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you, Council Vice President, for introducing this resolution.

I am in strong support of it as well.

One of the most challenging, one challenging thing about the last few weeks is all of the consequences of the federal occupation and immigration enforcement that go beyond the families that are being torn apart.

That goes beyond the people who are being detained, sent to El Pasas, you know, sent to Texas, out of the state before their families can get to them to fight for their legal rights.

The number of consequences that go beyond that is unquantifiable.

We are hearing these stories every day from people in our communities, people who can't get to work, people who can't get to doctors' appointments, people who have whose lives are truly being torn apart even without a detention by ICE, but simply because they exist in a city that is experiencing this federal occupation.

It is horrifying.

And I think that we have all shared the frustration of knowing that what we do at the municipal level is not going to be enough.

Having the conversation with the housing attorneys trying to figure out is there any way that we can do an eviction moratorium in the city of St.

Paul and getting the repeated answer that no, we can't do that in St.

Paul, and that this is truly going to take every single level of government, city, county, state, acting, the federal government acting, members of Congress acting to stop the harm that is currently being um being being um wrought on our communities.

So I implore the governor to act.

I hope that the action that we are taking, that the Minneapolis City Council has taken that I know you know local elected officials across the state are calling for is because we are seeing this need desperately across our city.

I hope the government, the governor will heed that call and act swiftly to enact this eviction moratorium.

Thanks, Ms.

Coleman.

Ms.

Jost.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you, Council Vice President, for bringing this forward.

I'll just echo what my colleagues have been saying.

Our city is in a isn't a crisis right now.

We're talking about our residents not able to figure out how to meet their basic needs, how to get to work, how to make sure that they can provide roofs over their heads.

How can kids get to school?

We're probably gonna find out in a few days here that a lot of kids in St.

Paul are gonna choose to stay home from school and get their learning that way.

Um and as Councilmember Coleman said, uh, you know, it relies every level of government.

There's only so many things that we can do here at the city level, and we're really relying on our elected officials in the at the state level, uh, the county, and especially Congress to be able to act.

And so I think this is absolutely the right thing to do.

Um, and I also implore the governor to act on this uh on this item to protect our residents.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ms.

Joseph Ms.

Bouley.

Thank you, Council President.

I'm just really proud to stand before here and just um support a SWIFT action and the call to the governor to do, you know, a tool.

Um, one of the um strategies that he has in his toolbox.

Um earlier today I had the opportunity um really to stand in solidarity with our St.

Paul delegation at the Capitol inside of the press room where we stood and supported um Nasra Ahmed, who was a Somali young girl, um 23 years old, who was kidnapped um from ICE and detained.

Um, and I represent of Samakab, you know, spent spent days in over around the clock trying to find her and get her home.

And I just think about just how many other families who are in the process of trying to find their loved ones, whether they're been detained and brought to Texas, and I can't only imagine we're in the midst of all of this crisis that they have to think about how they're gonna pay rent.

We're also in the in the in the process of how are people going to file their taxes, how are people going to make sure their financial and safety and economic security blanket is intact.

So I think this is a short-term um fix that at least the governor can um propose and then act.

And I think you know, these emergency times call for us to utilize all of our emergency powers.

So I'm happy to support this.

Thanks, Ms.

Bowie.

Uh, thank you all.

I echo everything that everyone has said, um, and I want to again commend this council for the seriousness and the urgency with which we're taking action.

This is one of a number of items that we're going to be introducing just today, and then I know that there are others coming in the few weeks because we are hearing loud and clear from our constituents the need, the pain, um, and the requirement that we act.

So uh so thank you again, vice president, for bringing this forward.

Um, we have a motion for version two.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed.

Six in favor, non-opposed.

The resolution is adopted as amended.

Take a motion from council vice president to suspend the rules to introduce a resolution about the day of truth and freedom.

All in favor of suspending the rules say aye.

Aye.

All opposed.

Six in favor, non-opposed.

The rules are suspended.

Resolution 26-166 is uh recognizing Friday, January 23rd, 2026 as day of truth and freedom.

Council Vice President.

Thank you.

Um, I really appreciate the very late consideration.

Um, but sort of true to process it is in Legistar, there are copies before my colleagues.

We distributed it before the council meeting.

So hopefully never has a chance to um to look at it.

I will be very quickly reading through it just for the sake of transparency.

And I also want to be clear this resolution um does not and is not encouraging or influencing any city staff.

Um, I myself will be participating and encourage folks to decide for themselves.

So um, St.

Paul is grounded in values of dignity, fairness, community, and respect of the law.

Recent federal immigration enforcement actions have had a profound effects on our families and communities across the state, creating fear, disruption, and uncertainty for many Minnesotans.

And these circumstances have made it difficult for many residents to carry on daily life as usual, particularly for workers, students, families, and small businesses.

Minnesotans have a long-standing tradition of engaging in peaceful, nonviolent civic participation and moral reflection during moments of significant social concern.

A broad coalition of labor organizations, faith communities, community-based organizations, student workers, and small businesses have called for a statewide day of truth and freedom as a voluntary opportunity for reflection, solidarity, and peaceful expression.

Participants in this day are exercising their constitutional rights through nonviolent action, often at personal or economic sacrifice in order to express concern for the well-being of their communities.

Minnesota's faith leaders and community leaders have affirmed their shared commitment to peace, safety, and the restoration of trust within our neighborhoods, and now therefore be resolved.

The city of St.

Paul proclaims Friday, January 23rd, 2026 as a day of truth and freedom in St.

Paul.

Thanks, Vice President.

There's a motion on the table to approve.

Is there any discussion of the motion?

Ms.

Yang.

Thank you, Council President.

And again, Council Vice President, thank you for bringing forward the resolution here.

I uh fully endorse um this resolution and also the community action taking place on Friday and plan, and I will be there.

I just want to name like I I love the buzz in the community from young people, you know, people of all ages and backgrounds, entrepreneurs, people who are running clinics in my ward who are calling me and saying, Nelsie, I'm gonna be closing down on a Friday.

I'm gonna be joining you.

And these are people who I know this is gonna be their first um at protest, being out in community in solidarity with the community on important that uh on an issue that has been so personal and important to them.

And so I just really commend uh the entire community, everybody who's been out there, whether you've been out there being constitutional observers, um being out there protecting your neighbors um in every way that you know how like there's such deep um bravery and courage in doing that, and I uh I can't wait to see the turnout that we will have on Friday.

Um and uh again, I it's uh definitely a moment for all of us to be speaking up.

Thanks, Ms.

Yang.

Any other discussion?

Um Ms.

Bowie and the Ms.

Coleman.

Thank you, Council President.

I just wanted to reiterate, just I applaud everyone who is just volunteering and sacrificing their time, their efforts, their energy, and just like putting it all out there to show up for the day of truth and freedom.

You know, um, it's just really sad that we're here again.

Um I'm just really thinking about the time we were in during the pandemic and also with the aftermath of George Floyd and so many more, where we've had so many truth and reconciliations.

We had so many days of recognizing um the pain and um you know, especially just hearing the the the scary news of the surge of the free federal surge and having additional uh 1,500 until we're now looking into the thousands of of um ice agents here in Minnesota.

I just think this is the opportunity for us to be you know times a hundred in terms of how many people are gonna come out and show up for humanity, how many people are gonna come out um not only for the truth and freedom, but making sure that we're supporting our neighbors and showing that here in Minnesota, the North Star State, this is a refugee state, like we are the melting pot and really um just like reflecting, but also showing that that um solidarity through action.

So again, thank you for everyone.

Um I've been really excited to see um businesses that you know I haven't really seen in this advocacy light, really stepping out on faith and and joining the movement.

Thanks, Ms.

Bowie.

Ms.

Coleman.

I I guess I will just echo what everybody else has said and take this opportunity to provide a PSA that for those who are planning to be at the action on Friday, it's going to be a wind chill of negative 45.

So please get your hats and your mittens in advance.

And if you are planning to participate, paid in the economic boycott on Friday, buy your warm beverages in advance.

That is all.

Thanks, Ms.

Coleman.

Ms.

Just.

Um thanks, Council President.

Uh I I'll just say that I'm you know really looking forward to this day.

I think what gives me a lot of hope through very difficult times are the ways that our community is coming together.

Um, and you know, folks of all ages, all of our businesses.

I also have seen businesses in my ward um that are participating in this that again maybe haven't haven't uh you know haven't participated in this way uh in our community.

And and I I do think that you know seeing how powerful we are together is what makes me feel very optimistic uh that we will get through this.

And so I'm looking forward to Friday, and uh thanks to everyone for in advance um for your participation.

Great.

Well, thank you all.

Thanks again, Vice President.

If there's no other discussion, uh there's a motion on the table.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Aye, all opposed.

Six in favor, none opposed.

The resolution is adopted.

Item number 10 is staff report 26-9, review of emergency management services, early notification systems.

Ms.

Bowie.

Thank you so much, Council President.

As um uh director Rick is coming up.

I just wanted to just share with the council.

Um, you know, we really wanted to act in urgency, and I had a chance to talk with the director, particularly around the terrain of what our emergency powers are and what is under our definition.

This is not a policy meeting, this is just simply just a staff report.

I do anticipate coming um forward in the next couple weeks, um, having um director Rick um come to our policy meeting and just have more chance for us to ask questions and get a deeper understanding around how we want to utilize our emergency powers in the city.

So welcome up, Director Shoot.

Thank you, Council President Acre, um sponsor councilmember Bowie and other council members.

And uh the staff report um before I start uh public information uh and warnings is a very broad topic with many systems, a lot of technical jargon.

Um and and I'm I'm not trying to um uh I want to give a broad understanding here to the group uh to to the to the council members and uh those watching um you know on on the broadcast.

But my goal here is to explain how decisions are made in the city, St.

Paul and what what tools are used and why trust is uh is central to it all.

I want to start with trust because that's really the the foundation of uh public warning.

Uh people only take protective action if if they trust the information, trust the source, and believe the message fits the situation.

Every decision we make about alerting in this space is really a trust decision.

Uh how alerts are made in and uh decided on in the city of St.

Paul.

Alert decisions follow our city's emergency operations plan.

And uh, you know, I want to scale up uh before we get into that.

It emanates out of the executive uh authority at the federal level, um, and then it comes down into the state uh with our state statute chapter 12 where it establishes the emergency management department and the emergency management functions, and then into our city ordinance um administrative uh code of chapter 11, where it establishes the emergency management department and uh those emergency management functions.

Uh our emergency man our emergency operations plan is you know built of all hazards, we call it, and there's an emergency support function uh that really brings to to bear the functional expertise of all of our departments uh to help uh solve problems in in the city.

And uh specifically emergency support function two and emergency support function 15, two being communications and 15 being public information, uh, are those that really identify the roles and responsibilities to public alerting and public warnings.

Uh so there's clear roles and rules and responsibilities established in the in the emergency operations plan, and different situations require different tools, different functional expertise, and uh discipline matters uh relative to alerting.

If alerts are overused or used inconsistently, uh people stop paying attention, and that's uh when real uh real risk is generated.

We'll move on to our first uh system.

Uh this is IPAUS or the integrated public um alerts and warning system.

Uh this is a FEMA owned and operated system, and it's also governed by the FCC that works with uh the the uh cellular providers.

This includes uh you know uh what's called a wireless emergency alert, a WIA, aka Amber Alert that we're all familiar with that shake rattles and rolls your cell phone uh when they go off.

Uh the emergency alert system that's broadcast TV, radio, uh even cable television, uh, our civil warning sirens that you hear the first Sunday or first Wednesday of every month at one o'clock, as well as NOAA weather radios.

Uh but specifically that WIA that we're most familiar with, that Amber Alert, uh, this is the loudest alerting tool available.

It reaches everyone's phone in a geographic area indiscriminately.

Um it's used only for immediate life-saving threats.

Uh, these alerts are sent um by Ramsey County, even though they're generated by a functional expert in the field uh for that situation.

Uh they're sent uh by Ramsey County, uh specifically a uh a trained and and authorized um ECC or emergency communications center uh supervisor at the request of an incident commander uh generally speaking or a functional expert in the field.

Um so they're used sparingly on purpose.

Uh when people hear this alert, they should know it means something serious.

And I I believe many of us have experienced what's called overshoot where uh you're out of the area and you're like, why am I getting this alert?

Um and that's part of the uh thing that we that we work very hard in in my discipline to avoid uh that situation.

Uh but again the IPAUS, uh nobody in the city can can send one.

Uh we can generate the language uh to send one, but it's it's sent by uh Ramsey County out of the uh 911 dispatch center by a supervisor.

Uh moving on to uh the next system, it's called Everbridge.

Uh and interestingly enough, this is the entry point into IPAWS uh for the Ramsey County, so that message is actually sent uh through Everbridge up to IPAWS, uh, but we also use Everbridge.

Um this tool is used when dangerous is is still real, but it's localized.

It allows alerts to focus on specific neighborhoods, uh, often used in what's called a polygon, drawing a geographic circle or groups instead of everyone.

Uh Ramsey County issues this public alert using uh this system again.

ECC supervisor or 911 supervisor is the only one that can send a community alert using Everbridge.

Uh the city uses it for internal um alerts in the in the in the workplace um and coordination.

Again, community alerts through this tool are limited to imminent threats to life.

Reverse 911 data is primarily the source, or we can establish opt-in databases for things such as snow emergencies or other uh other uh opt-in alerts within the community.

And it's a precision tool, uh not a workaround around for emergency alerts.

A few other systems worth uh mentioning here.

Uh not all information in this space should come through our emergency alert system.

Uh social media civic notices, for instance, and public information channels are also used.

You can see photos on the slide there.

Our ENS that is managed by the city clerk uh for those uh administrative and legislative notices that go out uh to residents as they opt in.

Uh we have our social media channels uh in the city um in the departments, and then uh that center that center picture is a cooperative with uh TPT public broadcasting, and that's called TPT now.

And uh these tools inform the public, but they don't order people to take immediate action.

Um very useful in building preparedness and also uh a response and recovery information.

Uh keeping these tools separate uh uh but complimentary avoids confusion.

Uh what does this mean for for the council?

Um I wanted to express today that there's clear roles and and uh and give some clarity.

There's clear boundaries around who issues the alerts and when that separation is intentional, it protects credibility, uh, avoids desensitization and ensures that when alerts are issued, the public takes them seriously.

Uh that concludes my my staff report and uh I'll gladly take your questions.

Thanks so much, Director.

I really appreciate it.

Um Ms.

Bowie.

Thank you so much, Council President.

Thank you so much, Rick, for um being here and just getting this ready in such a short timeline here.

Like I said, I definitely want to expand if people are interested to see how we can use this tool.

I do have a quick question, particularly um if you could touch a little bit more on the um customization of the alert system, the early notification systems.

Um, one of the things that I was really curious about, or you're saying how like the district councils have the powers to also issue alerts or um a council member has the power to issue alerts.

Um is there like a mechanism to where if I want to alert ward one or you know um council member Coleman wants to alert her ward, like do we have that flexibility with this tool?

With the uh early note, thank you, um councilmember Bowie, and uh for that question with the um early notification system uh managed by the city clerk.

Uh we can establish opt-in alerts.

Uh they can be specific to you know, award, they can be specific to a district for a district council.

Uh we do have SMS credits, what's called in that system.

Uh we do uh, you know, if you receive a gov delivery um alert, um, especially for snow emergencies.

We've used heavy use of uh of ENS for snow emergencies, and that is also on the cellular phone on the as an SMS, so an opt-in.

So that would be an administrative process either by the council uh or a district council to seek access to that system and uh build that opt-in uh alerting uh to be actuated, you know, when that when a threshold is defined and met.

Thank you.

Thanks, Director.

Uh any other questions?

And it sounds like we will be getting a longer potentially report and time to discuss this at another time.

Doesn't look like it.

Thank you so much.

Really appreciate the timely information.

And thanks again, Ms.

Bowie.

All right.

Item number 11 is ordinance 26-1, final adoption uh for modifying and establishing certain city council staff positions in chapter 16 of the administrative code.

And for those of you who don't tune in to us every single week, uh the way that we adopt legislation uh in this body is through three readings.

Um, a first reading is the first time we ever hear about a piece of legislation or what we call an ordinance, and we have a staff report at that time explaining what it is.

Um there will be one of those today.

Um, then we have a second reading where we have a public hearing, we hear people's thoughts on that ordinance, um, and then we have a third reading where we adopt the ordinance.

So anything that you're seeing here for final adoption has already had at least two uh hearings beforehand, and then you'll see we have some items today for first reading and some for public hearing.

Um, so this is before us for final adoption.

Um I will take a motion from Vice President Kim to approve any discussion of the motion.

Seeing none, all in favor say aye.

Hi, all opposed.

Six in favor, none opposed.

The ordinance is adopted.

Item number twelve is first reading of ordinance twenty-six-four, granting the application of Bylon Company to rezone four I-1 light industrial parcels to B5 Central Business Service.

And since this is a first reading, we will have a staff report.

Welcome up.

Good afternoon, Council President, Council members.

Excuse me while I get this presentation ready.

Take your time.

And while I'm getting this up, my name is Stefan Duarte Green.

I'm a city planner for the Department of Planning and Economic Development.

Okay, before you is in application to rezone for I1 light industrial parcels to B5 Central Business Service at 500 Broadway Street.

The property is located at 500 Broadway Street.

It's four parcels comprising the 500 block of Broadway Street.

It's in the Dayton's Bluff neighborhood and ward two, just north and east of downtown across from Interstate 94.

Land use and zoning in the area includes a multifamily residence to the north, which is zoned B5 warehouse uses to the east and south, zoned I1 light industrial and the interstate highway to the west.

And again, the zoning application is to rezone four I1 light industrial parcels to B5 Central Business Service District.

The findings are that the proposed B5 zoning is consistent with the comprehensive plan.

The 2040 comprehensive plan designates future land use of the site as mixed use.

And the main distinguishing characteristics is in the mixed use district is a balance of jobs and housing within walking distance of one another.

The B5 zoning district.

The proposed B5 zoning district permits a mix of uses that are compatible with the future land use designation.

And the second finding is that the rezoning contributes to orderly and predictable development.

The B5 Central Business Service District permits a range of uses in proximity to the central business district, including wholesaling and certain manufacturing that are compatible with the surrounding multifamily housing, office and warehouse, medical office, and parking uses.

The proximity to dense areas of housing and employment to the central business district, make the B5 zoning district appropriate for the property proposed to be rezoned.

The staff recommendation is approval of rezoning of the four parcels from I-1 light industrial to B5 Central Business Service.

And at zoning committee, the committee recommended approval in a 4-0 vote.

And at Planning Commission, approval was recommended with a unanimous voice vote.

The district floor planning council has not submitted a letter of recommendation.

And that's the end of my presentation.

I'd be happy to take any questions.

Great.

Thank you so much for the helpful presentation.

Any questions?

Doesn't look like it.

Thanks so much.

This will be laid over for second reading.

Yep, the item is laid over to January 28th for second reading public hearing.

Take a motion from Vice President Kim to suspend the rules to introduce uh a first reading of an ordinance to prohibit law enforcement staging operations on city-owned properties and limit access to non-public city spaces.

All in favor of suspending the rules, please say aye.

Aye.

All opposed.

Six in favor, non-opposed.

The rules are suspended.

Ordinance 26-5, adding chapter 268 to the legislative code to prohibit law enforcement staging operations on city-owned properties and limit access to non-public city spaces.

And since this is a first reading as well, we will have a staff report.

Welcome up.

Thank you, Council members and Council President for the opportunity to speak today.

And that our city is currently suffering from.

However, the council's approach recognizes the approach unveiled today beginning with this ordinance, recognizes the urgency to act expediently and with the necessity to build durable protections that provide clarity to residents and that can withstand legal challenges.

The council acknowledges that since the events of December 25th, 2025, everyone knows things have changed.

The dynamics of the federal escalation show that our and the actions of federal immigration agencies have changed and continue to change, which means that the residents of the city cannot wait for one comprehensive change to the city's existing separation ordinance, which is located in the administrative code and only binds the conduct of its employees.

With that, work is also underway to create additional changes to other parts of our city's legislative code, moving forward with a multi-part approach to allow for swifter action and greater legal durability for ordinance changes.

The goal is to respond rapidly to the needs of our communities, ensuring that the changes will serve as a resilient defense against crisis situations yet to come.

The changes before you today are the first in a series of those proposed changes, and I'll be walking through the ordinance 26-5.

A brief high-level summary of the ordinance is that it adds chapter 68 to the legislative code as a legislative ordinance.

It prohibits law enforcement staging on city owned properties and limits access to non-city public spaces, non-public city spaces, I should get that order correct.

Clarifies that city employees may not permit any access to city owned or city controlled property except when required by assigned warrant.

There are two key terms.

Defining federal immigration laws is an expansive definition.

It is beyond, it is meant to include and capture the reality that the federal government is using an expanded definition of immigration process on a criminal basis to justify the way that they conduct their the seizures of people and conduct their operations.

So this definition is to be expansive of the reality rather than rely on existing definitions, and defines staging area as an area used to assemble, mobilize, coordinate, andor deploy vehicles, equipment, or materials and related personnel for carrying operations for the enforcement of federal immigration laws.

And so where access is prohibited is city-owned or city controlled parking lots, ramps, vacant lots, and garages that are not owned to the general or that are not open to the general public.

No federal, state, or local government entity or personnel may use city-owned or city controlled parking lots or any other similar use for enforcing federal immigration laws, and city officials may not consent or authorize any access to city-owned or city controlled property except when required by judicial warrant.

Non-public city spaces include areas like bathrooms, restricted areas requiring badge access, worstations, break rooms, storage closets, and employee only areas.

Access to these non-public city spaces are not open for purposes of enforcing federal immigration laws.

City employees do not have the legal authority to consent or permit access to these spaces in situations where a warrant would otherwise be required.

So I'm happy to detail specific questions about the ordinance, but I have a lot more I'd like to discuss, so I'm happy to save for questions to the end as well.

So with that, I'm just gonna go back a slide briefly.

A team of council offices have worked with myself to collect feedback from all council offices and the public, including three public hearings in council chambers and one community event, as to perspectives on the separation ordinance and the current operations of ICE in our city.

In doing this collection, we've heard a number of perspectives and received a long list of priorities that require us to engage thoughtfully about the road ahead.

So after moving forward and having those conversations, we are have agreed to a phase and sequential rollout of comprehensive legislative reforms and policy changes.

This is designed to address the rapidly evolving situation.

This approach is also responsive to meet feedback provided from a variety of stakeholders that will be responsible for implementing these protections.

And we are also committed to working with our partners in the mayor's office at using every tool possible, including policy, legislation, process, and procedure, to protect the residents of St.

Paul.

In the short term, on just January 28th, 2026, the council intends to introduce two legislative ordinances that would build on existing state law to limit the use of masks and other identity concealing mechanisms by law enforcement officers operating in our city and require clear, visible display of insignia of those said officers.

We also must, in the short term and in the medium term, engage on a question of what the separation ordinance is to be.

We have to recognize that there are two tensions at play with our separation ordinance, which has been in effect for 20 years, which is not which is withheld legal challenge, and has been challenged in court.

We are the defendants in litigation for our separation ordinance against the federal government.

With those contextual factors in play, we have to reconcile whether the separation ordinance, which currently already clearly provides that city resources are not to be used for the purposes of enforcing federal immigration laws, whether that we need to further clarify that the city's policy is not to assist ICE or in employee crowd control tactics during those immigration operations, or clarify that in that ordinance, whether anything is intended to prevent public safety officials from responding to calls for aid from St.

Paul residents who are in the presence of ICE.

These are tensions that we need to work together as a council and as a community to resolve, because we know that moving forward, any insufficient or non-durable solution contained within an administrative code is only a simple one short shot solution to a broader problem that is going to continue to evolve.

And so while we are closely, while our conversations and our additional policy actions in the weeks ahead are to occur, we are closely committed to monitoring those activities, responding to what citizens are seeing on the ground, and having a new public conversation using the public safety committee, the policy committee, and all other resources to engage in a conversation about public safety resources, training, and policies that will require standalone actions beyond the context of immigration enforcement.

The other piece that I think I want to emphasize most plainly to the people listening at home who are concerned, scared, and terrified, that the full array of policy responses is needed from the council at a time of this crisis.

The federal authority, federal governments tip their hand at how they intend to conduct operations into the future.

And we need to be clear-eyed and have resiliency as a council in our policy making process.

And that means committing ourselves to moving through the process that we've agreed to in terms of moving items under suspension, working with the city attorney's office on ensuring that they've received proper legal review, and at the same time that we, when we are responsive to community concerns, that we work with all partners in engaging those uh in engaging those uh conversations, and at the same time, using this council space to provide those updates.

Finally, I'll I'll identify um one final piece of information.

Um, you know, as part of the one big beautiful bill that was enacted in this summer, ICE, the BICE budget is expected to exceed 28 billion dollars in the next four years.

There is a clear-eyed resiliency that is needed from this city to identify our public spaces that are most at risk, our communities that are most vulnerable, and our democratic resources and values that are most at risk, and that requires coordination across different governing partners like our county and our state resources that also requires thoughtful deliberative action as a body here, and that also requires hearing from the mayor's office of ways that they see ways we can advance protections for the city and also at the same time, um, you know, much like the eviction moratorium was speaking to, um, repair the economic damage that has been done to the city caused by the federal immigration enforcement action.

Um doing this phase sequential approach, durability is our best defense.

Uh our resilience is based in our capacity to move as a legislative body, and uh I appreciate um the thoughtfulness that's gone into getting to this point and the work and the energy that's got to this point.

Um, but the work has to continue in so many more ways and in so many more um realities that we haven't yet confronted as a city.

So I appreciate the time and the ability to kind of conclude on that somewhat darker message, but um I think we are all clear-eyed and resolute in what's ahead.

I stand for questions.

Thank you so much for the staff report.

Uh, are there any questions?

All right, thank you so much.

Um, I also want to thank um my colleagues, Council Vice President Kim, Councilmember Yang, Council Member Coleman, um, who've been the lead authors on this, and uh I really appreciate the fact that we are moving forward with urgency and the phased approach that lets us bring forward um different pieces each week, and I heard Mr.

Greenfield say we've got one in front of us now, we'll see others in front of us coming forward.

Um, I also appreciate the fact that you've clearly delineated between um actions that uh direct others, like federal agents and actions that direct our own staff.

Um we need both of those, but we've been hearing loud and clear that we we in particular want to see those actions directed at the federal agents as well.

Um so I'm glad that we are starting with this piece.

Um I'm gonna look to the authors first to for comments, Vice President Kim.

Yeah, thank you.

Yeah, um, besides extending deep gratitude to my colleagues who spent an enormous amount of our time um pulling together last minute meetings and keeping the the trains running on time, but also to the city staff that have worked tirelessly over the weekends.

Um, you know, notwithstanding our our own attorney here at the table, Dan.

Thank you so much for the time that you've put into this.

Um I know that staff have been incredibly exhausted trying to move at the speed of community.

Um I'm really proud to bring this forward for a multitude of reasons.

Um, but the first one is that there's um I think everyone took a step in, right?

We needed to meet the urgency of this moment and passing something all together, um, allowing the pieces that still need time to hang up the things that are ready, um, wasn't meeting the moment.

So we all took one big step in to say what are things that we can move on now.

And that was, I think, um through a process of ideation, creative problem solving, um, both with the mayor's office and the city attorney's office.

And so that phased in sequential um is important, and it's um again, it's the things that are ready now, we're gonna move on, we're not gonna wait.

The things that will take time, you'll see us roll out a multitude of different things coming through the council moving forward.

Um, the durability language is really important, right?

Part of the all-in-one versus separating them out helps us make sure that you know, if one thing, you know, I hate to say it was sort of like um our tenant protections the first time we took a uh a try at it, right?

Issuing a state can impact the entire ordinance versus how do we separate things to make sure we're protecting the parts that are good.

Um, in that conversation, we talked about uh policy, process and procedure and ordinance and working through what are those pieces that we can implement as a city.

And I think like a lot of residents love to see us bring forward and legisl bring forward legislation here at the table, and oftentimes just a really strong good reminder, it's not the only tool that we have.

And so there'll be things that the council will work on that you'll see a policy committee that's about that's about policy, or working with city departments where you might see a press release that we're improving our processes and procedures.

So just know, even if you don't see it come to the table, it doesn't mean that the council isn't looking at a much more comprehensive approach across all the city departments, and also it allows us to work with each individual department to dig really deep to look at the ways that they're working, um, how things are working and how things are not working within their processes, policies, and procedures.

Um, and so I'm just very proud to bring this forward and see my colleagues sort of um have a much uh have a united front around both process, policy, and also um those things meeting the urgency of this moment.

Um so I will um look to my other co-sponsors to see if they have any additional things they'd like to add.

Great.

I see Ms.

Yang and then Ms.

Coleman.

Thank you, Council President.

I well, yeah, I I echo what you said, Council Vice President, about um just giving a shout out to all of the people, the organizations, the staff who came together and really made sure you know that we had language ready to go for today.

Um I uh I want to say thank you to you, Tim, our incredible chief policy officer for your presentation earlier.

It was stellar, and I just want you to know that I was very proud about the the message and how you delivered and conveyed the values of the council here and the deep injustices that our communities have experienced um day after day, left to right.

And it feels like it's the it isn't stopping, but I know that we are a community that is resilient and and we will persevere and prevail and we will win and we will get ice out.

I do have comments I want to make, but you know, I am just thinking about about Tim, what you said in the beginning about how we are living in trying times, and we definitely are.

I uh I mean just before we came into the council meeting here.

I had a conversation with my staff who shared that I they detained two teenagers in Minneapolis.

Also yesterday, right after I was done with the meeting, I got a video, a message that had a video where a shopping cart a shopping cart attendant at Sunworld on our Cate Street and my ward.

They got detained.

Yeah.

And I went there right away and got to be in solidarity with a handful of constitutional observers who were there and and were there for the entire time that the store was opened all the way until uh they close and employees were able to walk out safely.

And the entire time that we were there, there was an ice vehicle parked across the street at Los Ocampo and kept coming back and harassing people.

I feel I'm livid.

You know, we're here.

We know we would have to I just think that what you shared in the beginning really captured how I feel during this moment.

My three-year-old son.

He said too my husband and I recently.

ICE do it.

ICE killed a woman.

Renee Nicole good.

Our children should not be living in a in a world in a country like this.

Where that what that is what they remember.

They deserve better, and we all deserve better.

Thank you.

I really appreciate that.

And I um I just wanted to thank everybody for you know giving me that space to share that, and it's really heavy on my heart, and I know that we're all going through a lot.

And we're here, and all of the input that we have heard from everybody, whether it was in the council chambers here or the emails, the phone calls, the messages that you have sent to us.

I say it over and over, it wasn't done in vain.

And I want you to know that we are hard at work every day, and I I uh really commend and applaud this entire council, and also want to really recognize my colleagues who sometimes, you know, it's not easy to not follow the process and protocol, but have really put yourself out there for the community.

So, council members um Bowie and her council vice president, I want to say thank you for your bold leadership and doing that.

And like um, you know, this is not a moment for us to to point fingers at each other or to you know blame anybody for anything at all.

Like the I'm talking about those of us at the table here, but it's it's really a moment of deep unity and for everybody, um, all the council, uh my council colleagues who have really utilized your voice, your power, these seats that people have elected you into to really pushing forward the timeline, expediting as soon as possible.

I want to say thank you because we have a first rate reading, and it's because of your leadership.

And so, everybody here, thank you, and thank you to everybody in the community who has really been pushing the council on this.

I um I'm very proud to um sponsor the language that we have here for the first reading.

Um, in recent months, ICE has wreaked havoc in our city and caused irreparable harm to community members through their dehumanizing tactics of racial profiling, intimidation, and lawlessness.

Um federal agents have repeatedly parked and used city property, like parking lots at our beloved libraries and recreational centers as a staging area.

This is unacceptable.

We saw this over um in my ward in November, where um many conversations around our separation ordinance spurred, and and thank you.

Thank you to the many people who put their bodies on the line from community members, elected officials, um, you as well, council vice president.

You even got sprayed um by the chemical irritants, and um, and it's not okay what's happening.

Our library went into shutdown, kids and families were still inside, and they were terrified, and they had to make a choice about whether they were gonna leave a space that we know to be a place of sanctuary that is welcoming and that's safe.

Our city properties are safe and welcoming spaces, values that are deeply violated by ICE and the authoritarian Trump regime, and I do not stand for that at all.

And I stand in solidarity in solidarity with you in fighting that.

I am proud to sponsor this dire and life-saving ordinance um in dedication to all who work, play, and live in St.

Paul.

And when I think about the story I shared earlier about my son and how he shouldn't be living in a world like that, like this.

I mean, we didn't ask for this.

I know many of us in here, we did not ask for this, but I know who did ask for it, the mega supporters.

So, what I want to call on all MAGA supporters to do is to self-report their address to ICE.

So you get a personal thank you by ICE.

And you know what, with us with the um the reporting line.

I mean, right now is the moment where if we want to delay, we want to delay um the tactics um of ICE and delay at their operations, which we know they want to do things swiftly, they want to do things as quickly as possible.

They're even detaining citizens because they know that it is the citizens who you know go in to get detained, they're gonna come out quickly.

So if we want to delay those operations as much as possible, well, right now is the time to be reporting in those magnet addresses.

And what is happening is so unacceptable.

And I'm very invested in making sure the people who wanted this, they will get that personal thank you.

Thank you, Ms.

Yang.

Um, I think I saw Ms.

Coleman.

Thank you, Council President.

I uh um I think that my colleagues, Council Vice President Kim and Councilmember Yang covered much of why this is so critical and where we are going from here so well.

I just want to say briefly on the ordinance that we're introducing today and why it feels so important and so urgent and how the importance of it has only increased in recent days as as Councilmember Yang said, we have continued to see ICE attempt to use our public spaces as a location to stage their raids and their destruction of our communities.

When we had a presentation from um Edmund Dolejo at our city attorney's office last week at our policy committee meeting, he spoke about the initial intent of the separation ordinance as being about public trust and public safety and how critical it is that every single resident of our city know what our values are and know how we're expending our resources and understand with perfect clarity that we are not going to use city resources to enforce federal immigration law to do the work of Donald Trump and ICE.

And what we saw over the last several days, over the last week as ICE continued to violate our cease and desist and um show up in our city-owned parking lots was a fracturing of public trust.

I'm sure many of us saw the conversations happening um on social media and other spaces over the weekend suggesting that our parks and rec department was collaborating with ICE, and that's why ICE was using our parking lots.

That is what happens when ICE uses our public spaces.

It is unacceptable for anybody in this community to have the impression that our parks and rec department would ever collaborate with ICE because they never ever would.

They never have, they never will.

That is not what we stand for as a city.

We are so deeply committed in this building across the thousands of employees who work for the city of St.

Paul to ensuring that this is a community where every single person is welcome, where every single person knows that we are fighting for them, not for ICE, not for border patrol, not for DHS.

And so I just to me it is so essential that we pass this ordinance that we make sure and and the ordinances that will come that continue to show who we are as a city that continue to show who is welcome here, and that's our community members, that's our residents, that's everybody in this room, and it is not ICE.

So that's all I will add.

Thank you, Ms.

Coleman.

Ms.

Bowie.

Thank you, Council President.

I'll just share some remarks because I know um later on in our agenda we're gonna have a public hearing.

Um, so I just want to really just have the time for people to participate in that.

Um, but I just want to just share just like justice delayed is justice denied.

And when I think about just the power that we have, um, our policies that is our justice tools, the policy that provide clarity information and and direction.

And I think this ordinance is uh makes it very crystal clear what our what our role is.

Um and I also just want to say I want to just really thank you, um, Councilmember Coleman and also Council or Council Vice President Kim and Yang and also Council President Naker for really just all the behind the scenes and also Councilmember Joe's everybody, the behind the scenes work, the sweat equity that goes into this.

Um I think all of us feel the heaviness of our responsibility, um, knowing that you know we we were elected into these offices to to handle city services and now protecting our our our neighbors against a federal um siege was not part of our our platforms when we first ran.

Um but now we have to become experts in this.

So I I do want to say I I offer grace and my passion.

I hope you do not um see it as an attack or offense, but you know, we we hold really important roles.

Um, and often our work is invisible.

Um, I I do appreciate us having this discussion publicly, even even though there's not like a blueprint, right, around like how we navigate these waters, but it is really important to to honor that work, um, particularly of how we're going to be crafting the future of protections of our neighbors and really making sure we're responding strongly.

Um I I actually do appreciate how we are rolling this out in phases and not making perfection the enemy of good or the enemy of action.

Um I think you know, every week this is you know, every week that we can work to improve our systems and our laws, and also that third part too that we talked about last week, um, our budgetary um um priorities, um, you know, policy alone is it going to actually you know fix um some of the economic harms that people have been facing.

You know, policy alone is it going to actually, you know, fix some of the economic harms that people have been facing.

We can also lean on our partners at the state and at the county level to really help with that safety net.

And last but not least, um, I would just say also to um Mr.

Greenfield, uh, I really appreciate how just stepping into you know his role and really leading with values and providing a lot of information for us, um particularly around the framework or around you know the the direction we should be going.

And one of the things that he had mentioned that I think is just so valuable is um you know making it very clear that you know the federal government does not have legal authority to enter our non-public spaces.

And like that legal authority is something that we have to be strong on, that legal authority, we are representatives of what our legal authorities are.

So just yet again, what I'll just share is you know, I'm always in support of anything that we can do to exercise our powers and make sure our neighbors are safe.

Um, and we are we are thinking creatively innovatively, and I just applause us all.

Um, and again, just thank you for this work for the sponsors.

Um, and you know, I'm I'm excited to to pass this and adopt this.

Thank you, Ms.

Bowie.

Ms.

Jost.

Um thank you, Council President Acre.

Uh I just I just hope that you know it's clear to everyone that this council is unified against IC, and we are committed to protecting our residents.

Um, this federal operation in our city is it's a crisis, it's an emergency, and the impact has been brutal.

I mean, our businesses closing, neighbors disappearing, really fear in that everyone's experiencing just to go on about their everyday lives.

Uh this ordinance that was introduced today is the first step of many steps that we're gonna take, as Mr.

Greenfield mentioned, to ensure that our city doesn't waste its resources on unproductive federal work.

Our constituents have made it clear that they do not want any part of this.

We do not want ice in our community, and we will do whatever we can to ensure that our city government maintains its stark separation from their operation.

Our work is so critical.

Uh, this might be one of the the most important pieces of legislation that we work on this year, if not in our term.

We must act intelligently and with haste.

I want to make sure that our efforts are not further delayed by any missteps in our procedure.

I'm so proud, uh, Councilmember Coleman, thank you, Council President Naker.

I also really want to thank uh Tim Greenfield, who just presented here earlier.

I just I don't think that anyone could have captured the work that we're doing and characterizing our values any better.

So, Tim, thank you very much.

I want to thank Council Vice President Kim, Councilmember Yang, Councilmore Bui, thanking everyone here.

Uh I know that we are all united and we really care so deeply about this issue, and that is why we are bringing it forth in this way.

Um I just appreciate everyone's diligence and thoughtfulness, ensuring that we uh are maximizing our power when our residents need it the most.

So I will continue to support the work of this separation ordinance in any way that I can and making sure that you know we're doing this correctly and legally and quickly.

I just really appreciate everyone's work to figure out how we could roll this out in a way that makes the most sense and while delivering to our residents as quickly as possible.

Um, like I think it was Councilmember Bowie said, Um, you know, not letting perfection be the enemy of progress as we're trying to move forward.

The separation ordinance that we're working on has so many parts to it.

It's uh it takes significant amount of analysis and work, and so I just 100% agree that this is the best way to proceed.

Um and so I mentioned we'll we'll do everything, we are doing everything we can to move this forward as quickly as possible, and our constituents deserve that, and they deserve so much more.

So thank you everyone for all your work.

Thank you so much, Ms.

Joes.

Thank you to all of my colleagues.

Um I agree a hundred percent with everything that's been said, and I feel very um very proud and very grateful to be part of this strong resolute council at a time like this.

Um, I just want to add one element that I that I that I think is important as well.

Um, the trust that Ms.

Coleman talked about being built and the trust that is broken down when people see federal agents in our parking lots.

That's also trust that's important to build up and restore among our own frontline staff, um, the folks who are working in our parks and rec centers, the folks who are working in our libraries, the folks who are working in these buildings, um, knowing that federal agents are not allowed in parking lots, that they're not allowed in non-public spaces.

Um, that gives needed assurance and clarity to our frontline staff as well.

Um and I think right now what we're hearing from from everyone in our community is that we need clarity.

We need to know what the rule is.

We need to know what's wrong and what's right, and at a time when everyone else might be disregarding that.

Um, one thing we can do as leaders is hold firm to what is wrong and what is right.

And we are we are clearly stating that line here today in one regard.

We will continue to do that uh as we move forward with many other pieces of legislation.

So thank you again to my colleagues.

This is just a first reading.

Um, so this item will be laid over, and there will be a public hearing on this item next week.

We're having a public hearing today in general on immigration operations, but this ordinance will have a public hearing next week.

The item is laid over to January 28th for second reading public hearing.

Item number 13 is second reading public hearing of ordinance 26-2.

Changing references in the legislative and administrative codes from animal control to animal services and correcting typographical errors.

So this does bring us to our public hearing section of the agenda.

Uh so for every public hearing, um, we will, when it is your item, we will invite folks up.

I will say this is your public hearing.

Is anyone here to speak on this item?

When I say that, that's your cue to come on up, stand in between those two microphones.

Um, start with your name and where you're coming from.

You will have two minutes to testify.

Um, and they do go by quickly, and my job is to keep everyone to two minutes.

Um so uh you'll see the timer in front of you, and we just ask for your cooperation with that.

And then when you're done testifying, you can sign in on either of the two sign-in sheets on either side.

Uh so with that, that's this is item 13.

Uh, is there anyone here to speak on this item?

This is a public hearing.

Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Ms.

Coleman to close the public hearing, lay the matter over till January 28th for final adoption.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed.

Six in favor, none opposed.

The ordinance is laid over to January 28th for final adoption.

Item number 14 is resolution public hearing 25-293 authorizing the Department of Parks and Recreation to amend the financing and spending plan in the amount of $85,709 and to enter into an agreement with the Minnesota Department of Commerce to accept solar on public buildings grant programs for solar installation at Dayton's Bluff Recreation Center.

This is a public hearing.

Is there anyone here to speak on this item?

Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Ms.

Joes to close the public hearing and approve.

All in favor say aye.

Aye, aye.

All opposed?

Six in favor, none opposed.

The resolution is adopted.

Item number 15 is resolution public hearing 25-294, authorizing the Department of Parks and Recreation to amend the financing and spending plan and the amount of 72,000 dollars and to enter into an agreement with the Minnesota Department of Commerce to accept solar and public buildings grant program funds for solar installation at Frogtown Community Center.

This is a public hearing.

Is there anyone here to speak on this item?

Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Ms.

Bowie to close the public hearing and approve.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

All opposed?

Six in favor, none opposed.

The resolution is adopted.

Item number sixteen is resolution public hearing twenty-five-295, authorizing the Department of Parks and Recreation to accept grant funding in the amount of 203,680 dollars from the State of Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to support St.

Paul's tree planting program.

This is a public hearing.

Is there anyone here to speak on this item?

Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Ms.

Bowie 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 number 17 is resolution public hearing 26-9, authorizing execution of a grant agreement and amending the city's 2026 operating budget to include a 100,000 dollar donation from Unity Church Unitarian to support work of the St.

Paul Recovery Act Community Reparations Commission.

And this is a public hearing, and I know we have a few speakers who are set to speak.

We'll let you divide the time amongst yourselves because this is really a special uh special item.

So welcome up.

Welcome.

Good afternoon, Council members.

My name is the Reverend Dr.

Oscar Sinclara.

I serve Unity Church Unitarian as its senior minister.

For the last several years, our congregation has been discerning what it means to be the beloved community in this moment.

Now, others are going to talk about how and what and how that's related to the proposition in front of you.

What I want to do is just for a moment talk about the role of the church.

What we do is we point to the world as it is and the world as it ought to be, and sometimes highlight the distinction between those two things.

When you walk into our sanctuary in St.

Paul, you pass a plaque that from the Reverend Arthur Foote that says, May courage steal our wills and the light of truth forever guide us.

That's a message for all moments for today and for our work going forward.

Is in large part guided by that love of truth.

It's an act of moral imagination to work on reparations in 2026 in the context of everything that you have been talking about today to say what would happen if we told the truth and then acted on it going forward.

That's what this is a proposal to do.

I will hand it over to Marcia Hayes, the president of our Board of Trustees.

Hello, I'm Marcia Hayes.

I am chair of the Board of Trustees at Unity Church Unitarian.

And it is a pleasure to be here today as the St.

Paul City Council adopts this resolution on behalf of the St.

Paul Recovery Act and Community Reparations Commission to accept 100,000 from the Unity Church Unit Unitarian Helena Courier Fund for Racial Justice and Healing.

Thank you for witnessing this pledge of our congregation's shared commitment to reparatory justice in St.

Paul and our world.

This occasion marks the furtherance of the Unity Board of Trustees' work over the last 18 months to explore deeply the potential role for our church to play in repairing our broken world through reparations, working with the racial justice ministry team.

In 2024, we the board established the St.

Paul Reparations Commission as a primary source of moral authority for our work.

So this past year, we over dinners, conversations, deeply held discussions, have succeeded in forging working relationships, fruitful connections, building friendships, understanding, developing a working rhythm, excuse me, and having frank conversations to hash out where we're going.

So as the commission completed their 2026 work plan, it has inform it informed us that Unity's funds, and just as importantly, our allyship will strengthen its foundation through the expansion of public outreach and education.

We'll also help with further plans for historic archive of American descendants of chattel slavery in St.

Paul.

Detailing these stories is essential to uh illustrate the ways in which institutional racism has impacted every area of life, from housing, education, health care, land use, economic and economic prosperity, up to including today.

So we are grateful to take these steps with you to build the beloved community.

With that, I'd like to introduce Nyla Golden, member of Unity, past member of the board, and member of the reparations committee.

Well, I don't have a whole lot to say other than I remember coming here about what three years ago, two years ago, when the ordinance was passed.

I'm a member of Unity, and I'm also a commissioner.

And so I have the opportunity to wear so many hats and to be involved in what's happening and to be totally proud of St.

Paul.

Didn't grow up in St.

Paul, moved here.

And um I'm very very proud of what's happening.

And I'm so happy to be able to be part of to move it on.

And I will turn it over to Russ Baklander.

You know, hello everybody.

Welcome back.

Uh it's been a while.

Um, I'm Russ Ballinger, a past council member.

Um I was uh uh given the honor of taking the lead on the um on the on the the ordinance that would come.

Uh but prior to that, council member Print was already pushing that, and uh and then we both are members of Unity Church.

Uh the first time I came to Unity Church, I had kind of slipped off from our home.

I was eight years old, and in a neighborhood that was new to us.

I'd come from where 94 is now, and uh and people weren't quite ready.

There were different housing laws.

This was almost 70 years ago.

Um when I came when I was headed for up that way on Selby Avenue.

On Selby Avenue, the police picked me up at eight years old, had me up against the wall, and were going through my pockets.

Kind of reminiscent of what's going on now.

Um but when I got to Unity, everybody was warm.

And it was different in over the years I would go back and back until um I saw people remembered my name.

I don't know.

Um, and there was a lady from Unity Church.

Uh, and her husband had sold us our next home that was about six blocks from there.

And uh I saw her when I was about 10 coming out of the churches and Mrs.

McFarland.

Are you a member of this church?

She said, Yes, baby, I'm a member of this church.

And uh she remained uh the church buried her a few years ago at 109.

So I'm a proud member of the church.

Uh thank you.

City council, uh, distinguished guest, uh Justice Delayed is justice denied, and black Americans have been fighting for reparations for 400 years in this country.

So we are excited to be here today.

Uh for this moment we are very grateful.

On behalf of the St.

Paul Recovery Act Reparations Commission, we accept this hundred thousand dollar gift from Unity Church with deep humility and renewed in a renewed sense of responsibility.

This is not just a donation, it is a profound investment in the moral and economic fiber of our city by taking this step.

Unity church is modeling what it means for local institutions to move beyond words and into active and into the active work of restorative justice.

These funds will directly support our mission to close the massive racial wealth gap and build a Saint Paul where equity is a reality, not just to aspiration.

This gifts gives provides vital momentum as we work to design reparatory policy recommendations that create tangible change for American descendants of slavery who reside in St.

Paul.

Thank you for your leadership and commitment to making St.

Paul a leader in the reparations movement.

Thank you so much.

Um don't go away because we we do want to get a picture of you with our fancy camera before you go.

So beef to our communications associate will do that, and then there's I get I think gonna be some comments for you.

Absolutely.

Jane, you can't be hiding in the back again.

Okay, get in front of Jane.

As long as I'm here.

We got two and a half minutes of the couple of things.

I just want to say, I just have so much gratitude to all of you.

Um to Veronica Burt, the staff person of for the commission.

Dan Staley worked with our with our church, a couple of us to try to write that grant agreement.

It wasn't easy, and he was incredibly patient.

So I just needed to think this interloper is Councilmember Jane Prince, by the way.

All right.

Say Unity.

Yep.

There we go.

Well, thank you all so much for being here.

Thank you to our reparations commission, our leaders.

Um, and to Unity Church.

I find it um incredible that you're thanking us.

Uh we are thanking you for an 100,000 dollar donation that will be the catalyst for much more generosity.

So thank you so much.

Um Councilmember Johnson, who somehow not only manages to be on maternity leave with her first child, but also to write incredibly eloquent statements.

Uh, I certainly was not doing that when I was on maternity leave, sent a statement for me to read in her absence just to say thank you to you.

So this is from uh Councilmember Johnson.

I'm truly honored and excited to be a council member during this historical time of accepting our very first donation for the reparations commission with hope of more community partners to come.

I would like to sincerely thank the Unity Church Unitarian for the historic donation of a hundred thousand dollars toward the St.

Paul Recovery Act Community Reparations Commission to propel their work forward through the harm report, public listening sessions and education, and the 2026 work plan.

The reparations commission is made up of 11 individuals and staff living across the wards of St.

Paul that have committed their time, talent, and innovation to addressing the injustices caused by systemic racism against American descendants of chattel slavery living in St.

Paul.

In 2021, the St.

Paul City Council passed a resolution on behalf of the city, recognizing the harm that has been created by the city and outlined key initiatives to ensure that we didn't just say sorry, but that we actually actualized repair and began doing sorry.

The legislative advisory committee, the permanent commission, and all of the work before I, Councilmember Johnson, began as a council member, leads us to this historic moment and day.

By our city council accepting this resolution, we will continue to fulfill these ongoing efforts in pursuit of this historic contribution through the commission's work plan.

I'm grateful for all that came to speak today from Unity Church, the Reparations Commission, and community members.

I'm also grateful for my council colleagues for continuing to support, uplift, and recognize the rich value of the commission.

I'm excited and looking forward to seeing the outcome of the commission's work following the acceptance of this donation.

Thank you.

And that's from Councilwoman Shanequa Johnson.

Ms.

Bowie.

Thank you, Council President.

I'm I'm so so happy to hear that letter from Councilmember Johnson.

I know me and her take this work really personal and want to see this work power through.

I just want to say thank you to our spiritual leaders, our faith leaders, our activists, our freedom fighters.

Long before there was an ordinance here, I've been seeing many of you in the community making this work possible, normalizing the conversation of what used to be, you know, very controversial, now is ordinance and now it's normalized and permanent in our city.

St.

Paul is just built differently.

And it just shows not only our deep commitment but our work ethic and our and our long life, you know, efforts.

So I just want to say also too one of the things that I haven't really heard that was connected to this repair work.

It actually started, um, I'm Councilmember Coltman, your dad when he was mayor, Chris Coleman, um, was at the Rondo Plaza, and I believe this was I want to say 2006, maybe.

Um, but he was the first mayor to actually um publicly acknowledge and issue an apology, uh, particularly with the damage that was done in the Rondo community.

So I just want to just always uplift of when our public officials, you know, um, you know, help spark the catalyst to to this change.

This work is very personal to me, as you can imagine, especially as a council member whose ancestors were survivors of chattel slavery and state sanctioned violence and mass incarceration.

Um, you know, I get really vulnerable about this work when we talk about the harms and addressing, you know, the violence.

Um, I'm someone who had a cousin who was killed by St.

Paul police department.

And, you know, when we think about just a lot of the healing that is necessary and the commitment that we have to this work, um, I want to just, you know, express that it takes a lot of bravery and courage um for folks to show up and do the work of policy, but also doing the deep work of uh recovering and like how we are, you know, how this is like showing up in our lives, right?

Um my residents know very closely what it feels like to be treated like a permanent second-class citizen and denied their basic human rights and freedoms.

And I come from Rondo, a people who survive who survival depended on our ability to really come together, preserve our culture, community, and our spirit of collective healing.

And uh I see this donation truly from Unity Church as a deeper commitment and a deeper responsibility for the healing work for the commission to bring comprehensive recommendations, and I'm just so happy to hear from um our um current chair, um, Chair Cruz, particularly around some repairs and some some policies and practices and budgetary decisions that's gonna be coming forth.

Um, I also see this as a commitment to legislating freedom.

Um, this has just been an ongoing theme that's came about.

It actually sparked from our public hearing that we had some weeks ago and now maybe a month ago, it feels like so so long ago, where someone had shared um their lack of belief that we had the power to legislate freedom.

And that deeply deeply resonates with me because I think about you know, what is what are the impacts of our laws, right?

And how can we make sure that we're using these tools to repair um many years, hundreds of years of damage.

I also see this donation um as a way to empower the advisory board um with some really strong economic development plans and being a thought partner in that work, supporting affordable housing and owners home ownership, um really helping to amplify our inheritance fund and making sure we get the dollars out there in the door so we can get people to start building a stronger economic freedom in their own families, building accountability mechanisms to really prevent racist practices and racist behaviors, and also support our quality service delivery.

Um, so the folks in Frogtown is getting the same level of care and um services for the St.

Paul Lights in Highland and uh really diversifying our city vendors and contracts.

Um, you know, we here in a city, we have some equity goals, racial equity goals that we're trying to meet, and we need to make sure that's reflected.

And last but not least, you know, truly continuing the programs and partnerships that are the lifelines to our communities.

Uh we worked so hard to build trust.

And when I think about all the different staff members and the programs and things that you know may not fit under the box of what we see as reparations, like for example, our free swim classes.

Um, you know, that is that is really instrumental when I think about uh being a young black girl and never learned how to swim, you know, and uh never really saw our public pools as a place for me to be, you know, now being a city council member and making sure that that's in our budget, and now our young people, no matter their race, you know, has the opportunity to be welcomed and learn how to swim.

And um, you know, I I I just want to say thank you for doing all the work, the grunt work.

Um, you know, so we don't have to, you know, uh negotiate in December around how we're going to continue this work.

You've done it for us, so thank you so much.

Thank you so much, Ms.

Bowie.

Uh with that, is there anyone else to speak on this item?

Um sorry, I'm just just if anyone else from the public wants to speak.

Otherwise, I will take a motion from Ms.

Yang to close the public hearing and um well we'll have a discussion first.

Sorry, Ms.

Yang, go ahead.

Thank you, Council President.

I just wanted to make some quick comments and say I echo everything that you, Councilmember Bowie and Councilmember Johnson have shared.

Um this definitely makes it to the top in terms of my highlights from today.

And so I really want to say thank you to everybody from the Unity Church for your leadership, um, your commitment to community to liberation and justice and reparations for descendants of chadow slavery.

Um, I looked into the crowd that was up in there in the room, and they were a part of really planting the seed for this.

And so to those leaders, you know, like you, Trey Hearn for um, thank you for continuing to invest your time and energy into this.

And the last thing is that I just want to say thank you for spreading hope um during a time when it is so needed.

And so I I hope and pray that everything that you do in the community that you also receive that 100fold.

Thanks, Ms.

Yang.

All right, I'll now take a motion from Ms.

Bowie to close the public hearing and approve.

Any final discussion of the motion?

Seeing none, all in favor say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

All opposed.

Six in favor, none opposed.

The resolution is adopted.

Thank you.

Item number 18 is resolution public hearing 26-10, approving the petition of Church of St.

Bernard Inc.

to vacate a portion of Alley right-of-way in block one of Barney Norton and Kingsley Second Edition to St.

Paul address 147 Geranium Avenue West.

I told you we'd be going all over the map.

This is a public hearing.

Is there anyone here to speak on this item?

Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Vice President Kim to close the public hearing and approve.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed.

Six in favor, non-opposed.

The resolution is adopted.

Item number 19 is resolution public hearing 26-11.

Approving the petition of Friends of Nova Classical Academy to vacate airspace over and across of the intersection of Madison Street and Mercer Way.

This is a public hearing.

Is there anyone here to speak on this item?

Seeing none, I'll take a motion from Ms.

Joe's to close the public hearing and approve.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed?

Six in favor, non opposed, the resolution is adopted.

I think I forgot to read this one, so I'm gonna think we skip that one.

My accent, my fault.

No, I think so.

I did okay, never mind.

Okay, I remember because we skipped all the parentheses.

Okay.

Item number 20 is resolution public hearing 26-2.

Public hearing on grievances about federal immigration operations.

Um, and again, the for all of those of you who are here on this item, this is a general public hearing um on immigration operations.

We will be having these uh every week for at least the next few months, just to give folks a chance to be heard.

Again, please remember this is um I my job is to keep everyone to two minutes.

I appreciate everyone's cooperation with that.

We want to make sure the last speaker gets the same amount of attention as the very first speaker.

And again, please start with your name, where you're coming from, and then make sure to sign in when you're done.

Welcome up.

Thank you, President of the Council.

Um First of all, this is coming from the Mayor's Advisory Council for People with Disabilities.

And I would just like to begin it, and then I could just submit it.

Would that be all right?

Yes.

Okay, thank you.

Dear members of the St.

Paul City Council.

On behalf of the St.

Paul Mayor's Advisory Council of People with Disabilities, we write to express strong support for an eviction moratorium, which you all passed, and to request immediate increased protections from immigration enforcement activities by the St.

Paul Police Department.

These measures are central to preserve the health, safety, and independence of people with disability in our city.

Um may I present?

Yes.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

And make sure to sign in.

And by the way, just to all folks, we know two minutes go by quickly.

You can always submit testimony in writing to us here or via email at another time.

So if you run out of time and you want to do that, we encourage that.

Welcome up.

I'll let it reset.

Oh, yeah, sure.

Thank you, Ms.

Yang.

Um, we do we if anyone here has a young person with them or some other reason why you know it's difficult for them to stay.

We would love for them to be able to come towards the front of the line.

Um, so thanks to everyone for your help with that.

Welcome.

Good afternoon, council members.

My name is Sarah Gardner, and I reside in Ward 7.

I'm here today to reset raise concerns about the current federal immigration operations and their impact in St.

Paul.

First, I'm asking for clear public clarification on the city separation ordinance and how city staff, including the St.

Paul Police Department engage with DHS.

Residents need to understand in plain terms what cooperation does and does not look like and what consequences will follow if the ordinance is violated.

When that information is unclear, fear spreads, and trust in public safety declines.

Second, there are credible repeated reports of federal officials engaging in conduct that would not be tolerated from local residents or city employees, including but not limited to reckless driving, failure to follow traffic laws, altered or obscured license plates, and pointing weapons at unarmed residents.

These reports warrant oversight and response.

No agency operating in St.

Paul should be exempt from the basic standards of lawful behavior.

Third, there are serious concerns about U.S.

citizens being illegally detained during DHS operations.

This is not an immigration issue or a policy disagreement.

This is a constitutional crisis and a civil rights issue.

The city has a responsibility to speak clearly and take action when civil rights are violated within its jurisdiction.

Finally, these operations have a real and measurable financial impact on St.

Paul business community and our local economy.

Businesses are losing workers, customers, revenue because fear is disrupting daily life.

Economic stability depends upon people feeling safe enough to participate in their communities.

St.

Paul is committed to safety, dignity, and the rule of law, and I urge the city council to do whatever is within their power to reinforce those commitments through clarity, accountability, oversight, and action.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

Hello again.

Oh, sorry, I keep breaking this.

Um, hello again.

My name is Heather C.

Lew.

I was here on January 7th, immediately after Renee Grid was murdered, speaking specifically about the federal operations here in Minnesota.

I want to give you a couple of updates of what's happened since the last time I was here.

It's been two weeks.

This is my first time leaving the house since Monday.

On Monday, the 19th, I noticed an unmarked blacked SUV with two people with face coverings in it in front of my house in ward six.

It idled it in front of my home for two to five minutes as I panicked trying to figure out if and when someone was going to come and save me and help me.

And I was the only person that could.

Since January 7th, my neighbors have been abducted, assaulted, traumatized, terrorized, and denied our due process and First Amendment rights.

My St.

Paul neighbor among elder and citizens was detained by ice and freezing temperatures with very little to no clothes on.

They were planning a funeral.

My community has organized and taking care of each other, organized rapid responses, mutual aid, escorts, and so on and so forth.

I love my community for this.

This is simple.

Black, brown, indigenous immigrant and refugee populations are not safe in both public and private spaces where DHS, ICE border patrol, and other federal tendrils have entangled into our communities.

This is there's racial profiling, intimidation, lawless lawlessness, and utter disrespect for our citizens and the U.S.

Constitution ICE must be abolished.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

Hi, I'm Beth Menning, and I live in Ward 4.

I'm an early childhood elder, and I actually have been meeting with a group of child care centers in St.

Paul since the summer to work on the issue of the crisis of losing child care.

I wish I was here to talk about that, but I'm here to talk about ice.

Um, and I actually originally wanted to talk about expediting the separation order.

I understand from the conversation with Mr.

Greenfield that you're working on that.

I would like to add a thought in there about residents and um city property and non-public property.

We also have organizations that are human service organizations, including child care, but I'm also thinking about the medical providers I heard on press conference yesterday, school properties and other organizations like child care that are serving the families in our infrastructure in our community.

And what's happening to those organizations is they're being attacked as well.

And have a couple of examples of child care programs I know of in St.

Paul that have had to go on partial shutdown because ICE is activated in their next door neighborhood or their staging down the street.

Also, I know of a Spanish inversion program that had ice circling their property and taunting their volunteers.

So it's affecting families, children.

It's traumatic traumatic.

It's traumatizing.

So what we need your help.

Um, so we need your help thinking about the separation order and how quickly that can happen.

I know you have your process, but I know it also takes, as we heard today, three weeks to even get a decision made.

So that's urgent for us.

Um if you can't do it today, please let us know as soon as possible when you can address that question of are there protections available for child care?

And in specific, we need the St.

Paul police to be clear because we've gotten very different messages about what they can and cannot do if ice comes and violates our property against our wishes or threatens children and families.

So we would love to have something in writing, a press release, anything, what the city council, the mayor, and SPPD will do to protect child care.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Hello, my name is Angela Claire, and I'm a center director in uh child care program here in St.

Paul.

Um, I just wanted to speak today about the real impact with the current environment and how it's impacting our children, families, staff members, and community.

Child care programs have been placed in the national spotlight due to the fraud allegations and also bringing unannounced audit visits.

While accountability does matter, lack of clarity around who's entering our buildings has created fear.

We're also concerned about individuals seeking attention on social media whom we attempt to enter our programs to film children and families, and that fear is real.

On top of this, many of us are experiencing deep anxiety related to the immigration enforcement activity in our neighborhoods.

My program is located in an area where this activity has been reoccurring on a daily basis.

A sound that I cannot forget.

If you have not heard someone being taken by ice, it stays in your head.

I hear it every night when I go to sleep.

That day, our center went into lockdown for three hours, and again for four hours, two days later.

This is not okay.

Kids shouldn't have to be in a space where their buildings are locked and doors are closed and all the lights are off.

As a result, we have families who are keeping their children home, not because of illness or choice that they just want to be home for the day, but because they're afraid.

They're afraid to leave their community to bring their child to a place that should be safe.

And I want to be clear that my experience is mild compared to some other programs in St.

Paul and what they've experienced with their children and staff.

As a center director, my responsibility is to ensure the safety and well-being being of every child and staff member.

And I can say today that certainty has faded from me.

Our children cannot feely freely enjoy outdoor activities.

We have new snow outside, they can't be outside.

So the fear is not abstract.

Safety, consistency, and peace of mind for our children is not negotiable.

Thank you very much.

Thank you for your time.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

Hello, I'm Celeste Spinn, founder and director of Big Wonder Childcare in Ward 1, and I live in Ward 2 and I live in Ward 1.

Thank you so much for having this on the agenda today.

I'm also really proud that we're able to close on the Day of Truth and Freedom on Friday.

I wish with all my heart that I did not have to testify today.

I wish with all my heart that the city had organized this weeks ago.

Minneapolis renewed their separation ordinance on December 11th.

Why are we just starting this process?

I find this to be a profound act of negligence by our city's leaders.

I know that the legal footing is essential, but the city's inaction, mixed messaging, and poor leadership are inexcusable.

I opened Big Wonder to honor the unite unique rights of children, families, and teachers.

That's very difficult right now.

I need to update my emergency and risk reduction plans during ICE occupation to keep my kids safe.

ICE is targeting childcare, and I cannot do my job of protecting the children in my care without courageous, timely, aware leadership by the city.

Last week we were told that it was murky if St.

Paul police would respond to a 911 call regarding unlawful ICE activity at a child care center by a council member's aid.

Then a staff member from the mayor's office called and said that they would intercede if ICE is if if ICE is acting unlawfully.

The next day, council members concurred with the statement.

During my meeting with the police chief the following day, I heard that St.

Paul police would not interfere with ICE under any circumstances.

Mixed messaging by the city council, the mayor's office, and the police highlights how poorly coordinated the city's efforts have been.

We need greater clarity and communication from the city leaders to keep St.

Paul residents safe, which is why we raised the SOS organized and involved the press.

I wish I didn't have to, but I'll never again take our democracy for granted.

Citizens must hold our lawmakers and government leaders accountable.

Please act as though the lives of your constituents are on the line.

We need the separation ordinance now to pro and provide a press release with St.

Paul, the mayor, and the city council.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

I'm the director of a child care center in St.

Paul.

The trauma facing our city and childcare in particular did not happen by accident.

Minnesota government officials handed a YouTuber a list of small child care providers to investigate fraud.

And within days, federal childcare assistance was cut off for our entire state.

That's 23,000 kids.

And thousands of ICE agents have since descended on our state, wreaking complete destruction on us, as we're all well aware.

I share this point to be clear.

The federal government is not only terrorizing us through official channels, it's also emboldening other bad actors to do us harm as well.

It's drop-off time.

I walk into the infant room and I find a mother crying in the arms of the infant teacher who is herself here on asylum.

The baby looks up.

The mom is saying, they took him, they took him.

Her grandfather never returned home the day before.

He's lived here since he was 14.

He has legal status to live here.

They returned him to a police station this weekend with no explanation, and he is yet unable to speak of his experience.

Later that day, it's pickup time.

She says, I just watched someone get kidnapped.

A car pulled up, grabbed a man off the sidewalk, and drove away.

Her toddler runs up shaking a piece of art she made that day to show her mom.

We've been on lockdown multiple times.

Federal agents blocked off our intersection with a semi-truck.

Helicopters are circling us.

We hear sirens all day.

These kids do not deserve that.

They deserve to feel joy and to learn and grow with their friends every day.

Our neighbors patrol our center.

One observe someone pull up, circle the block with four people in the car.

Somebody got out and pooped on our sidewalk in front of my center.

While I'm making that police report, another car is circling the block, yelling out the window.

Is this one of those fake daycare centers?

I've never seen any kids in here.

There is a lot that we cannot control, but what I see in front of me right now is a really strong city council that is able to take action.

Thank you.

I do need to ask you to wrap up.

You have both the authority and the responsibility to set clear boundaries for how St.

Paul's resources, employees, and cooperation are used.

When these boundaries are not set, you're complicit in the harm occurring in St.

Paul.

I urge you to continue to not delay.

It already is.

I'm 30 seconds over.

Please don't continue delay for our kids.

I expect to see something every week from this council.

A new ordinance every week.

I expect to.

Thank you so much.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

I really hate to cut people off.

I am going to ask people to stick to the two minutes.

Go ahead.

Absolutely.

I will make up for that previous comment.

Trust me, my comments are brief.

Would you start with your name, sir?

Sorry, I'm where you're coming from.

Pardon me.

Would you start with your name and where you're coming from?

Oh, I'm sorry.

Uh James Levi, and I live in Ward 1.

Thank you.

And I retired several years ago after working 44 years as an EMT and paramedic in Wisconsin and Minnesota.

I'm very comfortable on around law enforcement because they've literally had my back.

When the ATF was successful in convicting a woman who supplied the guns and killed two Burnsville police officers and a Burnsville fire medic.

I thanked them because they did the right thing.

When this current uh intervention on the part of ICE started, I of course was reminded of um uh you know Martin Niemoler's uh prose about first they came for the communists and I wasn't a communist, etc.

etc.

And I realized that I have to, as a citizen, I have to step up that the government is not going to protect us at the federal level.

Uh I spent time in Payne Phelan and the West Side, relying on my experience to go solo when patrolling with rapid response groups.

After Renee Good's murder, I realized that patrolling alone was no longer a safe activity for me.

Monday, give you an idea of how this has affected us.

Monday, I guarded an immersion academy in my neighborhood to prevent ice from returning to abduct parents when they dropped off or picked up their children.

Tuesday, I went to get coffee on the West Side.

The coffee shop was locked, and I had to ask them to be let in to get a cup of coffee.

After that, I went to a Mexican restaurant for lunch, again, locked.

Open but locked.

Uh so we have got to do something, and I appreciate the resistance that we are putting up, and I certainly encourage you to keep working at that.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Eight minutes six.

Make sure to sign in with you.

Welcome up.

Hello, my name is Jeanette Corsilius.

I live in St.

Paul in Ward 4, but I work in Minneapolis as a union and community organizer.

I'm a member of OPEIU Local 12 and Twin Cities DSA.

I'm the daughter of an immigrant.

Our most vulnerable Minnesotans have not been able to work and leave their home for the last seven weeks because we're under siege by our own federal government.

Every day, my friends and family around the country call, email, and text me every day to make sure I'm safe.

Less and less students are showing up to school.

More and more families are choosing virtual options in their schools.

They need to shelter in place to stay safe.

There are many families at risk choosing to flee Minnesota because of IC.

If we want to keep families here, we have to do everything we can to protect them because it's the right thing to do.

I am concerned about the St.

Paul Police Department and their collaboration with ICE and their lack of daisical attitude towards protecting residents.

As many people have already stated, it is unsafe to patrol.

That is something that I have been doing.

I know a lot of residents have been stepping up to do mutual aid for folks who are really in need.

But it's also been really distressing and anxiety-producing to know that ICE agents have been going door to door, banging doors down.

Thankfully, my landlord agreed not to let ICE to come in.

Not everyone has that protection or that privilege.

And there are things that you can be doing locally and in conjunction with Minneapolis to stop this terror, the state-sponsored terror.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

My name is Nancy.

For out of an abundance of caution, I will sign my full name there.

Molly Coleman knows me.

Good afternoon.

I'm a Southern Wisconsin transplant to the Twin Cities of Chicago family, and I've lived in St.

Paul and loved St.

Paul for 38 years.

I urge the council to continue your good work on this ordinance, separation ordinance 04316 to pass it correctly, but to pass it with urgency, if you can condense your process at least a little bit without sacrificing legal impact so that it will stick as you've heard these stories.

The urgency is now and yesterday.

I don't know if I hope you have some representation here.

Um but I will speak about you about this.

Not every year, but have I had an inter and an event.

But they've been wonderful.

You have been helpful and you know the law.

You understand the Constitution and the law, and we need you to uh do that in when you continue to serve.

I ask you, St.

Paul Police, especially after the stronger ordinances passed, to serve and protect all of Saint Paul in the same spirit that you have been serving and protecting me in my Jewish community here in St.

Paul to provide extra care because we have been under a greater threat in recent years.

I can speak about the terror of Gestapo thugs patrolling our streets, taking people.

By the way, everyone, please do your your Google search.

I've really used up my time.

I have more to say.

Check into what our former governor Jesse Ventura said about comparing ICE to the Gestapo.

We Jewish people, we know about this.

Thank you very much.

I need to ask you to stop there.

And thank you for your time.

Thank you so much for your testimony.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

Hi, I'm Nell Rivers.

Um, I'm a Ward 4 resident.

Um, so hi, my name is Nell.

I'm from Ward 4, um, and I come from a second generation immigrant family.

I'm also the deputy advocacy manager at Minnesota Freedom Fund, and I've been organizing over the last few years for a more accountable and equitable criminal legal system and true community safety.

I'm here because I live here.

I have a stake in seeing my community safe and protected.

I'm here to make sure voices like mine are truly heard and action is taken.

For the past few months, ICE has terrorized our neighborhoods and continues to operate in a discriminatory way that singles out anyone, but especially my black and brown brothers and sisters.

The fear is real.

My loved ones have reached out for support and have even given me important documents in case IC snatches them.

I'm taking I'm talking about all people from all statuses, from citizens to green card holders.

It shouldn't be like this.

Minneapolis created a stronger separation ordinance to ensure that our local law enforcement does not participate in cruel federal immigration actions.

I believe we can and must do the same thing here in St.

Paul.

At the very least, our own police department should not be harming us while we try to exercise our legal rights.

According to the post-board model policy and the St.

Paul Police Department's own policies, officers violated procedure in multiple ways during that raid.

They used excessive force, spraying pepper spray indiscriminately at people who are not breaking the law.

They even uh targeted identifiable members of the media.

By assisting federal agents and attacking peaceful observers, St.

Paul police officers acted as de facto ICE agents, violating the spirit and intent of our current city separation ordinance.

Therefore, we demand that the city council take immediate action to investigate this misconduct and work together to create a stronger enforceable separation ordinance to better protect all St.

Paul residents.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

Hello.

Thank you for being such a aligned accountable board.

Um leadership for our city.

My name is Ashley Satorius.

I was born and raised in St.

Paul.

This month I witnessed a citizen and her husband stopped by ICE while traveling home from work on stolen Dakota land.

The all too common encounter included a warrantless of search, threats of violence, and physical force, despite the fact that the husband was already experiencing a serious medical condition and had been coughing up blood that morning.

ICE agents shoved his head down in his chest and threatened him with while brandishing assault rifles and grenade shaped devices.

This escalation triggered his critical condition.

When observers with whistles called 911, St.

Paul police arrived but did not intervene with ICE's actions or protect the family from the armed agents.

An ambulance transported the husband to Regents Hospital while the traumatized wife was left to find her own way there.

At the hospital, the wife was denied access to her husband, who had been legally shackled to his illegally shackled to his bed, despite being under civil detention, not criminal custody.

Police physically prevented the citizen from seeing her husband as medical staff for bringing her back.

Refused her request for a social worker as had been promised, saying she'd been given the chance to wait long enough.

Police forced every uh the citizen and her supporters to leave the hospital.

Her attorneys, the constitutional observers, and threatened them, threatened to trespass them.

The hospital later refused to acknowledge the husband's presence or allow the citizen to speak to a doctor to confirm the condition of her husband, despite his lack of criminal detainment.

Attempts to reach him through ICE went to answering machines.

When calling the hospital police and security for information, they blocked the phone number.

Throughout this experience, the St.

Paul police failed to protect and serve the citizens they were sworn to.

Instead, at every turn, they offered protection, service, and aid to the armed ICE agents as they sought to sought out brown and black citizens and residents to fulfill their quotas and bonuses.

Beyond the devastated families, traumatized residents and terrorized BIPOC communities who know it is no longer safe for people of colour to leave their homes.

St.

Paul police officers assisted ICE to force one more family to live in a reality where they must choose between death and death.

Thank you.

I'm so sorry, but you're over time, so I don't need you to stop there.

A family too afraid to seek life-saving medical care for fear of losing losing their lives on the way.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

Good afternoon.

My name is Katie Jarvey.

I'm a resident of Ward 4 in St.

Paul.

I'm here to urge the city council to adopt a set of policy measures that will protect our civil liberties, protect vulnerable community spaces, enhance transparency and law enforcement, and ensure accountability for both law enforcement and uh accountability for our residents as well.

First, I'm asking this council to prohibit all law enforcement use of masks or face coverings within our city limits, and to require visible agency identification, including the name and badge number at all times.

I cannot be more clear about this demand.

We are entitled to know who is enforcing our laws.

Transparency and accountability must act as a check on law enforcement.

Second, the city must adopt protections for our vulnerable community spaces.

We need to require that law enforcement prioritize those calls that are alleging harassment and intimidation by federal officials, and also require that a signed judicial warrant for any law enforcement entry into any city-funded, city-run, or city-maintained facility be present presented.

These faces include things like uh the spaces that other folks have talked about here today, medical facilities, schools, daycares, libraries, courthouses, basic city services that all of our residents are entitled to, but in particular the children in our communities.

I'm a parent with young children in immersion schools and daycare in the city, and I spent the last two and a half weeks organizing with my other parents to try and protect and care for the very people who every day go into work to protect and care for my children while I'm at work.

They taunt and harass the parents and they follow our teachers home.

It is harassment and intimidation, and it is designed to instill fear and compliance, which are hallmarks of an author authoritarian government.

Thank you very much.

I do need you to stop there.

I'm Elisa.

I'm gonna yield my time back to Katie.

I'm also a family law attorney, and I have significant experience working with families who have experienced trauma.

I see firsthand how fear, instability, and stress affect a family's ability to function day to day and how it impacts parenting, school attendance, mental health, and a child's sense of safety.

My work over these last few weeks has put me in incredibly close contact with the real world consequences of these traumas and the long-term harm that is occurring as we speak, because our families are targeted and unable to seek help.

Law enforcement trauma related to what is happening when masked officers come into our schools, when they circle our parks, um, in our community centers, it is it is a public health emergency, and we will see the effects of this for generations to come.

The residents of our city should never have to question whether law enforcement will protect them or act ethically while doing so.

The federal government has spent the last month eroding the already fragile trust between public and law enforcement, and we will now spend decades trying to rebuild that.

A clear, strong separation ordinance not only protects the what is left of that fragile trust, if anything, but we need to be a community that very clearly delineates what everyone's obligations are.

We need to be a community that upholds dignity and civil rights for every single human being, regardless of their legal status.

So, whatever language you think is strong in adding to this ordinance, take it a step further, and then you're there.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign up.

I'm in uh Councilmember Joe Stickstrick or ward, the correct term.

My one add to that is I would like to ask that when the police show up at protest, they are not facing the citizens.

They are facing the ICE officers.

Thank you.

Good afternoon.

My name is Beth Jackson.

And first I want to acknowledge, I'm gonna cry, so sorry to everybody, but I want to acknowledge that I'm only taking up space here because I'm here to advocate for my neighbors who are in hiding and can't come out of their houses.

Um, as I said, my name is Beth Jackson.

I live in Molly's ward in Ward 4.

I've been a resident there since 1994.

I now feel safer calling on rapid responders in a signal chat than I do calling 911 in our city.

On Saturday, January 17th, I was illegally abducted by two men.

One later confirmed to be Border Patrol Officer Daniel McLaughlin.

They were aided and abetted by St.

Paul Police, sorry, specifically Officer Riley Reschke and several other officers whom I hope you will help my attorney identify.

Agent McLaughlin had called 911.

He did not identify himself to that dispatcher as a federal agent.

He lied to the dispatcher that I had boxed in his vehicle and threatened him with a knife.

Officer Reshke, let's remind who Officer Reshki is.

We should all know him.

He's a danger to our community.

He was involved in a shooting not far from my house.

And other responding officers frisked me and searched my vehicle and found no such weapon.

They left, they chuckled and told me to be careful.

It's icy, as they allowed the caller to approach my vehicle and arrest me.

I was taken to whipple in an unmarked van by two men in gym shorts.

There they processed, shackled my ankles, fingerprinted me, took my DNA, and I was detained for more than six hours.

The following day, ICE agents in multiple vehicles showed up at my block.

I'm sorry, I'm no one running out of time.

I'm not sure if my gym shorts abductors were in one of those vehicles, as this time they were shrouded behind the anonymity of tactical career.

I know this is painful.

Um, I will ask you that you immediately take action to stop Chief Henry and his officers from aiding and abetting these atrocities.

Thank you very much.

Welcome up.

Council members.

My name is Elena Portlands, and I am a resident of Dayton's Bluff.

I am two blocks from East 7th Street, which has a high volume, which has seen a high volume of immigration informant enforcement officers and vehicles.

I am concerned by their deeply tinted windows and oftentimes lack of license plates.

If residents would normally be pulled over for these things, then I don't think any sort of law enforcement agency should be able to use these tactics.

Moreover, I want to stress to the council that I cannot leave my house to get groceries or visit friends without seeing ICE vehicles and convoys in my neighborhood.

Every time I see an ICE vehicle, an anxiety takes over, and I wonder over and over again which of my neighbors they're going to harass and potentially kidnap next.

Council, please understand that I am constantly on.

I am constantly activated and worrying about my neighbors being safe.

I cannot sleep, I cannot work, I cannot focus on my day-to-day activities because of how threatening ICE is to my neighbors.

If I, a white person, am feeling this level of anxiety in regards to ice on our streets, then my non-white neighbors are feeling it exponentially worse.

The families running the local mercados and tackeryas are not dangerous and are not a threat, yet they are unilaterally treated like they are.

My Latino, Somali, and Hmong neighbors are not threats.

But the out of state ICE vehicles speeding up and down Wiper Avenue at 60 to 70 miles per hour during an active snowfall are.

The ICE agents driving aggressively and hitting civilian cars are more dangerous than my neighbors simply trying to get groceries, pick their kids up from school, and simply live their lives.

I'm calling for ice out of St.

Paul and Ice out of Minnesota now.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

And I just like at this point, if there's anyone else who plans to speak, please line up just so we have a sense of how many more folks plan to speak.

Welcome.

Uh hello, everyone.

My name is uh Christian.

I'm uh I'm a resident of St.

Paul.

I live in Ward 3.

I'm also a student at McCowser College, and I would like to uh use my time here to remind everyone of the context that we are in because I recently got back from a trip from New Orleans, Louisiana, and I talked to a lot of uh community engagement organizers um over there that are fighting the same battle that we are fighting over here against ice.

And um one of the stories I heard was about from a 14-year-old boy uh named Dunyan.

Um who is helping uh volunteering his time as a as a as a high school student to help uh families who have to do um custody paperwork after their parents are detained by ICE.

And another thing that I learned while I was in Louisiana um was the fact that they have a governor who is actively encouraging ice to go into uh into schools and making uh life really scary for the kids.

So I want to remind everyone of the privilege that we have here uh from having a uh a uh progressive city council, progressive mayor, and a democratic governor about the urgency that we have and the um the role we have.

So people who are detained in Minnesota aren't sent to red states where their rights aren't upheld.

Actually, I have a uh uncle who was recently detained by ICE and sent over to California because there was a man over there that had the same name and had a criminal record on him, and the only reason my uncle was uh was let go was because he did not have a tattoo while the man they were looking for did.

And so that was in California, and I learned that Louisiana has the biggest prisoner population out of any state.

So I'm gonna urge uh St.

Paul to keep our city uh away from all of that because my uncle was lucky, but other people who get sent over to states like Louisiana and Texas, they do not have the same amount of protections that we do here.

So I'm gonna urge the St.

Paul City Council, our police department to stop ICE before they get sent over to other places where we it's going much harder to get them back.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Welcome up.

Good afternoon.

My name is Michael Dahl.

I'm a ward for resident and public policy director at Homeline.

Homeline operates a free confidential legal advice hotline serving members across the state.

We advised nearly 2900 St.

Paul res households last year, with evictions being the number two reason that they called us.

People are afraid to leave their homes.

They're missing work, they're keeping their children out of school, they're skipping medical care and running out of food.

Rent is going on paid, not by choice, but because they have made ice has made daily life impossible.

Compared to the last uh last year to this time, we were seeing a 65% increase in the renters seeking financial assistance, higher than any point in our 34-year history, including the start of COVID pandemic.

The same time Minnesota is experiencing a record uh eviction filings with more than 25,000 filed in 2025.

That is why we need an eviction moratorium now.

Moratorium is the fastest way to stop uh is to stop immediate harm.

It keeps families housed and in out of court longer solutions while others longer term solutions are developed.

But it cannot stand alone.

Municipal communities can extend pre-eviction timelines.

Public housing authorities could pause evictions on for non-payment of rent.

State and state funding could be redirected to rental assistance.

Any solution must include these non-negotiables.

It must make renters whole, including back rent.

It must be available immediately.

It must be available statewide and for many months because we don't know when this crisis will end.

Families cannot wait weeks while evictions move forward in days, and privacy rights must be protected, so people who aren't uh forced aren't forced to risk their safety for to stay housed.

Our communities are stepping up, but community community care cannot replace the government responsibility.

We need the city, the state, and philanthropy to act right now as our tenants are doing all their days.

Thank you.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

Hi.

Uh that's all.

Uh my name is Chris Sanders.

I'm in Ward 1.

I've never done this before and my phone died, so I don't have a prepared statement.

Um, but I think I remember the gist of it.

I'm newcomer to this.

I've been fortunate enough to not witness ice because I was busy.

I was working full-time, I was going to school part-time, I cared, but I didn't have time.

But after Renee was murdered, I realized that there's really nothing else that matters right now.

I'll sleep later.

And so I have been trying my best to plug into community groups so that I can follow her example.

And it's it's inspiring in a lot of ways to see all the people who are willing to get up at four in the 6 a.m.

to go stand in the 30 below windshill to try and protect us preschool, because we have to do that now to protect preschools.

But I can't not wonder if all of the burden of protecting your community, all of the time and the energy and the cost and the risk falls on unarmed people with whistles.

Then what are the police for?

Why do we pay them?

Someday this will be over.

It's hard to imagine it right now, but someday this will be over, and most of us will still be here.

And I think when that time comes, we're going to be asking these questions.

And the organized community will have the time to ask these questions in a way that we don't have the time right now.

That's I've yielded my time.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

What up?

My name is Vivia.

I live in Ward 4.

I grew up in St.

Paul.

I currently live in Ward 4.

Um, so I was charged with lying to a peace officer when I was 19 years old.

I don't think that that federal agent is going to be charged with lying to a police officer for lying about my neighbor here being arrested or um boxing in their car.

I think that we see clear examples of a white supremacist agenda from federal law enforcement.

And it's almost impossible to not believe that St.

Paul Police is also a white supremacist organization if they are aiding and abetting federal law enforcement.

There is no reason that we as a community should be putting up with this invasion if we have people who have serve and protect on their badges.

I am a nurse.

I work at United Emergency Room, and there have been many points, as uh previous people have stated, where ICE has brought people to the emergency room and to the hospital.

This is a public health issue because we are already in a flu surge and people are being traumatized, beaten, raped, and killed by federal agents.

What is St.

Paul Police doing?

They're not doing anything.

We often, I work at United and the security say, well, we can't stop ICE from coming in, otherwise we'll be obstructing.

We can ask them to leave, but that's it.

What would St.

Paul police do?

I ask you.

In your heart, what do you think they would do?

Because I think they would do nothing.

There are a lot of ways that local officials such as yourselves can do and uh stop this violence from occurring, and I please beg you to uh stop it.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

Hello, my name is Catherine Vanbury.

I'm a renter in Ward 7 and a tenant organizer with Home Line.

I work on the front lines with close ties to tenant leaders who live in subsidized housing properties.

We work multiculturally as a high percentage of tenants are immigrant families.

Over the past few months, the toxic rhetoric coming from the federal government, particularly targeting Somali community, has had an especially harsh impact on tenants' sense of being precious members that belong in the center of our community.

Now it has manifested into chaos.

Thousands of federal agents are targeting these apartment buildings.

They arrive in unmarked vehicles, utilizing racial profiling, waiting in some cases for young Somali teenagers returning from work to tackle them to the ground and be roughly cuffed and taken despite their U.S.

citizenship.

This kind of terror has everyone on edge.

Tenant association meetings are being canceled due to landlords' policy to let ICE agents into the building when they arrive at the door.

Tenants say they feel like sitting ducks, fearing for their health and safety in their own homes.

These attacks pose an additional source of stress and anxiety when folks who are afraid to even go into work, resulting in the subsequent loss of income to pay for rent.

This is why a statewide eviction moratorium is needed now.

A moratorium will protect Minnesota tenants from homelessness during this crisis by preventing displacement, ensuring public health, by addressing systemic inequ inequities that disproportionately affect BIPOC, women, and low-income communities, allowing time for rental assistance and preventing long-term damage to credit and community ties.

The world is watching.

As Minnesotans, we must act on our core value of centering and belonging our community, and we must do it now.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

Hi, my name's Emily, and I'm from Ward 3, as is the rest of my family.

I'm not a mother, but I've gotten trained to do the school pickups and drop-offs to protect children while ice is in our city.

Um I'd specifically like to talk about the medical emergencies that are going unattended during this.

Um within my hyperlocal chat, uh, there have been multiple instances of women who have high-risk pregnancies that are at nine months who refuse to go to the hospital because they are so afraid.

We had an elderly couple who lived down the street who were having a medical emergency.

They refused to go to the hospital out of fear.

Um, and when I talked to a family member who's a nurse and asked what her hospital said to do about this, uh, the person in charge there was telling employees that it is too much of a liability to offer at-home care.

Um, and instead recommended telehealth visits, which is not helpful if you are going into labor or are experiencing a stroke.

And so I'm wondering what each of you can do with your powers to either ask that the hospitals do, I don't know, maybe we can provide medical assistance and use the emergency alert system that was mentioned earlier to tell people in each of your wards how they can receive medical attention if they are experiencing something at home without fear of having to go into the hospital where my aunt also said um if people do go into the hospital not to go into the emergency room and to act very in pain so that they get a private room because that's the only place where IC will not be allowed to enter, and even then they're they're entering.

So I'd task each of you with figuring out a way that we can make at-home care accessible for people.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

Hello, my name is Nash and Hall.

I live in ward one, uh, just outside or just inside the Rondo neighborhood area.

Um I want to echo and reinforce all the comments that have come before me, like, especially the eviction moratorium.

I work as a uh volunteer attorney doing eviction defense advice for tenants in the Ramsey County courts, and uh I see the faces of the people being suffering eviction threats right now.

They're the faces of the people who are whose skin and ethnicity make them direct targets of ice, and they're the ones who, not like me, who but who are the most vulnerable at this exact moment.

So an eviction moratorium would be an incredible tool to help them protect themselves and keep their homes and their lives built together.

Um I had originally come in to say that I uh uh to ask that the uh separation ordinance be clarified directly to have to ask the St.

Paul PD to intervene to help protect us as we are out on the streets standing in front of child care centers with whistles.

My daughter, seven months old, just started her child care in January, and I take her in, or the on the days that I take her in.

I wonder is this the day that her teeth one of her teachers is going to vanish and just not appear in the classroom.

Is this the day that one of the parents' students or one of these one of her uh fellow children's parents is just not gonna show up for a pickup because ICE has been circling my child care center, waiting in the bushes to leap out and snatch people with the wrong skin color, like they're a pack of slave catchers.

Um I see the fear in the messages coming from my child care center.

The fact that they have to place themselves between my child and armed uh armored soldiers shouldn't is not enough.

There needs to be the city behind them as well.

It can't just be us with our whistles.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Thank you.

Welcome up.

Hi, I'm Jonah.

I live in Marriam Park, and I work in St.

Paul with clients who also call St.

Paul home.

Every day I hear that people are terrified and exhausted and grieving.

People are in danger, unable to work or socialize, be with their communities or shop for groceries without risking their safety and their lives.

People have to go to work and then essentially work a second shift doing crisis management, doing all we can to take care of each other and protect our neighbors as our home is under federal occupation.

The fascists are testing how far they can go, and we are on the front lines.

The time is now or never to take extraordinary measures to protect each other.

We are all older than ICE, and I pray we will all outlive it.

But progress is not inevitable, and we have to make it happen.

I keep thinking of the Jewish principle of Piku Achnefesh, which holds that protecting lives is worth breaking any other rule in the book.

I am calling on you all to be bold and creative and responsive to what you're hearing today and every day, and bend or break whatever traditions or norms or rules that you have to to protect the people of St.

Paul and beyond.

We are fighting fascism, and we cannot afford to back down for one second or leave anyone behind.

We have solidarity or we have nothing.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Welcome up.

I'm Sarah Degnar Riveros, and I live I live in Council Member Shaniqua Johnson's district in Dayton's Bluff.

I'm a Spanish teacher and I serve as a volunteer interpreter.

I'm a single mother of five children, volunteering my time at 4 30 a.m.

and after midnight on signal to calm my neighbors and legal constitutional observers standing up to imminent arrest as we collectively care for our community.

I recently sat with a family after federal agents pulled a gun in the yard on a 16-year-old citizen child.

An entire family with small children witness this violence through the window as agents yelled at young siblings to open the door.

The family was shaken to the core and went into hiding.

I didn't suggest to call the St.

Paul police because there is no trust in law enforcement at this point.

The harm and broken trust is already done.

On another occasion this month, I was locked inside a local ethnic grocery store, and we witnessed the abduction of a citizen in a parking lot nearby.

The agents smashed the young man's head into the pavement.

Neighbors asked me to drive to the home listed on the car title to let the family know what had happened to their loved one as ICE had taken their family member into custody.

We called attorneys and the citizen date detainee was released but injured.

We are now already policing our own community with whistles by keeping eyes on the city and keeping each other safe.

St.

Paul police are behind the ball.

We know that St.

Paul and Minneapolis police are far, far outnumbered.

Do not increase the police budget and hire more officers, please.

I was called in to interpret with constitutional observers for a family with papers, a citizen wife who wanted to know if her husband was alive after being taken in an ambulance and detained by ice.

And we listened to her sobbing for hours in the lobby of the hospital wanting to know if her husband was alive.

As we sat quietly in accompaniment with the city attorneys for immigrant and refugee rights, both from city from St.

Paul and Minneapolis.

The hospital security demanded we leave and passed us to St.

Paul police.

In decades of interpreting, I have never been threatened with trespass and escorted out while serving the community.

Thank you.

I do need you to wrap up there.

Trust is beyond broken with the authorities.

We do not feel safe in our homes and streets.

Thank you very much.

I do need you to stop there.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

Hi everyone, my name is Elena I Alicia Sabrino Perez.

Uh, I reside in Ward 3.

I'm a student at McAllister College.

However, I am from Bensonville, Illinois, which is a city over from Franklin Park where Silverio Villegas Gonzalez was murdered last year.

Um I'm here to represent a lot of the older children and a family who are currently thinking about how they might have to take over their family, how they have to get custody of their siblings, how they're gonna have to take care of the house, how they have to give up their dreams because their parents might be detained.

I came to Minnesota because I thought it was one of the safest places I could come.

And just like last October, I flew back home trying to be there to as much as I could for my family.

And every single night that I was there, there was helicopters flying over my house.

There was ice cars down the streets.

And that is happening right here with the same community, the community that I thought would be safe.

So I urge you to protect the community from ice, particularly for the young children who are currently thinking about how they're gonna protect their younger siblings.

My last thing that I want to say, two weeks ago I was in Guatemala for just to be there.

And as I was telling somebody of uh where I attended college, which is Minnesota, instead of asking me where it was, like people usually do because they don't know, they knew right away because of the killing of Renee.

That is such a disappointment.

I'm done.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Be sure to sign in.

All right, I do just want to say I'm so grateful everyone for their testimony.

We are gonna end with this last speaker who's here, unless are you planning to speak?

Okay, so you're gonna be our last speaker for tonight.

Thank you so much.

Um, we do have another public hearing after this.

I want to respect their time as well.

Welcome.

Thank you.

My name is Aaron.

I'm a resident of Ward 5, and there are a lot of things I could say about what's happening right now, but today I'm here as a parent to support the child care workers who are here today.

Um, in a kind of strange twist of fate, my youngest has gone to the daycares owned by two of the people who spoke today for privacy reasons.

I'm not gonna say more than that, but what I can say is that they're on paper very different and in feel very similar.

One school is majority students of color.

The teachers are native Spanish speakers.

They took my child who was non-verbal and brought her to a different level where she won't shut up, frankly.

Um, it's wonderful.

Um they loved her so much.

And another the other school is in an affluent part of St.

Paul.

They are in a church.

Um they're still scared.

It's it's so um, it's so hard.

Both places are being patrolled by neighbors because childcare centers don't have the same parent things built in as the schools do, because if your kids in child care, you probably can't be there during the day to patrol.

That's why you took your kids.

So, even more so than my elementary student who is being patrolled.

Um, their school is being patrolled by pe parents with whistles and vests.

I have to trust non-parents to patrol around my preschool.

And so do the other students at the other preschools.

And I frankly trust them more than the police right now, which is very, very hard.

I don't trust the police, but I need to be able to because I leave my baby with other people most of the day.

So I need them to be able to call for help.

And I need to know that when I tell them they'll be safe there, that it's true, and that I'm not lying to my kid, because we both need it to be true.

Thank you very much, Council.

Thank you so much.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

Hello, my name is Gregory Kaczynski.

I live in Ward 2.

I'm here to say I really hope you continue to expeditiously pass the legislation you talked about, especially strengthening the separation ordinance of the St.

Paul police.

I know you can't do everything immediately, but we the people of your city are watching.

And please make sure you continue with the momentum that you've already started.

I've never had to pay much attention to city legislation before, but now I am.

And I think all of my neighbors are as well.

The people of our city need to know that someone is looking out for us.

And please show us that you all are.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

Hello, good evening.

Um, I am Novelle Nior.

I use painting as protests as a memory of the record at paint being community, especially on Unity Day to help heal, and to make sure Renee Good's child knows that our mother was a hero to our community.

Council members, I'm not here for sympathy.

I'm here for action because we are dealing with PTSD on all levels.

Our bodies are carrying fear, grief, stress in our chairing children are carrying it too.

My daughter Navi, a St.

Paul public school student, help organize the student walkout last week, along with her fellow students and friends in the code.

They walk miles to be heard.

And the truth is we are the adults, and we should be protecting our children, not our children protecting us.

And while our youth lead with courage outside agitators come here to provoke target and target our neighborhoods, whether it's in Minneapolis, St.

Paul, Duluth, Rochester, we're in Minnesota and we are one.

People who who public speak about burning the Quran and come in here expressing hate, like Jake Lang should be condemned if we shouldn't be walking in our state.

It doesn't matter if it's threats or escalated danger, but that needs to stop because we lost political leaders like Melissa Hartman.

She still should be alive.

It needs to stop.

Everybody needs to condemn hate and violence on all levels.

So I'm asking for all of you guys, because you guys are our leaders to post that you do not condemn any of it.

It needs to be said by you.

It needs to be seen by you, because the problem is that we got a leader who's supposed to be a president spewing hate before us in lies, and it's not okay.

It's sad when you have a child, you can't even tell when it's going to end.

How you got a kid saying I'm not going back to school because I don't feel safe.

It's not okay.

So what I am asking for that weify a public statement, emergency funding, whether it's that's dollars in, moving into arts, holistic health, wellness for our community, community safety, um, art, just figure out what dollars can be put in all of our wards now.

We need help.

There's people being evicted, there's people losing homes, there's jobs who need help.

Thank you.

Figure out something.

Thank you.

Make sure to sign in.

I do want to say a huge and heartfelt thank you to everyone who took time to testify tonight.

Please know that your stories are powerful, they are important, they are influencing the work that we are doing.

We're grateful to you for coming out tonight.

Um we are gonna close the public.

I I will move to close the public hearing.

Um is there any discussion from my colleagues?

We do still have a couple of legislative hearing items on our agenda.

Not seeing any discussion again.

Thank you all very, very much.

You'll continue to see action from us on these items over the weeks ahead.

Um with that, we'll take a vote uh to close the public hearing.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed.

Six in favor, non-opposed.

The public hearing is closed.

Item number 21 is RLH SAO 26-3.

First making finding on the appealed nuisance abatement order for 1079 Western Avenue North in Council file RLH SAO 25-71.

Ms.

Mormond.

Uh I understand um the council members uh amended resolution includes an extension to February 20th to complete the abatement.

That's in front of you, Vice President Kim.

Yes, that is exactly right.

All right.

The motion is to the amended version that extends until February 20th.

Yes.

Okay.

Any discussion of the motion.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

All opposed?

Six in favor, none opposed.

The resolution is adopted as amended.

Legislative hearing consent agenda items 22 and 23 are before you for your consideration.

Anything for separate consideration, Ms.

Mormon.

I don't believe so.

All right.

This will be a public hearing on items 22 and 23 on our legislative hearing agenda.

Is there anyone here to speak to item 22 or 23?

See, then I'll take a motion from Ms.

Jose to approve those items with the legislative hearing officers' amendations.

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.

I know it has been a lengthy meeting.

Is there any quick news from around the wards?

Uh thank you so much, Council President.

I'm just getting the event.

So actually, tonight, I think it's going on right now.

Um from 6 to 7:30, you know what?

I I feel bad even bringing it up because it's happening right now, but just for anyone who is listening and can head over there.

Sorry, Miss Bowie.

Excuse me.

We are still in the middle of a meeting, so if everyone can maybe move that activity out into the hall uh or keep it down.

Thank you.

Sorry, Miss B.

Thank you.

Um 825 Arts on University 825 University Avenue is having a know your rights training.

Um indigenous roots will be there.

They have food, it's uh get ice out of rondo and frogtown.

It's actively going on right now.

Um this or next weekend, we have a rondo night at the winter carnival um on Friday.

Also, it's the same exact day, and I think maybe um one of you all from the tap board probably can pick it up, but uh Mindata is hosting a public comment, um, receiving public comments from from the community, particularly regarding the rethinking I-94.

That's gonna take place at the Wilder Foundation um next Friday.

So great.

Thank you, Ms.

Bowie.

Ms.

Just.

Oh um, I I realize this is technically a word for item, but Frostfest was supposed to be this Saturday at Growland Park.

It's being postponed to the 31st from 2 to 4.

It's put on by the McAllister Grooving Community Council.

There will be ice skating and hot chocolate.

So being postponed a week.

Thanks, Ms.

Joost.

We'll look forward to it.

Well, plenty of time to anticipate now.

Uh I will just share that winter carnival, 140 years and going and still going strong, uh kicks off tomorrow night.

I know some of us are going to be snowflakes in the very frigid temperatures in the parade, so uh I hope everyone can find some time to attend a winter carnival activity.

Anything else from the wards?

Vice President Kim.

Yeah, thank you.

Um I just wanted to share a few resources that we will um send out uh on our social media, but also um in our newsletter.

Uh there are four ways that you can confidentially um uh submit reports.

Um, one of them is around observers um reporting ice misconduct.

That's who the ACLU, they have a form.

It's available in um English, Spanish, Hmong, and Somali.

Um, there's also reporting racial profiling racial profiling and warrantless um detainment, um, warrantless uh questioning, and that's also with the ACLU.

That form is also available in Hmong, Spanish, English, and Somali.

Um, the attorney general is asking for folks to submit documentation around our civil rights violations and any sort of um impacts of federal harm, and that is on the attorney general's website.

That is also available in the four languages that I just mentioned.

And the last one is reporting gender-based harm um by federal agents.

That could be um verbal, physical, um, any sort of gender-based violence that folks are witnessing or experiencing, and that is going to be collected through gender justice.

That form is also available in Hmong, Spanish, English, and SMALLY.

Um, I'll be sharing out those resources on our social media and also in our newsletter.

Um, but the links links can be found online.

Thank you, Vice President.

All right, uh, and Ms.

Yang.

Thank you, Council President.

I just wanted to um share again about the community action taking place this Friday.

We've passed a resolution um earlier.

Just let me see here.

Uh the the details are um again, it's this Friday at 2 p.m.

And it's going to happen at the Commons Park.

So that's 416 Portland Avenue, Minneapolis.

And again, it's a an opportunity for folks to be in solidarity with each other and and condemn the action, the federal activity that we've seen hurting our communities.

Thank you very much.

All right.

Uh seeing no other good news or news from around the wards.

Thank you all for a great meeting.

Um, and we are