Call the meeting of the St.

Paul City Council to order.

Roll call, please.

Johnson.

Joe's.

Here.

Kim.

Here.

Yang.

Here.

Bowie.

Here.

Coleman.

Here.

Council President Naker.

Here.

Sixth president, one absent that being Councilmember Johnson, and she's expected shortly.

Well, good afternoon, everyone.

Welcome to our city council meeting.

Thank you so much for joining us.

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

And to the Republic for which it stands.

One nation under God.

Indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

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

Is there anything to be taken for separate consideration?

Seeing none I'll take a motion from Vice President Yang for the balance of the consent agenda.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed?

Seven in favor, none of those agenda is adopted.

Festivals and community events, and the public hearing on this is closed.

I just wanted to share that I actually would be motioning to withdraw this item.

So we wanted to make sure that we uh clear it, clarify the record, and ensure that OFS, how they do the updates on the invoices are important.

Um we have a lot of work to do uh moving forward in our policy.

Um committee meetings and our public, um, safety committee meetings on how to streamline and better clarify the process.

Um I also just wanted to say on the record, I really appreciate the mayor's proactiveness, her um the mayor's office proactiveness and uh uh looking for for funds.

Um I'm super excited to share that we have some support and some interest to invest in some of these organizations, such as St.

Paul and Minnesota Foundation and some other foundations uh in St.

Paul.

So I will be withdrawing this item, but my commitment to ensuring that we're supporting our events and festivals still remain the same, still remains strong.

Um we're just going to uh take this off and um re-approach this conversation through a much much more um centered policy lens.

So thank you again for the discussion that we have had, and we made some progress, uh, but we will um follow up in the future on some of those foundations and promoting the the funds that will be made available for those organizations.

Great.

Thank you, Ms.

Bowie, and I want to thank you for your leadership in uh and flexibility in finding the best ways to support our community events and festivals.

Thank you.

And oh, I'm sorry, and there it looks like uh Ms.

Johnson and Ms.

Yang.

Yes, thank you, um, Councilmember Bowie for for being able to just set the tone for I think what the conversation really transpired.

I agree with you, you know, being in a part of those meetings and actually just seeing where the conversation started to where it's landing now.

Um, you know, I appreciate I appreciate just kind of being walked through the full journey and the partnership and really getting to a place where we have, I think, a really big deal in the you know, the the St.

Paul Minnesota Foundation's willingness to administer a grant program um to distribute one-time funds to the organization named in this manner is like actually really important, and I think imperative to having those conversations publicly because it allows other stakeholders to sometimes come in and also be able to support us in that endeavor.

So that's a huge that's not a small feat.

That's not something that I think should be brushed over lightly at all.

Um, and is a huge attestament to what it looks like to take a pause and take some time as well to explore alternatives.

And so just want to say thank you for that opportunity.

Appreciate it.

Thank you.

Ms.

Yang.

Thanks, Council President.

I also want to commit to you, Council Bowie for your leadership and looking into this matter here.

I don't believe you would have the outcome that we have today if it weren't for you really looking into this and spending that time and energy, you know, just really hearing out the communities, um, the organizations that um have that outstanding balance.

And I want to say thank you to uh me or her for her partnership in this and really the the community partners that are um that are willing to um help us problem solve this.

And so um to me it's just really grounding it in um, you know, just thinking about like our roles that counts as council members, that's always worth it to really take that time to to dig more um and give us give ourselves like that um that time to really like get more questions questions answered to really you know have conversations with stakeholders, understand them.

Um I really appreciate that grounding.

And so again, uh thanks for your leadership.

Thanks, Ms.

Yang.

Uh Ms.

Bowie.

And just one more comment here, because I know there's been a lot of people who've either been watching and um looking for um some level of action to be made.

Um and there has been some questions around regarding the security credit that we did pass um some weeks ago.

Um that is live, it's online.

Um, so for some of those organizations who may have questioned whether they are eligible, you I encourage you all to apply for that credit.

It is live, it's embedded inside of the uh security permits website or excuse me, application.

Uh so I just wanted to make that clear because there has been some questions around what does that what does the future looks like for some of these organizations, and we're gonna be working really digit diligently to make sure that we have some external funds um to be able to support them and their endeavors for their their events.

Thank you.

So this item will be withdrawn.

Yep, the item will be withdrawn.

Item number 17 is first reading of ordinance 26-17, administrative ordinance establishing the minimum qualifications for the vacancy for the position of fire chief pursuant to the provisions of section 12.12.1 of the city charter.

So this brings us to the ordinance section of our agenda.

Uh all of our ordinances or our city laws have three readings at least.

Our first reading, uh, we have a staff report typically to give some background information on what the ordinance is proposing.

At the second reading the next week, we have a public hearing to hear public testimony on what's being proposed.

And at the third reading the next week, we typically vote to to adopt the ordinance or amend the ordinance.

And sometimes we need additional time if there are amendments being proposed.

Um so you'll see today that our sections are divided into first reading public hearings and sometimes final adoption, although we don't actually have any final adoptions today.

This item here is before us for a first reading.

Uh, we actually our staff who are going to give a report on this, uh unfortunately are out sick today.

So unusually, we will not have a staff report at first reading.

We will have a staff report next week when it comes back for public hearing.

So this item will lay over until next week for public hearing.

Item is laid over to March 18th for second reading public hearing.

Item number 18 is second reading public hearing of ordinance 26-16, granting the application of XL Energy to rezone property at 325 Commercial Street from H1 residential to I1 Light Industrial and amending chapter 60 of the legislative code pertaining to the zoning map.

And this brings us to the public hearing section of our agenda.

So if you're here to testify on an item in the public hearing section, when your item is called and I call the public hearing, we'll just ask you to come up, um, stand right in between the two microphones.

Uh you won't have to adjust them, and you don't need to lean over towards them.

They should pick you up just fine.

We ask that you start with your name and where you're coming from.

You'll have two minutes to testify.

And when you're done, we ask you to sign in on either of the two sign-in sheets.

Uh so with that, this is a public hearing for item 18.

Is there anyone here to speak on this item?

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

Johnson to close the public hearing and lay the matter over till March 18th for final adoption.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed.

Seven in favor, none opposed.

The public hearing is closed, and the item is laid over to March 18th for final adoption.

Item number 19 is ordinance 26-18, amending section 193.04 of the legislative code to temporarily extend the pre-eviction notice period in section 193.04 from 30 days to 60 days.

Ms.

Kim.

Hi, sorry, thank you.

Um, so I am bringing before you a version two.

Um, and it includes a few changes that aren't substantive in any way.

But last week, what we discovered is well, the language itself doesn't need to be changed in terms of intent, um, but using it to be more clarifying will be important because if we don't understand what the language is saying, then how do renters and landlords and folks that are impacted understand the language?

So to be very clear, this doesn't substitutively change anything, but just really makes it really nice and clear what we're trying to accomplish.

So it is um so the the changes to um sorry this change makes it clear that the temporary extension of the pre-eviction filing notice from a 30 to 60 days starts on May 14th and goes through December 31st.

That was the intent and what was written, but it wasn't very clear.

So we're just gonna make it very explicit.

So the change, the only change that you see in writing is that we are very explicit with the date to be May 14th.

Um ordinance 26-18 extends the existing tenant protections ordinance that is not into effect until May 14th.

As such, the item can only go into effect on May 14th.

So this also clarifies that the notice sent to tenants on December on the December 31st um timeline are still within the temporary extension period and are subject to the 60-day notice.

So hopefully, Dan.

Is that okay?

Lawyer agrees that I'm trying to be as clear as possible.

Perfect.

So I really appreciate the support.

Um, and just to calm everyone's fears, the changes are not substantive, is just to be as explicit as possible.

Thank you, Ms.

Kim.

So to be clear, the entire tenant protections ordinance takes effect on May 14th, and this extension of the pre-eviction notice from 30 to 60 days also takes effect on May 14th.

Yes.

The same time as the tenant protections ordinance.

Great.

So we will take a vote on version two, and then we will hold the public hearing.

Um, all in favor of version two, please say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

All opposed.

Seven in favor, no opposed.

The ordinance is approved.

Or sorry, the amendment is approved.

My bad.

Um, all right.

Uh, and we will now hold a public hearing on version two of the ordinance.

So if you're here to testify on this item, please come on up.

There's a bunch of folks, feel free to line up on both sides.

And again, you'll have two minutes.

They do go by quickly, and it's my unenviable job to keep you to them.

There is a clock right in front of you when you are testifying.

Come on up.

Welcome.

Okay, thank you.

And you can testify or sign in when you're done testifying.

Afternoon, everybody.

My name's Katie Royce.

I work for the Frogtown Neighborhood Association.

Wanna say this is a great idea.

Obviously, extremely needed.

We opened a rent relief fund yesterday for um for to the public, and we had over 250 folks within eight hours.

Um, and that so we know it's a it's a crisis.

Um, ours is for Frogtown Rondo only.

So still that number was incredible.

We're working through it right now.

But the need is obviously um impacted more by uh the metro surge than we have need outside of that.

Our rents are too high.

We all know that we've got a housing problem, but that surge really um is getting people.

And so we have a with that housing crisis added to this eviction crisis.

I think it's essential that we do this, and hopefully we get the mayor on board.

Yep.

All right, thank you.

Thanks so much.

Make sure to sign in.

Yep.

Welcome up.

Good afternoon, council members.

Thank you for having me.

Um, my name is Laura Russ.

I'm with an organization called AON.

Uh AN is a nonprofit affordable housing provider.

We have several hundred homes here in St.

Paul and thousands in the entire uh Twin Cities Metro.

We're here along with 12 of our other large nonprofit affordable housing providers to oppose this extension.

And the reason for that is based on our own experience.

Housing providers succeed when residents succeed.

Evictions are costly, disruptive, and something responsible operators work very hard to avoid.

We work with residents through plate payment plans, rental assistance, and outreach long before an eviction filing occurs.

We have especially continued to do so in the last several months as mutual aid has so wonderfully poured in and allowed us to connect that to residents.

The challenge with extending the pre-eviction notice period is that it adds additional time and uncertainty, which unfortunately oftentimes only leads to residents being further in debt.

If timelines are extended further, the gap can grow up to four months.

At that point, the financial hurdle for many residents to overcome is just too great.

And the unpredictability of rental assistance even being available to them is too uncertain for us to want to put them in that potential position.

Fortunately, our own and other public sources of data have recently shown that residents are keeping up in a predictable way with their rent payments so far the last few months and so far in March, which we're very heartened by, and it shows all of our collective efforts have been resulting so far in outcomes that we all want, which is to keep residents stably housed.

Disrupting that process puts the stability of housing at risk, which ultimately impacts the very residents we're all trying to help.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

Good afternoon, Council members.

My name is Dante.

I currently reside in the Como Park neighborhood where I've lived for the past seven years.

I'm a lifelong resident of the Twin Cities and a leader with Twin Cities United Performers.

I do not need to reiterate the horror and pain that we have all experienced under this cruel and clumsy occupation by the federal government over the past few months.

Every St.

Paul resident I know has been impacted by ice, and as the son of a Mexican immigrant, I personally have lived in a state of grief and fury as I have watched neighbors who look like my family be ripped out of their homes by this barbaric administration.

As I process this collective trauma with my fellow Minnesotans, one theme stands out a collective frustration with the response of our elected leaders.

I am outraged at Governor Walls' inaction and unwillingness to enact an eviction moratorium when we need it most.

I was exasperated to see Jacob Fry's veto today of pause evictions save lives in Minneapolis.

And I am bewildered at Mayor Hurr's decision to deny an independent investigation of St.

Paul Police Department's actions on Rose Street on November 25th.

I understand that we are but one city standing against the full force of a multi-billion dollar federal police apparatus, but today I am coming before you to implore you to use the power that you have as our city council to extend the eviction notice period to 60 days.

This policy will not only give breathing room to the residents who need it most, but it is a step towards aligning the interests of landlords with the interests of tenants, as we must all demand ice out with one unified voice.

And importantly, it shows that you, our elected leaders, take seriously the commitment to using every tool at your disposal to protect your constituents.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

Good afternoon, y'all.

My name is Regan Reek.

I'm speaking on behalf of Michael Dahl Award for Resident and the Public Policy Director of Homeline.

I'm the managing organizer of Homeline.

Home Line operates a free confidential legal advice hotline serving renters across Minnesota.

Last year alone, we advised nearly 2,900 St.

Paul households.

Evictions were the second most common reason people called us.

This year, the pace is not letting up, and we are hearing from households who are afraid of eviction, something many have never had to face before because of the federal occupation.

For the sake of your constituents who stand to lose their homes through no fault of their own, Homeline urges you to temporarily extend the pre-eviction notice period to 60 days.

Homeline is seeing a sharp increase in renters seeking help paying rent, a 71% increase increase compared to this time last year.

The level of need now exceeds what we saw during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

What is especially concerning is what renters are telling us about the broader impacts.

Many report food insecurity, skip medications, and foregone medical treatment.

Housing instability is cascading into every part of daily life.

Impacted tenants need time to piece together the funds needed to pay their rent.

Mutual aid and city funding may help some renters, but it is not enough, and 14 days is often not enough time to secure assistance.

It takes time to catch up on bills after returning to work.

It takes time to access emergency assistance.

It takes time to ask for help from family and friends, many of whom may be struggling themselves, and is taking time, far too much time for the state government to allocate the resources renters needed to need to catch up on rent.

Give your constituents the time they need to stay in their homes and pay their rent.

Without that time and without adequate adequate resources, we fear many renters will join the ranks of those experiencing homelessness or severe housing insecurity.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

Hi, my name is Lisa Nelson.

I'm here on behalf of the Hamlin Midway Coalition, and the Hamlin Midway Coalition supports the proposal to require 60 days notice before landlords can file an eviction action rather than the current 30-day notice.

In neighborhoods like Hamlin Midway, nearly half of renter households are already cost burdened by housing alone.

This doesn't even include rising costs for food, child care, medical bills, student loans, or everyday essentials like diapers, formula, hygiene, and medical supplies.

For many families, even a short disruption in income can quickly lead to housing instability.

Extending the notice period to 60 days provides critical breathing room for renters to access emergency rental assistance, seek legal support if a notice violates tenant protections, connect with community and mutual aid resources, or find other solutions that may prevent an eviction filing.

The Hamlin Midway Coalition also appreciates the City of St.

Paul's leadership in expanding emergency rental assistance funding and passing additional tenant protections that improve notice requirements and provide safeguards when affordable housing changes ownership.

Together, these actions represent a thoughtful and practical approach to housing stability on a local level while highlighting the need for additional action at the county and state level.

The Hamlin Whit Midway Coalition supports the temporary 60-day eviction filing notice requirement as a measure that can help keep neighbors housed and provide families the time they need to navigate solutions.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

Hello, and thank you for the opportunity to speak.

My name is Jessica Shaminski, and I am a policy attorney at the Housing Justice Center.

I strongly urge you to pass this temporary extension to the pre-eviction notice period.

Families need time to access rental assistance and stabilize their households.

The reality is that 14 or 30 days notice just isn't enough.

Expanding to 60 days would provide critical breathing room for tenants to secure assistance, pay overdue rent, and avoid the devastating consequences of eviction.

This extension will prevent evictions and ensure that vulnerable communities do not become unhoused.

Now I want to combat some of the opposition narratives we've heard.

First, extending the pre-eviction notice period does not delay help for tenants.

Landlords don't need to wait until an eviction or until they've issued an eviction notice to connect tenants with assistance.

Landlords can and should engage with tenants as early as possible.

There is nothing stopping them from connecting tenants with mutual aid or other resources well before the threat of an eviction filing.

And for the sources of rental assistance that require an eviction be filed first, the council should be pressuring those providers to change that policy.

Second, if a tenant ultimately faces eviction under this extended notice period, the accruing rental balance will not change how hard it is for them to find new housing.

It is just as hard to find future housing after being evicted for three months' rent as it is after being evicted for four months' rent.

The main difference is that the extra month greatly increases the tenants' chance to redeem with rental assistance.

Furthermore, families need this extension now, not two months from now.

This ordinance should take effect immediately after passage and approval.

This council already unanimously agreed that an eviction moratorium was necessary to reduce harm and protect our neighbors.

By passing this pre-eviction extension notice or notice extension, this council can prevent homelessness, make sure landlords get paid their rent, and ensure our neighbors are safe from ice.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

Thank you, City Council.

My name is Kathy Bennett.

I'm the executive director of the Twin Cities Housing Alliance.

We represent more than 100 housing providers across St.

Paul and the Twin City, which accounts for thousands of rental units in the city.

Our mission is simple: to expand housing options across all income levels and ensure existing housing remains safe, stable, and affordable.

I'm here today to urge you to not support extending the notice of eviction filing period.

We fully recognize that there are renters who are experiencing real financial hardship due to operation metro surge.

Housing providers see this every day and work hard to keep residents housed wherever possible.

They are our neighbors and care about their residence safety and security.

Eviction is not a first choice.

It's the last resort and can cost up to 10,000 per unit.

The current process already provides significant time to access assistance.

In reality, an eviction notice does not mean immediate displacement.

From a notice to potential move out is often three to four months.

By far the majority of eviction filings are resolved before that time.

During the eviction timeline, many residents are connected to rental assistance, ultimately ultimately remained housed, and oftentimes their eviction filing is redacted, so it does not go on their record.

Extending the notice period risks unintended consequences.

It places additional strain on housing providers who are still recovering from the pandemic, facing rising insurance, labor and maintenance costs, and operating with very limited reserves.

Longer delays also disrupt owners, many small minority owned businesses, ability to pay their mortgage tax and insurance payments, threatening property upkeep and long-term affordability.

Most importantly, delaying action allows unpaid rent to accumulate, damaging renters' credit, and making future housing harder.

The most effective and responsible response in this moment is targeted rental assistance.

We stand by you to help secure that.

Thank you for your consideration.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

Hello, um members of the council.

My name is Ben Helvick Anderson, and I'm with Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative.

Beacon is a leading provider of site-based permanent supportive housing in Minnesota, and we serve over 200 residents here in St.

Paul.

As a collaborative of over 70 congregations, we are also leaders in statewide housing advocacy.

We led the Bring It Home Minnesota Coalition that created a new Minnesota rental voucher program, helped create the Metro Sales Tax for local affordable housing aid, often known as Laha, and share the Our Future Starts at Home campaign for statewide dedicated housing revenue.

I've just come from our lobby day at the Capitol, where hundreds were advocating for supportive housing and emergency rental assistance.

The real fear, chaos, and harm created by Operation Metro Surge has exposed the precariousness of our housing system that we have been advocating around for years.

Too many Minnesotans are living on the edge and now wondering how they will pay their rent.

We believe the most effective solution is increasing targeted emergency rental assistance and are really grateful for you as this council moving forward on that.

We, along with the other nonprofit housing providers, are concerned this policy will result in unintended and preventable harm.

Our experience is that longer timelines produce worse outcomes for for residents through larger balances and higher eviction rates.

We recognize that this may seem counterintuitive, but it is based on our experience that delays increased debt loads for many residents and this well-intentioned proposed policy would be counterbuck counterproductive to its stated aims.

We appreciate your goals, and Beacon is committed to continuing to partner with this council to provide quality supportive housing, work for the stability of our residents, and advocate for policies so all people have a home.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

Hello, uh, my name is Steve Tuckner.

Uh, I live in the north end of uh St.

Paul.

Um during Metro Surge, uh, neighborhoods all over the city set up their own networks to help patrol, uh, deliver mutual aid and try to help out people who you know were rightly afraid of getting picked up by ice.

Um the one thing we know about this is that the safest place for them was in their home.

And you know, getting evicted makes them you know very, very vulnerable.

And so, whatever we can do to prevent people from getting evicted, and that involves a lot of things.

We could do an eviction moratorium, we could do more rental assistance.

This is just one piece, but I think this is an important piece to allow people now that some people are starting to go back to work to give them time to um you know catch up on their rent.

And I think that you know, if we're if we're weighing who we should be considering more, landlords or people who have been targeted by Metro Surge, you know, scared in their home for months.

I think we should, you know, we should help out the renters.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

President Naker and members of the council, thank you for the opportunity to speak.

My name is Nancy McMurray, and I have the privilege of serving as the Director of Family Services for Project for Pride and Living.

PPL is a twin cities-based nonprofit with 53 years of impact, and we own and operate more than 1,800 units of affordable housing around the cities.

The heart of our mission is simple.

We help individuals and families remain securely and confidently housed.

We work alongside residents to create payment plans and connect them to resources.

We know many St.

Paul residents are still living with fear and instability following Operation Metro Surge.

We share your urgency in protecting these families from displacement.

Our goal, like yours, is housing stability.

While we support the intent behind extending the pre-eviction notice period, our experience shows it will unintentionally make things harder for residents to main remain housed.

Intervening quickly when a resident begins to fall behind on rent has proven to be the best way to support their housing stability.

And the reason is simple.

Without enough assistance, a longer notice period only grows unpaid balances and deepens hardships.

We share the same important goal of keeping people housed, but based on our direct experience, expanding and targeting rental assistance and not extending timelines is the most effective way to keep people housed.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

Good afternoon, Council members.

My name is James Dirks, and I am a member of Unit of Sanctuary City Committee and a proud resident of Frogtown in Ward One.

Housing stability is deeply personal to me.

I struggled with housing insecurity for four years before finally reaching a stable place to live recently.

And this was before the economic crisis and Metro Surge, so I cannot imagine what a lot of people are going through.

I became homeless after being forced out of a living situation very quickly.

30 days is very quickly as well.

During that time, I was also stalked and harassed, which made the living situation even more dangerous.

Losing housing that fast does not just mean losing a place to sleep, it creates instability that exposes people to violence, fear, and long-lasting harm.

It's very common.

When someone suddenly loses house housing, the system meant to help are not fast enough to catch them or doesn't supply enough assistance to catch them to help them.

It can take a long time to access emergency shelter and emergency assistance, even for people in the most vulnerable situations.

And once someone enters that system, it tends to limit their freedom and ability to stabilize their life and find new housing.

Despite the current uh arguments that have been made, going housing, going homeless is very expensive and costs a lot more than any extension will cost.

During my time experiencing housing insecurity, I met many others in similar situations.

Many had stories worse than mine, but what I learned is that homelessness is like a vortex.

Once someone falls in, it pulls them in deeper and takes enormous effort to get them back out.

That is why this amount that you that is being proposed in the policy is very important.

I urge you to support this policy, the 60 days that people need.

In reality, they need more.

And thank you for your time.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

Thanks for your time.

I'll speak from a little different angle.

What about us?

Sorry, can you just start with your name and where you're coming from?

Oh, my name is Malik.

I'm from a rondo neighborhood.

Thank you.

What about us?

I'm a landlord, got a couple rental properties, and I'm gonna give you just a couple scenarios.

Had a tenant burn my house down from an unattended candle.

The city six months in still hasn't given me a final police report for me to move forward with my insurance.

I had an electric socket that I had to replace and upgrade and bring to code.

It cost me 6300.

I had a furnace go out at another rental property to cost me 5500.

I'm not a Hon.

I'm not a big capitalist company.

I'm just a small mama pop landlord.

But I personally feel like we run the city as far as rentals go, because we have thousands of landlords that have one or two rental properties.

How do we survive?

How do I take food off my table for my daughter?

I have an eviction right now in court.

He didn't pay rent in February.

My first court date is March 19th.

After that, they're gonna give him seven days, possibly to vacate.

If he doesn't vacate, I'll have to get a writ.

That writ's gonna take another additional five days after he doesn't move after that five days is gonna take up to three weeks for the sheriff to come physically remove him.

That's four months almost.

Once we add on to this new length of time, how do I make a mortgage for four months on the back of all the other negative things that I've experienced?

Everybody's talking about the renters.

I uh I'm I'm all for it.

You guys have a ton of resources that you guys can give the rental assistance for, but burdening me and other small landlords with six to four months of back rent and no income, and I have to come up with it.

So now we have a tenant have a negative spiral.

Now we have a negative spiral for a landlord.

I don't think that's fair.

We talk about fair, just and equitable.

Just put your hats on and just think from a landlord's point.

Like what's fair just and equitable for us.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

Hello, Council President and Council members.

Uh, my name is Tony Arts.

I'm a Ward 3 resident in the Mac Groveland area.

I'm also a member of the Unidos uh sanctuary uh committee.

I'm providing testimony in support of ordinance 2618 to temporarily instill a 60-day pre-eviction notice period as outlined in the ordinance.

The impacts of Operation Metro Surge have been widespread and ongoing.

These actions have created fear, instability, and significant economic harm for families across St.

Paul.

The loss of wages and economic security for many households has been severe.

I happen to work closely with school communities in St.

Paul, and I want to speak some of the disruption students are experiencing.

Students as young as kindergarten have been escorted to their buses as ICE agents have circled school grounds.

Families have been separated due to detention.

The economic health of families has been severed as those working have been detained, or due to the rampant and profiling nature of these operations, all workers and households have been sheltering in place.

We are only beginning to understand the full impact this is having on the health and well-being of our students and communities.

This has created generational trauma.

The need for this 60-day pre-eviction notice period is so important.

Our community members are doing all they can to hang on financially.

Mutual aid networks have strained and worked for months to secure rents and provide for one another as community members.

Local businesses are doing what they can to stay afloat, afloat to avoid shuddering.

At this time, we need action from the city level to mitigate further economic harm and to prevent mass evictions across our communities.

I urge the council to pass ordinance 2618 and help keep St.

Paul families in their homes.

This is the work that we need to be doing.

Without action, we risk seeing a possible wave of evictions across our communities.

A 60-day pre-eviction notice period gives families time to stabilize and prevents short-term disruption from becoming long-term homelessness.

Please pass this ordinance swiftly and move to full passage.

Thank you all very much.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

But I fully support 60-day or more, if possible.

So yeah, I would appreciate you thinking of that.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

Hi.

My name is Sarah Mullins.

I live in Ward One.

I I am testifying in support of the ordinance.

I just want to uh call out a I mean others have spoke to the great disruption of Operation Metro Surge when that kind of stuff happens, it disrupts your whole life.

And one thing I just want to point out as a renter for 25 years in St.

Paul, I we don't sit around as renters thinking about having a uh a lawyer on a retainer, right?

And so knowing you have legal rights and being ready to exercise your legal rights properly so that you can make your fair case and be represented fully in the processes that exist, uh, can be a shock, right?

So I just want to call that out.

I looked at the materials that were posted, I saw the two-page diagram of well, here's how long it actually takes to evict.

And at the end of the pack it was home line, and all of the calls they've received asking for assistance and how they are um they're overwhelmed with the number of renters asking for assistance, legal assistance at the same time.

So I uh I support the extension.

I commend the council for everything you're doing to provide uh renter assistance and um live into the vision where people are stable in their homes and they're not um displaced, right?

That's the outcome we all want.

Um, but I you know just wanted to remind everybody that um we're not all lawyers.

We don't all have a lawyer handy to turn to and say exactly what kind of lawyer do I need to help me here so I know um how to advocate for myself and when you have that in addition to ice, in addition to food insecurity, in addition to everything else.

Like I think this is a reasonable temporary accommodation.

So thank you for that consideration.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in and welcome up.

Hello, my name is Noddy.

I'm reading on behalf of Twin Cities United Performer Um Autumn.

Hello, my name is Autumn Vigel, and I'm a St.

Paul Hamlin Midway resident graduate of Hamlin University and organizer with Twin Cities United Performers.

I work for a nonprofit in downtown St.

Paul and have worked with many St.

Paul businesses and business owners.

I also perform in a local band, so I have insight into many different aspects of the Twin Cities community and a deep love for our capital city.

What I have witnessed firsthand in my own neighborhood and all of the communities that I'm connected to is the absolute reckless display of violence during Operation Metro Surge has left a deadly stain of intimidation on many Minnesotans.

So many in our communities have feared and continue to fear, leaving the safety of their homes to pursue the lives that they've known.

Too scared to go to work, school, college to get groceries and key essentials.

While this feeling of fear is slightly going away, it is still a stain.

And as you can imagine, it has left tremendous negative impact, especially with families with low means.

Not earning income rent is still due each month.

It is a government's responsibility to operate for its constituents.

I'm writing this testimony to urge St.

Paul City Council to provide the most minimal relief for my neighbors by extending the eviction notice to 60 days, which is what is being asked of Minneapolis as well.

This will provide neighbors more time and honestly a bit of deserved grace to fulfill their rent during this unprecedented time.

I ask you, I ask that you have this today and also urge you to continue to support all related community relief efforts and oppose ICE and all federal and local police violence in our city.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

All right.

Uh seeing that there is no one else here to testify on this item.

I will take a motion from Ms.

Kim to close the public hearing.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed?

Seven in favor, none opposed.

The public hearing is closed.

Uh and I want to thank everyone for coming because we will take a final vote next week at third reading, unless there are amendments proposed.

Um I know sometimes we prefer to make comments today while there are folks here in the chamber.

So I would look to my colleagues to see if anyone has any comments to share.

Ms.

Kip.

I'll just go briefly.

Um I really appreciate sort of the thoughtfulness of the approach and all the testifiers they come out today.

Um, today we saw across the river um the uh save lives.

Um hold evictions um get overturned in Minneapolis.

And so if this stands and I'm looking forward to continuing to earn the support of my colleagues, um, this will be the only one in the state that I know of that is standing um standing up for renters in our city and standing up for folks that have been most impacted by Operation Metro Surge.

Um there was some conversation around like for communications like making sure that the cities matched.

So for clarification, um that doesn't matter anymore.

Minneapolis doesn't have one.

Um, but mostly for me, it's also um I heard the ability to access resources time and time again.

Um today, the Senate um I believe is passing or pass their tenant protections bill.

Um the house is poised to do so the same.

This December timeline allows the state to respond to this massive um emergency for renters in time for them to secure vendors, and um maybe one could be the city of St.

Paul and get money out the door and still be within that timeline.

Um so pausing evictions does save lives.

This is our ability to maintain that protections for our families and for our communities yesterday.

I testified at the people's hearing on immigration with the chair of the US Human Rights Commission, and I shared one of the stories about one of my um one of my neighbors who very recently went back to work cleaning houses and in between going from one house to another, she was picked up.

Um, even though the surge is over, the threat to our residents is still very real.

The data shows that the reduction in number doesn't change their tactics, it doesn't change their violence, and continues to not um they continue to um to enforce um broken immigration policies with violence here in Minnesota.

So I just really want to emphasize the note that I heard that it's the surge is over, but the agents are still here and families are still under threat.

So I really appreciate everyone um everyone's testimonies today.

Thank you, Ms.

Kim.

Any other comments?

Otherwise, this will be over until next week for final adoption or amendment.

Um the item is laid over to March 18th for final adoption.

Item number 20 is resolution public hearing 26-56, approving the application of Minnesota Run Series Podium Sports Marketing for sound level variants in order to present amplified sound for the mighty might Sissippi 10 10 mile event on Saturday, June 6, 2026, at 226 Spring Street Upper Landing Park and 25 Mississippi River Boulevard connected to Shadow Falls Park.

This is a public hearing.

Is there anyone here to speak on this item?

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

Coleman to close the public hearing and approve.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed.

Seven in favor, none opposed.

The resolution is adopted.

Item number 21 is resolution public hearing 26-65, authorizing the city to amend project and accounting unit budgets and city special funds to align with the 2026 adopted budget.

This is a public hearing.

Is there anyone here to speak on this item?

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

Johnson to close the public hearing and approve.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed.

Seven in favor, none opposed.

The resolution is adopted.

Item number 22 is ABZA 26-3, considering the appeal of a decision by the Board of Zoning Appeals denying two variances from City Council Resolution 23-1442 for a hotel at United Village Block D at 1560 University Avenue West.

And on appeal items like these, we usually have a staff report, so welcome up.

Uh good afternoon, uh President Council Naker, a member of the council.

For the record, my name is Yaya Dieta, and I'm the zoning administrator, and I'm here with uh Kazuha Pengyang.

She is my colleague in DSI.

Uh so we presenting an appeal over the BZA, the border zoning appeals that had a technical denial, and I'll explain later of a variance at uh 1560 university avenue.

Um I will now walk through the uh the slide presentation here.

Um this slide is the um the subject property located actually at 1560 University Avenue and the um west.

The scope of the work is uh if you look at it, this is a 1.65 um acre um parcel.

Uh that is what's proposed is uh an apartment of a um an hotel um that is 158 rooms uh with ground ground floor commercial space and 2006 uh 2990 structured uh parking stalls.

Um this slide here shows the um the hotel that you see in blue there, and then to the west of it is a um the loon and also the Bailey Garden, uh the southeast corner of University and Snelling, and to the south of it is an office um uh building and also um uh restaurant buildings uh in yellow.

And uh to the south of it is the of course the uh Soccer Stadium um United Um Stadium, Minnesota United Stadium.

Go to side four.

So the uh this slide summarizes the uh the project um approval history um which is really relevant to the variance um currently um being talked about.

Uh in spring of 2024, the planning commission and city council approved eight variances and the condition of use permit related to the height associated with the development of the hotel parcel.

Uh three of those approved variances addressed windows and door openings on the other facade of the building, not the north facade, and that is where the up uh the variance uh was about.

Um the request for you today is a separate um variance for the north space only, which is along University Avenue.

Uh United Village, I must say, is um currently under construction um with the hotel footings already um in place and also the foundation.

You can move to the next slide.

So the um city council resolution 20 uh dash 1442 require that ground floor uh ground floor facade along Arterial Street, which University Avenue is, have window and door openings comprising at least 50% of the facade length and 30% of the facade area.

And that was that's the requirement.

And the proposal was for 43.1% opening length, uh, which requires a variance of 6.9%.

And then uh 23.3% opening area requiring a variance of 6.7 percent.

So this showed the exterior um rendering of the north facade.

Uh the area subject to the variance is the ground floor only, not the upper floor, just the ground floor.

Move to the next one.

This shows the corresponding um floor plan uh indicating the proposed uses along that frontage, including restaurant, retail, and lobby areas along the um the north uh the north um facade.

This summarizes the uh the variance application against um the six findings and the staff recommended um approval based on the fact that staff deemed the variance is all uh having been met, the findings.

Um the record before you also contain letters uh from District 10 Union Park and also the Midway Chamber of Commerce supporting the requested areas.

Um slide nine outlined the action by the Board of Zoning Appeals and the matter before you this afternoon.

Uh on the February 17th, uh the BZA hearing the Board of Zoning Appeals.

Uh, one member contested uh one of the six findings, is specifically finding number three that talks about a practical difficulty, and um that followed a motion uh to deny.

The motion failed because um we had four voting for the motion and one for voting against.

Um because did not get the four votes one way or the other to pass, uh, that failed.

And subsequently, a second motion was made uh to approve.

The motion did not get uh seconded, and also um was denied.

So pushing to uh 1599 Minnesota statute, uh a require a um a motion to approve um failing is a denial.

The denial is the decision before you today uh on the appeal, and with that um we are available for questions if you have any.

Great.

Thank you so much.

Are there questions for staff before we uh open this up?

Ms.

Johnson.

Uh thank you so much for the staff presentation as well.

And um I appreciate the presentation.

I mostly was just wondering if in the presentation, and I don't think I caught it, the uh the things that were cited for finding number three um council president, council member Johnson.

Could we and things that were cited from the the uh I guess the developer, like what were the things cited in finding number three that were meant to demonstrate those practical difficulties with compliance?

So uh so we understand you're asking what the basis for staff recommending approval on the finding three, right?

Correct?

Yes.

Okay.

So mainly because um hotel operations are a unique combination of public facing areas, um spaces, and backhouse operation.

Um that do not lend themselves to having windows as required by the code.

And that was the gist of staff finding that um this is um a practical difficulty accompanied also by the fact that this hotel has four frontages facing um so it's facing four streets.

Okay, thank you.

Great.

Thanks, Ms.

Johnson.

Any other questions before we open up the public hearing?

Not seeing any.

Thanks so much.

Stick around.

Uh so for this public hearing, we'll actually first give the appellant five minutes and then other folks who are here to testify on this item will have two minutes and give a little special consideration to those appealing so that they can have time to make their case.

Welcome up.

Uh council president anchor, council members.

My name is Mike Hamm.

Uh I am a resident of ward five in Como Park.

Uh I am an advisor to the United Village Project, and I'm here in that role.

Um, I'm with my colleague Carolyn Wolfe from the Tegra group, who is our project manager.

Um I am here really enthusiastically supporting the staff recommendation for this uh for the variants and for this project.

We believe that it properly recognizes the practical limitations of the overall site and the constraints that Mr.

Diada talked about by having a building that is faced by four streets that we're trying to comply with, including University Avenue and Alliance Field, and issues unique to our project, which is a hotel, which we're trying to orient to that site, maximize the visitor and customer experience, and also maximize the interface between the community and the building.

Additional public art and articulation with awings.

I think help is on the way also.

Doesn't really need it, that this council, our work with community, including the district councils and the business community was express to choose this location for the hotel.

We could have chosen to put it back further off University Avenue in a way where it would have less impact by this by these challenges, but the hotel offering directly on University Avenue, where the excitement and the vibrancy of guests going in and out of the building would match with the excitement and vibrancy of University Avenue was intentional, and it comes with some challenges that we need to create to solve in the design.

So that was very intentional.

The flip side of the building also is very intentional, is it extends the gardens that are adjacent to the restaurant into the green space and the courtyard that leads up to Alliance Field.

So that presents challenges with the future or with the with the future variances that we work through.

That's what we work through with community, and we're grateful for folks' understanding that parking ramps and great public spaces need those areas.

We're also very enthusiastic about what the building looks like in Mr.

Diada's presentation.

You saw an image of the front of the building.

A perfect front door for a hotel that leads up to University Avenue.

And oh great.

This is the overhead image I wanted to show with a drone what's under construction.

Down on my cursor is Alliance Field.

This is the office building that is currently under construction.

These are the two restaurant pavilions that are nearly complete in terms of their structure.

And this is the subject property here that will be facing all four streets.

One Asbury's complete, one Simpson is completed through the parking ramp and the hotel will face all of those sides of the street.

And this is the front of the building.

And the the spaces that we're talking about here that we talked about with community are this is a vertical shaft, which is essentially the stairwell and the elevator that's going to serve the parking ramp.

And in working with community, we thought it was more proper to have a uh solution that includes large-scale public art.

This is a placeholder for what's being created, rather than create additional glass there.

Um the community actually reflected really wisely on that in a call we were at.

That uh creating prominent glazing there would be confusing to community as it would look like an entrance, and we'd have people that are unfamiliar with the building approaching the building in an area that they were not supposed to be.

Um these other areas here, you can see the vertical shaft that is adjacent to the check-in function that you'd expect at a hotel when you enter.

That's where our design team and working with your staff in the community.

That's the proper place for that vertical integration.

There's other spaces here that are restrooms on either side where um glazing is inappropriate to create uh dimension inside the building.

And that is that is several seconds over time, Mr.

Hams, so maybe one concluding remark.

Yeah.

And it's it's uh in our working with community about variances, treatments like the awnings and the dimension created by the interspersing of the the um the white exterior and the dark exterior, that those are better choices than creating what we call a false window.

We've all seen those in places where you create glazing that has obscured glass in the back that doesn't um doesn't realize the benefits that the code is meaning to intend.

So with that, I'll stop.

Carolyn and I are available for questions.

We support um the uh recommendation that staff made on this, and we appreciate your consideration.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

And we'll now have a public hearing where two minutes per person.

Um so welcome up.

Good afternoon.

My name is Mark Morrill.

Sorry about my voice.

They live at 1984 Carroll Avenue.

I'm a co-chair of Union Park District Council's land use committee.

Union Park supports the requested hotel window and door variants, or letter provides a detailed discussion of a rationale, but one area I'd like to highlight from that letter, it's the zoning district's requirement for an activated streetscape.

I think of activated streetscape is a requirement that that first level is not a private space, but it's a public amenity, it's a neighborhood amenity, it's a coffee shop, it's a grocery store, it's a place to exercise.

And I believe the primary reason for the window and door requirement is to highlight those amenities.

Windows invite those on the outside to explore what's in, they invite those in the inside to explore what's outside.

Why does Union Park think it's okay that this hotel or any hotel doesn't need to meet that requirement?

One word, luggage.

The first floor of this hotel has some areas where windows are not appropriate, the check-in area and the bathrooms, but it also has a restaurant.

Those has huge windows, those are on the cell side.

They don't get to count on the north side.

So what's left is you've got a wine shop and you've got a library.

And those have relatively small windows.

So if the council requires more window space, if they require more windows, what you're doing is you're giving the people on the inside a great view of the folks unloading and loading luggage.

You're gonna remind them that their vacation is gonna come to an end.

If you're on the outside, you're gonna be the entertainment for the wine shop in the library.

So Union Park District Council thinks that the proposed designs got the windows right.

It's balancing the invitation, clear entrance with some privacy for loading and loading.

We support it.

Thank you very much.

Thank you very much.

Twenty seconds left.

Nice job.

Make sure to sign in.

Um you balanced out Mr.

Hum.

Any other anyone else here to testify on this item?

All right, seeing none, I will take a motion from Ms.

Bowie to close the public hearing.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed?

Seven in favor, none opposed.

The public hearing is closed.

Ms.

Bowie.

Thank you so much, Council President.

First, I just want to say thank you so much to our staff for providing the technical report and also uh Mr.

Holm for just giving us an update around the reasoning behind the development, this multi-year multi-phase development.

Um even before my time here on the council, there's been several variances and several um readings where this project has came before the council.

And also just want to say thank you, Mark, for the colorful interpretation and just giving us a uh imagery around just what the experience would be like based off of the vote that we'll take today.

I just want to just you know come out just saying that I anticipate on adopting the staff's recommendation that can give some reasons why.

Uh well, one, uh, when I first came into this office and with the former uh PED director, Nicole Goodman.

Um, this area where the United Village um side that has needed a change, an update to the zoning code for a while.

Um, it has been um it has been uh a project, a priority for both district councils.

Um also I think it's really important to to set in motion that we are making a vote that is going to be barely telling around whether we are pro-development or not, or whether we, you know, we whether we are um making decisions that is going to support development here in St.

Paul and in Midway.

I want this development to move forward.

Um, and we have um heard from our staff members, particularly around the rationale and the findings and interpretations on those findings.

And it's really important that we're be building at the speed of consensus and us being a consensus body and hearing from our developers who have earned not only support um from our uh both district councils and the midway chambers and stakeholders.

Um, it's just really important that we um you know we uh support the expertise, particularly coming from our staff.

I won't list off the findings because you've already heard from them.

Um, but you know, one of the things that really uh makes it clear to me that this is not a practical difficulty just based off of uh economics alone, that the uniqueness of this design uh in the layout, uh, it doesn't make sense to have larger windows or expand the windows.

And I see this as an opportunity for us to um adopt the staff's recommendation.

Uh this was a failed vote due to membership um and due to attendance, not a failed vote due to the majority um deciding not to to pass this variant.

So I'll look to or I guess I'll motion um for us to would that be uh grant the appeal.

Granting the appeal, thank you.

I was like forgot granting the appeal um for this item.

Thanks, Ms.

Bowie.

So the motion on the table is to grant the appeal.

Uh is there any discussion of the motion?

Ms.

Golman.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you, Councilmember Bowie.

I strongly second Councilmember Bowie's recommendation and would like to say a big note of gratitude to staff and to our project team who came out to speak today and to our union practice to council representative.

I uh I really will just echo everything that council member Bowie said, and and the only thing that I really want to underscore is how much I appreciate the community engagement that's gone into this up until this point.

As you saw um in Mr.

Diada's presentation, there was no opposition from the community to this proposed variance.

In fact, this is my neighborhood.

I hear about from this about folk, I hear about this from folks all the time.

I think people are very excited for this to be done.

People are very excited for United Village to be the economic engine in our community that it is going to be um so I I just on behalf of the community, I think that people are excited about this project, wanted to move forward.

And in addition to there being nothing on the record in you know, voicing concern about the variants, there has been I promise you that in Midway when people are talking about the challenges, they are not talking about the 43.1% window and door openings of the facade length of the hotel.

So I'm excited to support this.

Thank you, Ms.

Goleman.

Uh, any further discussion of the motion?

Otherwise, we can take a vote.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed?

Seven.

Seven in favor, none opposed.

The motion of intent is to grant the appeal.

Item number 23 is resolution public hearing 26-4.

Public hearing on grievances about federal immigration operations.

This is a public hearing.

Is there anyone here to speak on this item?

Seeing none, I will take a motion from Ms.

Yang to continue the public hearing to March 18th.

Um, and I will look to Ms.

Yang for some comments.

Thank you, Council President.

Um, I'll I um first want to say thank you to everybody who's been coming week after week to um come and testify when we first did the public hearing here.

Um, we had a mass of people come in week after week and um really share to us such vulnerable stories about um what they were experiencing um during operation metral surge.

Um, I want to say thank you to my colleagues, um, your support for extending the public hearing week after week as well.

Um, it has meant a lot to me personally.

When I um uh when I uh had this vision around having the public hearing during our council meetings, it was really around um making sure that our residents felt heard.

And when I'm at the table here as a council member, um I ground myself in the experiences that I had coming here to City Hall, being the person that's sent on the benches, like many of you, or coming up to the podium and testifying about something that I care deeply about.

Um, and that that is really important for me to continue continue centering in my leadership here because it's also what guides me in how I need to show up as a council member.

And so the public hearings here have been very, very valuable to me, and I believe very valuable to the city council too, because it has provided us key input to um um to understand what exactly our residents need during Operation Metro Surge so that we can deliver in through the form of action, through the form of policy.

And we've done that um uh through passing the ordinances around limiting the use of masks from law enforcement officers across all bodies of government around requiring for identification of law enforcement officers as well.

And we're still we still have more work to do.

I want to name that.

Um, I uh um want to um I do have a motion to meet today, which is that I would like for um um to move that um we continue the public hearing, but that next Wednesday would be our last public hearing.

Um we still have a lot of um um of ideas and initiatives that came from the community members to work on so that we can bring it into fruition, get it to the finish line.

And I know that this is a council where we are very committed in doing that.

I know a couple of us, a few of us here at the table are um even going to be in in meetings with the um mayor staff to have direct conversations about that too.

Um and so there's still a lot of work ahead of us, and I want to name that just because we are not going to be having public hearings um in the council after March 18th, it is no indication at all that um Operation Metro Surge is over.

And I want to be really clear about that because we had a coup a public hearing about the pre-eviction filing notice and and wanting to amend the date for that to having a 60-day notice.

Um and it's because we know there are many families still living in fear who can't afford their rent because of many reasons.

One of them being that they have a family member who is detained, and maybe that person was an income earner.

Um we have children who are still afraid of going to school.

Um and um people who are afraid of going to work as well, and um, you know, people who are still in detention centers in county jails as well, waiting to be returned home.

That is is really personal to me.

Many of you know um that my uncle, my dad's younger brother, he was detained earlier in February.

We were able to get him released five days after detainment.

And um, he's the first person that I know who was able to get released in such a short amount of time, and it really was because of the partnership and support from the Twin Cities habeas collective.

You know, my my uncle, even though he was living in his lowest time of his life being um detained, he when he right before he got released, there was so many of the people who was at the county jail with him.

They heard about him getting released, and they they asked him, can you help us too?

He took the time to take down all of their contact information so that we can get help for them.

And I took connected with the pro bono attorneys over at the Twin Cities habeas collective, and they shared with me that 10 more people who were detained alongside my uncle got released.

I mean, today's my birthday.

Some of you know that at the table here.

One of the best gifts that I received today was getting you a text during your HRE board meeting that another person who we connected to the Twin Cities habeas collective is getting released this Friday.

There are still many people out there who are waiting to be reunited with their families.

And I that is, you know, I want us to remember that.

Um, and I want us to remember that um just because again, we're not gonna be having the public hearing, we're gonna wrap it up.

People um can still reach out, residents and anybody can still reach out to each of the council members here to the mayor's office as well to express our grievances to let them know, to let us know what set type of support you need, or maybe your loved ones need your neighbors' need, and that the work again is not done.

Um I keep saying this over and over.

I know we will prevail.

We will prevail.

So again, thank you everybody for your support and um come back again and join us next Wednesday for this public hearing.

Thank you so much, Ms.

Yang.

I support the motion and I want to thank you for your leadership in bringing this to us.

I think having a standing public hearing was to your point just one of the ways that this council has responded and changed the way that we do business in response to this unprecedented time and this emergency.

So thank you for your your bravery and leadership in bringing it up.

And I also want to echo what you said about not only are there lots of ways to contact us um separately outside of public hearings, but um there will also be public hearings in this body.

We have a public hearing every time we consider legislation, and we will be considering additional pieces of legislation, as you mentioned, related to defending our community and continuing the response.

So look forward to continuing to have folks come for public hearings that will be tied to those items as well.

Uh any further discussion of the motion.

Seeing none.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed.

Seven in favor, non-opposed to public hearing is continued to March 18th.

That brings us legislative hearing consent agenda items 24 through 26 are before you for your consideration.

Uh we need to figure out who does that first.

I always forget.

Uh, this is there's okay.

Uh my understanding is that there is not anyone here for legislative hearings.

So what we'll we're going to do is hold a public hearing on all of our legislative hearing items.

So if you're here for item 24, 25, or 26, this is your public hearing.

Please come on up.

Seeing none, I will take a motion from Ms.

Joast to close the public hearing and adopt the items with the amendations and recommendations of the legislative hearing officer.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed.

Seven in favor, none opposed.

The legislative hearing consent agenda is adopted.

This brings us to the end of our agenda.

And normally we would go straight to good news uh from the wards.

But we have some very special guests in the house today.

Um, we have fourth grade Girl Scouts from uh Groveland Elementary who are here with us.

And um, I know Councilmember Jost, who's your council member, made a special point of letting me know that you were here.

Um, and I was wondering if uh you might oh I'm so sorry.

Not you.

Councilmember Coleman.

Council Member Coleman, who's your council member, also made a point of telling me anyway.

We're all your council members, and we were wondering if you wanted to come up and stand um in between the two golden columns and tell us your name and your favorite thing about St.

Paul.

And their favorite cookie.

Oh, okay.

Oh, and your favorite cookie, obviously.

That's my request.

Your favorite cookie.

And if you have any cookies here, just kidding.

But yes, but if you did, we would like to know.

Do you take them though?

And we do fully expend to pay for everything.

This way, if anybody asks you if you were here and if you deserve your government badge, you can point them to the live recording of this that is happening right now, and all the five cameras that are pointing right at you.

Um and you'll be able to show that you were here.

So uh welcome up.

Would anyone like to start with your name and your favorite thing about St.

Paul and your favorite cookie?

You're all gonna have to go, so we might as well get it over with.

Vivian will start, right, Vivian?

Yeah, Vivian, go Vivian.

You can you can come right on up and stand in between the two microphones and they'll pick you up.

There you go.

Yep.

Hi, welcome.

My name is Vivian.

I think that my favorite thing about St.

Paul is just that I'll like the f the friends and like their family that I have here.

And I think that my favorite cookie is either the lemonades or the peanut butter patties.

I can't decide which.

Nice.

Thank you.

Welcome up.

Hi, my name is Maez.

I like St.

Paul because of all the friends I have in this place and all the schools that I've been to and the friends I've made, and my favorite cookie are either um Thin Mits or Peanut Butter Patties.

Nice.

Welcome up.

Hi, my name is Gigi, and my favorite thing.

I don't really have a favorite thing about St.

Paul, but um because you have so many favorite things.

Yeah, okay.

I can't list them all.

Um I just wouldn't want to live in any other city.

Oh, yes.

And my favorite cookie is um fints and peanut butter patties.

Nice.

I haven't heard any caramel delights yet, not to put anything in anybody's mind.

Go ahead.

My name's Lucy, and one thing I love about St.

Paul is that everyone here works together to support each other.

And my favorite cookie is lemonades.

All right.

Nice.

Welcome up.

My name is Elena, and my favorite thing about St.

Paul is all the nice people.

And my favorite cookie is peanut butter patties.

And peanut butter cookies.

Yeah, I gotta try peanut butter cookies.

My name is June.

I don't know my favorite thing about St.

Paul, but my favorite cookies are thin mint and peanut butter patties.

Nice.

My name is Ada.

My favorite thing about St.

Paul is my school, and my favorite cookie is a Carmel Delight.

That's what's there.

We go.

My name is Ifa.

My favorite thing about St.

Paul is how strong our community is.

And that when someone else in our community is hurt, we're always there to help them.

And my favorite cookies, crumble delights.

And do not say you don't like them because they're caramel in them.

Not coconut, because you can't taste the coconut.

A hundred percent.

Could not agree more.

Thank you.

My name's Lydia.

My favorite thing about St.

Paul is the community, and my favorite Girl Scout cookies is either the peanut butter patties or adventurefuls.

Oh no.

Thank you.

My name is Mora, and my and my favorite thing about St.

Paul is the community.

My favorite um Girl Scout cookie is the peanut butter patty.

Okay.

My name's Aaliyah, and my favorite thing about St.

Paul is the community, and my favorite cookie is the uh the peanut butter patty.

I think we have a crowd favorite.

My name is Olivia, and what I like about St.

Paul is the community, and that we're really kind to each other.

And my favorite cookie is Carmel Delights.

There we go.

My name is Clora, and my favorite thing about St.

Paul is the community, and my favorite cookie is peanut butter patties.

Oh my yes.

We uh we want to thank you all so much for coming out today and being part of our meeting.

And if you stick around for just a little bit longer, we're gonna wrap this up.

We might be able to take a picture with you as a council.

We'd love to do that.

Um, we're all girls too.

So that could be fun.

Thank you all so much.

Oh, and I'm so sorry, we have some discussion.

No, we don't.

We do we do.

Ms.

Johnson.

Oh, I I'm sorry.

I I had to keep my hand up because as a fellow Girl Scout, I would love to know if uh any of the girls know the Girl Scout promise.

I did know what it's so important.

It's okay.

Let's hear it.

So Chair Score Johnson, we hear it.

I just wanted to know that, but um, yeah, so on my honor.

I will try to serve God and my country and to help as many people as possible and to live by the Girl Scout Law.

And we do we have our three fingers.

And this is the formal way of being a girl scout.

And it's something that is like ironed out in your memory forever.

Um as a fellow Girl Scout and someone who grew up in the Girl Scouts, I just want to say it's so awesome that you guys are coming out to City Council because I didn't do that as a girl scout and I never got my government badge.

Um I feel like you have it for there.

And I will just say that I think it is awesome that you guys are here, and I I love that.

And I I just genuinely wanted to be able to um to just say welcome to the city council chambers.

It's really really rare for cities to have an all-women city council.

So I want you to just take a look around the room and around the space, and and if no one else tells you ever, um just know that one day you can be anything that you want to be and do really truly anything that you want to do.

And a lot of what you're learning now and the friends you talk about and the community that you talk about um that we all experience here in St.

Paul, right?

Is something that you get to cherish for as long as possible.

And so just keep each other in mind, right?

Part of being a girl scout is a sisterhood that you build with one another too, um, and the cookies that you eat.

But that's okay too.

Thanks, Ms.

Johnson.

All right.

Uh thank you.

Don't don't go too far.

We'll we'll be right back to you.

But feel free to take a seat.

Uh all right.

Is there any good news from the wards?

Ms.

Kim.

Yeah.

Um, I'm gonna spill a few steal a few people's one, I think.

But um, I just want to give for the folks in the chambers with us um a warm welcome back to what I'm going to call our chair square Johnson, our HRHR and our budget chair Johnson's first day back from maternity leave.

So please give her a warm welcome back to the chambers.

And it's also, so I think this is where we can enlist your help.

Um, which I think it was Kevin, do you need help um from up?

So it's a girl scout's gonna help us.

Um it's also our vice president Yang's birthday today.

And so I'm wondering if folks can help us sing happy birthday to our council vice president.

All right, ready?

One, two, three.

Happy birthday to you.

Happy birthday to you.

Happy birthday President Yang.

Happy birthday.

Thank you, everybody.

31 today.

Oh, so sweet.

Appreciate you all.

Thanks, Ms.

Kim.

Other good news from around the wards, Ms.

Yang.

Yeah, thanks, Council President.

I um encourage folks to look at the Greater East Side Community Council's website.

They do have events happening every month all the way up until May.

So the one I want to highlight is that on Thursday, March 26th, from 5 30 p.m.

to 7 p.m.

they have a seed starting workshop, and that'll be at the Kramer community room.

Thanks.

Thanks, Vice President.

Other news from around the wards.

Uh I can just share one which um what I think was mentioned briefly earlier.

Um, this was something that I know many of us have heard from small businesses and from residents in our wards during Operation Metro Surge and beyond about the need for property tax uh relief and um deferrals if possible.

Um I heard from a small business owner in my ward with with a request could property taxes be deferred.

Um I reached out to Ramsey County, and I'm sure many others did as well.

And good news yesterday, the Ramsey County um board did um approve two months of property tax deferral for eligible households and small businesses.

So um property taxes can be paid up to two months late with no late fees um or any kind of um any kind of problems at all.

And this is something that I think will hopefully help along with all the other measures that we've been taking at this body um just to give some relief, give some breathing room to folks who have been suffering.

So wanted to make sure people know about that.

Um and it is all uh very clearly on the Ramsey County website, and I hope folks can help promote that to constituents as well.

Ms.

Johnson.

Um and I just wanted to add not only is March uh March International Women's Month.

I I just want to make sure to shout out Georgia Fort.

I actually returned today wearing her Protect the Press shirt.

And um a lot of the efforts that are happening in our community are around not only uh support for some of our independent journalists, but also some of the proceeds are also being donated to organizations that defend press freedoms.

And so it was really intentional today about coming back and coming back in my full power and coming back in my full self, and part of that also def is to um ensure that I'm standing alongside such powerful women that are really shaping all multiple across multiple industries, including journalism.

And so I just want to give a shout-out to Georgia Ford, and who is a fierce eastider and business owner and independent journalists and woman of the time, and also just to share with folks if you like the shirt.

You should get it.

Support press and support uh defending the press.

Thanks, Ms.

Johnson.

Um this isn't exactly news from the wards, but I just wanted to recognize that this Saturday is pie day.

Um it's March 14th.

And uh Councilmember Coleman brought pie today.

I think it's probably all gone by now, but I just wanted to, when I'm not here, I'm an engineer and it's a big deal in our community, and so I wanted to share that with everyone.

And I'm looking forward to buying pie.

So I'd encourage everyone to go out and buy pie at your local bakery in your ward or in St.

Paul.

Um there's a few in there's hot hands pie and biscuit in ward three.

There's also Highland Bakery.

Um, I know there's there's wonderful pie places all throughout the city.

So encourage people to buy pie or pizza, I guess, works too.

Thank you.

I'm glad that we did a shout out to Pi Day, and thank you for also supporting a St.

Paul Business Award uh winner.

Ms.

Coleman.

Um two things.

So first on that note, also be very nice to the people who you buy your pie from because this is their second busiest day of the year.

I learned.

No, as I picked up the pies this morning after Thanksgiving.

And apparently there's a lot going on at your local pie shop.

And so be nice to folks and tip them when you pick up your pies.

Um this is the good news that keeps giving.

Last week I talked about how the CVS was coming down this Monday.

And I'm back again to talk about how the CVS is going to come down sometime next week.

We hope Monday or Tuesday.

It's gonna be so fun when it finally happens.

That's all that's the suspense.

This is killing us.

Uh any other good news?

Otherwise, I think we'll close our meeting and welcome our Girl Scouts up to uh up here if they'd like to take a picture.

All right, thanks so much for a great meeting.

We are adjourned.