Johnson.

Joe's here.

Kim.

Here.

Council President Acres.

Here.

Five present, two absent, those being Councilmembers Johnson and Bowie, and Bowie is expected shortly.

It is so exciting to see a packed house here at our very last council meeting of the year.

Thank you all so much for being here, and I want to especially thank some of our young folks for joining us here today.

We are really excited.

And I know some of you have already been to council meetings before.

This is old hat for you, but we're still grateful that you showed up.

So thanks for being here.

We're gonna start by inviting everyone to join us for the Pledge of Allegiance.

Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States, America.

And to the Republic for which it's hands.

One nation, another God.

And in this call, Liberty Justice.

Consent agenda items five through 28 are before you for your consideration.

I think we're all saying that was the best pledge of allegiance we've done all year.

Um, I know that item 25 is to be taken for separate consideration.

Is there anything else to be pulled from consent?

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

Coleman for the balance of the consent agenda.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed?

Five in favor, none opposed.

The consent agenda is adopted as amended.

Item number 25 is resolution 25-1983, accepting a hundred thousand dollar donation from the Unity Church Unitarian to support the work of St.

Paul Recovery Act Communications Reparation, Community Reparations Commission.

Great.

And I believe we need to move a version two of this item.

Um I will take a motion from Ms.

Yang for version two.

Um discussion of that motion.

All right.

See none.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed.

Seven or five in favor, none opposed.

The resolution is adopted as amended.

Uh item number 29 is resolution 25-1989.

Or sorry, we're doing item 31st.

Resolution 25-1990, celebrating the public service of Rust Stark and declaring December 17th, 2025 as Rust Stark Day in the city of St.

Paul.

I think it's December 18th, just to make sure we don't have two people on the same day.

Uh all right, with that, Miss Ms.

Joost.

He's the 17th.

Oh, he's the I'm so sorry, the 17th.

Okay.

Ms.

Joost, welcome up.

And Mr.

Stark, welcome up.

Melvin's tomorrow.

Because he's not here today.

Wow, the print on here is really small.

Um, so I'm really excited today to recognize Russ Stark, who's a former council member, former uh council president, and began his work here in the city of St.

Paul in 2008, where he served as our Ward World Council member until 2018.

Um, and then also served for three and a half years as our city council president.

And this is a very small print and very long because there's so much that Russ Stark has done for the city of St.

Paul.

So I'm just gonna share a few, a few of the things.

Um he has helped develop one of our strongest climate action resilience plans in the country.

Uh he has also helped map the state's first large-scale uh network geothermal heating and cooling now under construction at the Heights.

Um he secured St.

Paul's place as one of 25 cities in the American Cities Climate Challenge, which provided resources for creating EV spot networks, EV, the country's largest only municipally owned, renewably powered electric car share program.

He deployed the state's first all-electric fire engine with a second on the way.

Um he worked with many stakeholders over uh his time with the city to develop the citywide bike plan.

He created the St.

Paul Climate Justice Advisory Board.

Um he also worked to lower speed limits of the city to reduce crashes and injuries while making walking and biking safer.

Uh he worked with St.

Paul Public Schools to develop safe routes to schools.

There's more because Russ has just done so much, and I it's hard to skip any of these really important things, but he's also led the effort on the new West Seventh Corridor, formerly known as Riverview, to improve transit, street maintenance, and pedestrian safety.

He's reduced the amount of parking developers are required to pay for and build citywide, making St.

Paul a leader in this area.

He's partnered with Walk on TP to build a new Dakota and Nature Interpretive Center and a joint land management agreement.

He's advanced accessory dwelling units in the city in our city to allow higher density on single family lots.

He's also advocated for significant investment in public transit, including the gold line, the B line, and the coming G and H lines.

We have reduced greenhouse gas emissions caused by new municipal buildings by 46% through energy efficiency and clean energy investments.

I can't tell you how significant that is.

And now two new programs, Healthy Homes and the Power of Home, which will help weaterize and transition away from fossil fuels for our low-income, uh, low and moderate income homeowners.

So now therefore be resolved that the city of St.

Paul declares December 17th, 2025 as Rust Stark Day.

Welcome, Mr.

Stark.

Council President, Council members, everyone else who's here.

Thank you.

Really appreciate the recognition.

And yes, I played a small part in almost all of those things.

I actually had nothing to do with the fire truck.

That was all the folks in the back of the room here who did all the work.

In fact, Mayor Carter talks about how the way he figured out that my work was successful is that I didn't even know that they had ordered the truck when they ordered it.

Um I I really appreciate the recognition.

I know you have a lot on the agenda today.

Um I'll just say briefly, it's been a real pleasure uh being at the city for 18 years.

Um we've been able to do a lot together, and you all have been a big part of that.

And my ask to you is to keep doing the work of climate and climate justice that we've been really making progress on.

Um I think the city is really set up for success in that realm, and we've got a really great team of staff continuing to do the work.

So thank you, and I look forward to um knocking on your doors and emailing you and calling you as just the resident of St.

Paul.

Thank you.

Well, I will take that as a motion from Ms.

Joost uh in favor of the resolution.

Um we do have a packed agenda, and we will have an opportunity to celebrate celebrate Mr.

Stark later this evening, but I do want to open up that motion to any discussion for now.

Council Vice President.

Yeah, I'll just be very brief.

Um, as the former LA to a former council president of which you passed the baton, I was more than a fly on the wall but a seat at the table when you bestowed upon um just incredible advice about the work of the council, but also what it takes to lead the council.

And so me coming in in the first two years, kind of being one of the newbies on the council, but taking a leadership role.

I just want to say that the the advice that you gave Amy and myself in that room, not knowing that I'd find myself here, um, is stuff that is are ones that I carry with me.

I won't repeat all of them.

Some of them are spicier than others.

Um, but uh the last thought is just the deep, deep gratitude.

You were here when we were when Amy was fighting for the North End Community Center, and to have it be not just the gem of the North End, but the gem of the city with both geothermal and solar.

Um, that is like if we can make it the Russ Stark solar panels, I would.

But it's just a name.

Um, thank you for getting that across the finish line.

It was meaningful for us as a community to be investing in the future.

And um, with your hand and your guidance, um, we landed that plan together.

So just incredible gratitude for helping us get kind of the gem of the city off the ground and and in the ground.

Thank you, Russ.

Thank you.

I think I saw Ms.

Yang and then Ms.

Coleman.

Thank you, Council President.

Well, Russ, I want to say thank you so much for your work.

Um, in addition to the many wonderful things that are in this resolution here, I am incredibly incredibly thankful to your leadership for being a champion for our Eastside community.

And as many of you all know, in our East Side community, it is a part of our city where families are most energy burdened.

And uh, you and I, uh, as soon as I um came into the council here, I remember having a meeting with you about EV car share and uh recognizing that there was a deep gap in the services to the Greater East Side, and I'm so proud that because of your partnership and also your leadership.

Now we are in a better place where we're talking about expanding those services to the Greater East Side.

And so the work that you have done in the city here as a council member to your role now in leading our climate justice work.

Um, it is very life-changing, and I'm so grateful that we have had such an incredible leader like you as a council member.

It is very inspiring to see someone who has served as a council member move on to even greater roles.

And so you are inspiration to me and I and I believe so many others.

And so I can't wait to see what you continue doing.

Um, and thanks again.

And I hope you have a um, you know, I wish you the best in your endeavors, and can't wait to uh follow up and connect with you more in the future.

Thank you so much, Council Member.

Thanks, Ms.

Yang.

Uh, Ms.

Coleman, and then Ms.

Joost.

We have largely covered it.

We're just sitting in the office at Eastman.

I want to thank you so much on behalf of Ward 4.

You, as I say often, set the bar incredibly high on both how a council member engages with the community.

I hear it all the time still that people felt like they were heard and respected and listened to when you were in this seat.

And we'll also assume that I have a level of technical knowledge about climate change related things that I don't have.

So I blame you for that a little bit.

But just truly on behalf of Ward 4, I think that it is so remarkable the nearly two decades of service in this building.

I know that that work will continue in many forms, but feel very grateful and hope to, as I think we all do really carry on the legacy that you've left.

Thanks.

It's Joseph I'll also try to keep this really short.

I think you know, all of the work you've done really speaks for itself, and I'm especially appreciative of the way that you led St.

Paul around Climate Action Network, and we have become a leader nationwide on many of many of the topics that uh that we just shared that you've worked on, and that's something I care about a lot and and really look forward to also advancing.

Um I think also what really stands out to me is just the way that you lead, the way that you collaborate with others and you're you you work so hard and you're very friendly and easy to work with and calm and steady in what you know, even in my short time here have been some really challenging problems that we've worked on.

And so that's something that I really appreciate about you, and that I'll certainly miss.

Um, but I I do care a lot about making sure we're moving all of all of the that long list of work forward.

And you can see as we were reading through all the items, there are things throughout the whole city, the Hamlin Midway Library, the North End Community Center, the Colmore Park, Highland Bridge, everywhere.

And um, and that just matters so much to everyone, and we're just so appreciative.

So thank you so much, Russ.

Thank you.

Thanks, Ms.

Joseph Ms.

Bowie.

Thank you.

And I just wanted to just echo our really learned so much from your leadership, even your previous leadership as council, um, diving into this work as a council member and just looking at how like former council members have created policy.

When I've done deep dives around how policy was written, your name was all over some of these ordinances where I was like, wow, when Russ Stark was a council member, he was really active when making sure that there was policy outcomes to actually create support for businesses and support for safer environments and more walkability.

And I just wanted to say I champion our I am a better champion for many of the climate actions and many of the policy things that you have support it.

So um I know uh your service is not at an end at all when it comes to St.

Paul, and I just want to just say thank you so much for always being a great advisor to this work.

Thank you.

Thanks, Ms.

Bowie.

Uh there's not much I can add to that except to say, and I will add more uh at your celebration tonight, but uh thank you for your friendship, for your mentorship.

You were sitting in the seat when I joined the council and uh are really a role model in how to do this work.

Um if it's possible to say that someone makes great puns, um you make great puns.

Um and I think that that should be set on the record because no one mentioned it yet, and it's important.

Um and finally, I think it's noteworthy that you got maybe the best loudest applause from our youngest participants here in terms of the climate action work that you've done.

And I think that speaks to the fact that that work affects us grown-ups, but it's really gonna affect the lives of um our young people into the future.

So thank you for everything.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

And with that, I think uh uh council member Jost actually moved version two earlier, so that's what we're voting on.

Uh, with that, all in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed.

Six in favor, non-opposed.

The resolution is adopted.

Back to item 29, uh resolution 25-1989, celebrating the public service of Mayor Melvin Carter the third and declaring December 18th, 2025 as Melvin Carter, the third day in the city of St.

Paul.

Before I ther turn things over to Ms.

Joost, I know we have a really packed house.

I would urge people if you can to maybe move in just a bit.

There's also maybe more seating on this side, so folks, please make yourselves comfortable in our chambers.

Um, Ms.

Joast.

Thank you, Council President.

Um, and so again, we want to recognize uh Mayor Melvin Carter, who is also uh a former council member and was not able to be here with us today, but um has served our city for for many years.

Um and so this is a resolution we'll deliver it to the mayor um on a separate date, uh, but recognizing tomorrow as Melvin as Melvin Carter Day.

Um, and so I will share just a few highlights from I won't read the entire thing, but just a few things that you know the mayor's done so much over um his time here.

Um, particularly uh especially the last eight years and even even this year has been so challenging and helping lead us through a global pandemic, through the murder of George Floyd, um a cyber attack in the Trump era and uncertainty, and he's led with historic investments in our families um in our communities.

He's done things like raising the minimum wage, um making uh making youth sports free, eliminating library fines, um, and establishing the common sense project project to invest in our infrastructure.

And I'll highlight just a few other things and then I'll open it up for for comments.

Um we were talking today about the inheritance fund at the HRA, and and Council President mentioned being able to meet folks that um were a part of that program, and that's something that uh you know our mayor led.

Um I've seen many ways he's invested in our families and our youth through the Right Track program.

Um then as well as establishing the Affordable Housing Trust Fund and making sure that we can um provide innovative programs to make housing more accessible.

Uh we really appreciate his service to our city.

There's so much that he's done even beyond this list um that we didn't get to list every last thing.

Uh but I think that everything that he's set the groundwork for in our city uh will be very key and in investing in our people for years to come.

So really want to thank him for his service.

Thank you so much, Ms.

Jost.

I'll take that as a motion for version two.

Yes.

Uh any discussion of that motion.

I know the mayor couldn't be here with us today, but that doesn't keep us from talking about him.

Ms.

Bowie.

Thank you, Council President.

I just want to thank my colleagues because as we um after we had the budget vote, um, I was just really thinking deeply, particularly around as we're going into a new year and a transition of the mayor.

Like it's really important that we honor people of their service.

This public service work, as we all know, is uh is a really tough job, but it also comes with a lot of rewards to being able to be selfless and be fear of advocates.

Um so I do want to just say um on record, you know, how how much I um appreciate the the willingness to be committed to this role, not only as a council member, but also stepping into as a mayor and um you know having a vision um that centers kids, um, have a vision that centers equity, um, and also being like uh a light, a beacon of hope for many cities, major cities across the country that looks to St.

Paul as ways to be more equitable and more courageous.

So I uh uh understand that he's not able to be here, but I do want to just say I do appreciate the contributions and the team that he has appointed to actually you know get us this far.

And I also just want to like make sure that you know, as a as a council member from Rondo, right, from the same neighborhood and graduated from Central High School, that we're paying it forward when it comes to um showing recognition to leadership that comes from our community and leadership that also had some great, great um contributions to our community as well.

Thanks so much, Ms.

Bowie.

Council Vice President, and then Ms.

Yang.

Thank you.

Um just really quickly.

Uh I am Melvin as my neighbor in the North End, and we were neighbors for six years, and I think not knowing really who he was or the work that he did, and one day I read in the newspaper, um, Melvin Carter the third um filed for office, and I thought, is this you?

He's like, Yeah, that's me.

Um, but I think sort of that genuine authenticity that he brought to this work is something that um is is definitely leaving an imprint everywhere in St.

Paul.

I know that our youth programs got better, right?

Our libraries got better.

So much of the city um is growing his legacy as we continue to invest in those values.

Um the last thing I'll add is um he was interviewed in an article I read, and he said um it's uh it's sometimes hard to enjoy the view when you're when you're in the driver's seat.

So I really hope that um Melvin takes one of those famous Amy Bryan Mohan drives and drives around the city and not only walks into our rec centers, but I think sees all of you and the faces of the city that he um he has served so boldly and carefully and kindly over um over the last um I don't even know what it that would include is council service, but for sure over the last decade.

So deep appreciation to the service, and we look forward to seeing him out in community.

Thanks, Vice President.

Ms.

Yang.

Thanks, Council President.

Well, I echo everything that um my colleagues have shared, and uh I just want to name that uh the work that we do is not easy at all.

We have to make very tough decisions.

Sometimes we get to make easy decisions, and that's when you know things are running smoothly.

And one thing that um, you know, I I really commend uh Mayor Carter's leadership, and one of the things that I appreciate most is that even when everything felt so hectic and chaos all around us, um, from the pandemic to the murder of George Floyd to even the cyber attack that our city recently experienced.

I appreciate so much that he was always so poised and calm and ready to take action on that.

And that's something that I will always carry with me.

Um he is somebody who is such an eloquent speaker.

I still remember when I was um when I began community organizing 10 years ago, and that was uh one of the first few things that I noticed right away.

Um and so on top of just all the really incredible things that have already been named in the resolution.

I um know that there's gonna be very big shoes to fill because um we had a mayor who was so innovative, so creative, and so deeply committed to community, and I uh am so grateful to the ways in which Mary Carter was deeply committed to our youth and also to really transforming the conversation around safety, which is why we even have our community public safety um uh uh platform in our city and also an office of neighborhood safety, which you do not always find in other cities.

Um so I um uh will definitely um miss working with him and know that he is in good hands.

He is uh you know he's a leader, and can't wait to see um the future opportunities that he takes on.

Thanks so much, Ms.

Yang.

Um, Miss Coleman.

Thank you, Council President.

Just three things to say quickly.

The first is I think the thing that we all know about the mayor is how much he leads with love for the city and how deep that runs in him and his commitment to truly making St.

Paul the city we all believe it can be is so admirable and so important, and I think it has mattered so much to have somebody over the last eight years who has led with love for St.

Paul.

So I I want to say that.

The second thing is, you know, as we read the list of accomplishments and look at the programs that have begun under his uh mayor uh mayorship and everything else, we are still so far from seeing the full impact of what he has been able to do for our city over the last eight years, and it will take years and even decades for so much of the work, the seeds that he has planted to come to fruition.

And so as we move forward and as he moves on in his career, I just think really knowing that the that the real fruit of what he has done for St.

Paul will continue to flourish for many, many years to come and continue to change lives for so many years to come.

And then finally, you know, I know our mayor would be the first person to say that it is an incredible privilege to be the mayor.

It is also an incredible sacrifice, both on his part, but also on the part of his wife, Sakina and his family, and knowing how many people have really put their heart and soul into service, whether they were in the role of mayor or not, is I think not to be forgotten in this moment.

So I'm very, very grateful to Mayor Carter and grateful to his family and grateful for his service.

Thank you so much.

Um I would just echo all of my colleagues' words of gratitude.

Um, there has not been a better ambassador and champion for our city throughout incredibly difficult times um than Mayor Carter, and I think we're all deeply indebted to him for his service.

Um and we know he'll continue to stay a champion for St.

Paul um long after being mayor, and um I'm personally really excited to see what he does next.

So with that, I'll take that as a motion for version two from Ms.

Joast.

Uh all in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed.

Six in favor, none opposed, the resolution is adopted.

Take a motion from council vice president to suspend the rules to honor Chief Inks.

All in favor say aye.

Aye, all opposed.

Six in favor, non-opposed, the rules are suspended.

Council Vice President.

Oh, so sorry, we have to read the item.

Resolution 25-2008 celebrating the public service career of Chief Barton Butch Inks and declaring December 30th, 2025 as Butch Inc.'s Day in the City of St.

Paul.

Council Vice President.

Awesome.

And Chief Inks.

Okay.

Um, I'm going into the thing that no one likes, but I'm gonna read it into the record.

Um, thank you all to my colleagues for signing on to this.

So um there's a compet very competitive for uh honoring days this week.

Um so we've set uh we are honoring um Butch Inks on Butch Inc.'s Day, which will be December 30th, which is actually his last day working at the city before he retires.

So uh whereas Chief Barton or Butch Inks has dedicated 40 years of service to the city of St.

Paul, starting out in a city youth employment program, advancing through the ranks of parks and recreation, and then joining the St.

Paul Fire Department in 1994, culminating in his appointment as fire chief in November of 2019.

And whereas Chief Inks has combined his public service as fire chief with service to our country, having served 26 honorable years of the United States Air Force, bringing a lifetime of discipline, dedication, and commitment to his role.

And whereas under his leadership, the St.

Paul Fire Department has undergone historic transformation, strengthening readiness, expanding staffing, modernizate modernizing equipment, and building community trust, all aligned with our community first public safety strategy.

Whereas Chief Inks has advanced numerous innovations in first responder health and wellness, including peer support to address mental health and stress, physical exams and cardiac screenings.

Whereas during his tenure as chief, the St.

Paul Fire Department has expanded staffing to its highest levels, although I will editorialize here, not enough, but to historic levels, created new career and EMS pathways to attract talents of our young people and strengthen the future of the fire and emergency services here in St.

Paul.

And whereas Chief Inks managed an unprecedented 56% increase of calls for service over the past decade, handling more than 60,000 calls annually, demonstrating strong leadership in a rapidly growing city.

And whereas Chief Inks has built his leadership on one simple yet profound truth.

Beyond every first responder is a human being, shaping a 21st century fire department culture that center well-being and humanity above all.

Whereas Chief Inks successfully balanced the demands of Highstak's career with the love and support of his family, especially his wife Erica and their children, Kyle, Emily, Sophia, and Ella.

Their unwavering support has been a cornerstone of his success, allowing him to dedicate himself fully to the fire for to the fire service and to the city of St.

Paul.

Now, therefore, be it resolved, the St.

Paul City Council hereby proclaims December 30th, 2025, as Chief Barton Butch Inc.

Day in the city of St.

Paul.

Thank you.

Council President, uh City Council, thank you.

That's super kind and very kind words in the in the resolution.

And you know, I I uh we did our last uh uh graduation ceremony today of our last recruit class, and I handed my last badge out today.

Uh it was hard.

Um I thought it I didn't think it would be as hard and emotional, um, but it was and and I reflect that it it was because we we care, right?

We care, and it's why we're we do this this work is when I look around the packed house here and because people are here because they care and they want to serve, and so it's it's inspiring to see such young people in this in the chambers today because they they care about things and want to want to make change.

So um I I was just an honor to be be a public servant for so long and in the city I grew up in in the city I love, um, work to be the fire chief of the best fire department there is.

Um we always say the region or the area, it's just let's just stop.

It's the best fire department there is, and and that's a fact, and it's because of the women and men of the fire department, it's because of the support from the council and the mayor's and everybody.

It's just it's such a huge support system that we have, and it's why we were able to be successful.

So thank you.

And lastly, thanks for mentioning my family.

Like that means so much to me.

So to what they what they um they see and they experience in in this, they're they're 100% vested in the St.

Paul Fire Department, City of St.

Paul.

I have my daughter Sophia here, uh, my wife Erica, uh, my son was at the graduation, and so it's just they they care as well.

And and um, as everyone knows, in your positions, you know, your friends and your family and your your loved ones, they they serve as well.

And um, and so thank you.

My wife and daughter that are here today.

So thank you.

I will take that as a motion for approval by Vice President Kim, and I would look to see if there's any discussion of the motion.

Ms.

Yang.

Thanks, Council President.

Well, it is is a truly uh such a bittersweet day saying goodbye to so many leaders um in our city and uh Chief Inks.

I want to say thank you for your service to our city uh for so many years when I received the email about your retirement.

I gotta tell you, I was not ready for that at all.

Um, it's been truly an honor to work with you.

I want to thank you for being so communicative with the council here, um, answering your questions, providing us information, and truly being one of the strongest advocates for our fire department under your leadership.

We were able to open up some um our new fire stations.

There was just one in uh war two, uh recently one in my ward, and um, you know, more firefighters who are gonna be coming into the department too, uh more resources uh for safety and for their own well-being, uh especially health-wise.

And I know you know how important that is.

And so when I read that email, I just felt so much genuine love, not only for the things that you do every day as a firefighter and as a chief, but truly for our firefighters too.

And so I want to say thank you.

You will be deeply missed, and I wish you all the best with your retirement.

Thank you.

It's very kind, thank you.

Ms.

Bowie.

Thank you, Council President, uh, and Chief Inks, like uh Councilmember Chair Yang had said when I received the news, I was very shocked, but I totally understand you.

It's so deserving in terms of when it is your time to um uh make that decision, right?

Of when to retire, and I just think I can't think of an most uh more credible leader.

Um, and under your leadership, you have seen the results, you have expanded um the firefighters, you have um appointed historic um uh monumental um leaders within these but within this department, and you know, when I think about particularly as a council member, you know, what is the leadership I want to stand next to.

Um I recall way before I even made the decision to run for office.

I remember listening to your keynote at I believe it was like a fire united, firefighters united um event, and you opened up saying that this isn't a fire department, this is an opportunity department.

And I was just thinking of like that as a type of attitude and a type of leadership and a type of genuine dedication to what equity means for our cities that this is not just coming into a profession to do a row, but this is coming into a city to provide a service, and that service is making sure that our people feel protected.

I just want to say you have always been so accessible.

You always have been a great um not only mentor but educator, particularly around learning about the process.

I am just uh I admire how you not only lead but you also think very innovatively around how we can solve today's problems and how we can solve tomorrow's problems.

So I feel really confident that you have a a team that is ready to step up.

Um, and I am so excited um to to celebrate you and also to make sure that we have a legacy that the next um leader can step into.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thanks, Ms.

Bowie.

Um, I saw uh Ms.

Coleman, Ms.

Joseph and Vice President Kim.

Thank you.

I have been sitting here thinking about the three people who we are recognizing today and how hard all of their jobs are.

Um and Chief Anks, your job seems truly impossibly difficult to me thinking about how to lead the department you leave where life's are on the line every single day, both the lives of our the folks in our fire department, the people who you are all saving every single day.

It is I think that it is the type of work that we can take for granted in a city, and I hope we never do in St.

Paul.

It is it is so essential, and getting up every single day and knowing that that has been what is on your shoulders.

I cannot imagine what that has been like.

Um but we are so so very grateful for your service, so grateful for the culture that you have built in the city, you know, as we have talked about throughout the budget process when we knew that there might be um cuts coming to the fire department.

Every single person at this table knew that that was unacceptable because you have made so the work that you are doing saves lives.

It is, it's we are we are very, very grateful.

We would not be here if it weren't for your leadership.

I hope you are going to take a lot of time to rest um and recover from what I imagine has been a very, very hard uh number of years with the city.

But um, thank you.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

It's very kind.

Thank you.

Ms.

Just you, Council President.

Um, she thinks I I too was was very very sad to hear that you're retiring, but also very happy for you to um after just so many years of service and so many roles in our fire department, um, that you are able to spend the time with your your family and your loved ones and the people um you know has also sacrificed so much uh uh for our city.

Uh I think that you know, as as my colleagues have said, we've learned so much about the fire department in our first two years here from you know the fire ops program that we did and how much you've educated us on what it really takes to be a firefighter.

And that really um I don't had a big impact on me.

Um I think it had a big impact on my council colleagues, and I've also watched um, you know, how the fire department has evolved over your leadership, even as our city has also been changing, like always needing to find a different way to rise to the occasion to care for our residents.

And so I just really appreciate that about you and have enjoyed getting to know you, and you'll certainly be be missed very much.

But I wish you the best.

So thank you.

Vice President Kim.

Yeah, I'll wrap it up.

Um yeah, you should oh yeah, sorry, I didn't realize I will be second to wrapping.

Um, yeah, it's very difficult to talk about your retirement.

I think you have more than my respect, but you have my trust.

I have called upon you in very dire moments for our community.

I think the one that I'll lift up hopefully isn't too spicy for folks, but um, some of folks are here tonight to testify about what happened a few weeks ago.

And um, I had to call um personally I called Butch to say um one of the protesters needed immediate medical care, and that we were really struggling to get folks in.

And Butch had just been frushed off of arm surgery.

Um, but I watched our chief of fire go face to face with federal agents and say, are you denying this person medical care?

Like you cannot deny this person medical care.

Um, so I just commend you for your bravery.

So you have led a very honorable legacy here in St.

Paul, and the batam will be passed, and I know um the department will continue on in those principles, but um, for me personally, I have I have called on you in very dire moments for sure, and you have responded every time.

And um, I just uh the last thought is um the CARES unit is the only um mental health, like specific mental health responding like um emergency service that we have here in St.

Paul, and that's with our EMS and our fire and our BLS unit.

And so um this is a dire, dire need for our community, and this is something that um our our chief has ushered in and grown and expanded and helped um alleviate the call times for fire and more emergent services, but now this allows us to sit with folks.

And as we heard, um, at Truth in Tax Station, there are children really struggling with their mental health right now.

Families are really struggling with their mental health right now.

Um, and so I'm just really really proud that the legacy that you've built, the structure and infrastructure that you built is standing up against this moment in time and in a really powerful way.

So thank you so much for your service.

Thank you.

Um actually I think I will let you close.

Um there's no way to follow that, Chief.

Thank you.

And I think it in addition to everything my colleague said, um, I think it says a lot that your team, so many of your team are here because you have built an incredible team and you've inspired them and um your family, your team members, they're all here to support you because of the incredible leader that you are.

So you will be deeply deeply missed, and we also look forward to celebrating you uh tomorrow evening.

So thank you so much.

I'm gonna take that as a motion from Vice President Kim.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed?

Six in favor, none opposed.

The resolution is adopted.

Thank you.

Item 31 is resolution 25-1977 recognizing human rights day and international migrants day.

Uh and this is uh could not be a more important time to be bringing forth this resolution.

I believe that Edmundal from our city attorney's office is here.

Although I'm not seeing him right now.

Okay.

Um thought we were gonna have a staff report on this item, but uh seeing that there's no staff here to present.

Um I will say that I am bringing forward this resolution because I think it is um oh, he is here.

Edmundo is here.

Oh, he's trying to get to the front.

Okay.

I was gonna tap dance for you.

Come on up.

Thank you so much for being here, Edmundo.

Good afternoon.

Good afternoon.

Council President, Council members.

I apologize, I was stuck behind the crowd here.

I couldn't didn't want to just scream.

I'm here.

Um thank you very much for considering this resolution.

This resolution is uh a request to uh recognize International Human Rights Day and International Migrants Day, which are both celebrated in December.

Uh given all the events that are going on in the city, uh I thought it was important for the city to recognize both of these um historic uh events and dates so that uh we continue to reaffirm our um support of both migrants and human rights in the city of St.

Paul.

Thank you, Mr.

Leho.

I um appreciate your hard work on this.

Um you are our first uh immigration attorney in our city attorney's office, and um we we made brought you on board several years ago.

We could not have imagined the moment that we're in.

I also want to thank my colleagues, uh especially um Council Vice President Kim and others um for the investments that we made in our budget this year to make sure that we were investing in your work, both immigration and naturalization services.

So thank you so much for bringing this in front of us.

Um I know we have many folks here to testify on a related item later on in our agenda, but really appreciate you being here to bring this forward.

Um I will move approval.

Is there any further discussion of the item?

Seeing none, all in favor say aye.

Aye, all opposed.

Six in favor, none opposed.

The resolution is adopted.

Thank you very much.

Item number 32 is resolution 25-1914 outlining the city's 2026 legislative agenda.

Great.

Welcome up, Mr.

Peterson.

Uh, and again, we sort of talked about this a bit last week in by way of introduction.

This is um not the city's final legislative agenda.

This is not what we will be taking to the legislature this year.

It is sort of a preliminary report, mostly with the priorities that the council has shared.

Um, we will then have a full report on the new mayor elects legislative agenda on January 21st.

So at the end of this, we'll be laying this over till then.

Um, but welcome up, Mr.

Peterson.

Thanks, Council President, Council members.

Uh, do you want me to start from the very beginning again?

Or would you like to kind of I can maybe just start it and go kind of cruise through it.

So um looking at slide number one here, as I kind of mentioned uh last week at the state budget uh a couple weeks ago, we received the November forecast.

Um I believe uh Pauly's handing around the PowerPoint if you don't have that from last week already.

But uh just as I shared previously last week, we are looking at a current biennium of a 2.465 uh projected surplus, but in the out years of the fiscal year 28 and 29, we're looking at about a 2.9 billion dollar uh shortfall.

Um that's just kind of higher inflation uh rates and then uh the forecast just kind of shifting policies uh uncertainty at the federal level, some costs around K-12 education and HHS as well.

One thing I wanted to highlight here is on that debt service bonding uh part of the negotiations of the session last year was that the bonding bill would be uh would be included in the budget forecast, but that number would be negotiated as uh the legislators uh leaders uh negotiate what that uh bonding bill would look like.

So at the moment, with the February uh November forecast, that's at 1.165.

So that's the max that a bonding bill could be at this uh level.

We'll see when the February forecast comes out in early March, uh what that number would look like.

And then just highlighting those two key dates there uh for when session starts on February 17th, and then when they have to legislatively um end by midnight on Sunday, May 17th.

So I mentioned last week, uh the Senate had two special elections.

Uh so this current makeup is 3433 with DFL Senate Majority Leader Aaron Murphy here from St.

Paul leading uh Senator Champion is still the president of the Senate, and then Senator Johnson is still serving as minority leader.

Uh lay of the land for the Minnesota House currently, there was uh two uh uh special elections that will happen at the end of January, January 27th to fill two seats.

One was that Senate seat that was filled in the eastern half of Maplewood and western half of Woodbury.

Um there was a primary on Tuesday.

Uh the individual named Shelley Buck won that primary.

There's no GOP candidate, so in likelihood, um, unless there is a strong write-in campaign, Shelley Buck will be the new representative elect uh for that seat, and then uh for the mayor lex seat that um she resigned for, we had that primary on Tuesday, and uh Meg Luger Nicolai is the winner of that primary, and she'll face a Republican on that day, um, and then filling that election on the 27th as well.

So we still have Speaker Damuth and then Leader Stevenson taking over for the late Speaker Merida Melissa Hortman, and then floor leader Jamie Long and um representative Harry Niska as the floor leader for the GOP.

Um just highlighting here our delegation um where they're sitting at, I won't read those verbatim.

Uh they're all very similar to what we've talked about previously.

Uh so just going ahead here, as you mentioned, council president.

So here are some of the city council legislative priorities.

So, as Director House and I have met with you all in the summer and the fall here, um, these are items that you've called collectively have brought forward to us that you would like to be seen in the legislative agenda.

Um, I'll kind of highlight if there's duplicative, if that's like more than one of you had mentioned that too as best as I can.

But uh as you categorize it in the ordinance, these are like organized in the new structure here.

So the first one is revenue taxes and revenue.

And so as we just uh talk about local control and the best needs for our city here, and as we work with our county partners and other cities across the state, just making sure that um the state revenue and fiscal policies are kind of matching those that local control and that we have the autonomy and authority to do those.

Um, in here as well as the half cent sales tax that was authorized in 1993, that would help with the financing of the arena, um, however, that would be seen going forward.

Um, also um, from many of you was an uh talking about is the LGA increase and indexing that to inflation.

I'm sure you've heard this uh many times, but I just want to put that and repeat that in for context.

In 2002, the city of St.

Paul received 73.6 million dollars in LGA.

In 2025, our allocation was 81.8 million dollars.

Had that kept up with inflation, St.

Paul would have received 151.1 million dollars in 2025.

So that's a difference of 69.4 million dollars.

So as we're thinking about the property tax levy, not just here, but um as the county looks at county program aid as well and the increases there, how that could uh have uh help us meet the largest unmet need because we have the heart, the largest unmet need of all municipalities throughout the state, um, which is about a gap of 153.8 million, so 72 million dollars that we're looking to fill.

So anything the legislature can do to allocate more money to LGA, you all made that very loud and clear, and then indexing that formula for inflation there.

Um we've talked about these previously, um the fifth tier income tax on highest earners to uh support Medicaid expansion, also on the state mortgage transfer indeed uh tax to kind of help with revenues there, so that those um home sales would come back to the city.

Um, something that council member Yang, you've talked to us about uh several times.

So just wanted to highlight those there.

Also automating the reform property tax refund to kind of make it easier for our homeowners and renters to get those refunds.

And then um just expanding our property tax base as much as we can as we host a large number of uh government buildings and nonprofits throughout the city.

Thanks, Mr.

Peterson.

And just since we have um some folks who are a little bit antsy getting ready over here for their item, and maybe we could just hit the high notes of some of the next few slides.

Perfect.

Uh moving along to the next section, capital investment and economic development.

Um, you've all seen these before, but you all mentioned kind of the uh arena complex projects and then the river learning center and then the Como Zoo Big Cat exhibit as uh capital projects.

Um also just an economic development, just talking about uh nonprofit capital investment projects uh for the state to invest in those as well.

And as we talk about downtown, uh the Cobb tax credit, which is catalyzing underutilized buildings to help convert some of those buildings and helping use TIFF.

Um, also looking at land value as a potential things for downtown and in Midway and other um economic developments ways there too.

Also, just wanted to highlight um the investments that were made on arcade and E7th this last year by the legislature and how that uh fund could be created statewide for a program for all of our businesses uh throughout the city and throughout the state for um folks to apply for that.

And then just having the authority for social districts, which would be the ability for an individual to enjoy uh alcoholic beverage, certain days of the year, certain boundaries in the streets during special events or however the city would like to see fit, however, the city council would want to organize that, but we would need authority from that from the uh the state.

Uh moving along to transportation, just as we think about uh our transit system and how we build out more transit opportunities through BRT, um talking about the West 7th Corridor with uh Met Council, Mindot, Ramsey County, how we can kind of invest in that um given the uh the money being reallocated from Ramsey County to different projects and how we can work with the state and other resources for those regional investments in West 7th.

And then as we talk about local traffic calming money that we received previously, but um as we uh now have the admin citations authority now, if that's something that we'd like to see moving forward, hearing from you all that maybe be in interest of joining that pilot program with Mendota Heights in Minneapolis on uh speed cameras.

Um, for parks and trails, just kind of ongoing support funding for that.

Um, as you heard from Mr.

Stark, just any kind of geothermal work as well.

We've been trying to do phase two at Como Zoo for the work there, so just uh some of the work there.

Uh education and workforce, um, as you heard on your previous resolution, just any kind of support for uh access for our uh new Americans and English language learners, and then any support we can do for our libraries and recreation centers for youth uh workforce, and then uh no fee swimming lessons, any work that we can do to build on to what you've all adopted in the 2026 budget there.

Um in public safety space, as we've talked about before, banning uh uh firearms in our rec centers, our libraries, our government, our sensitive spaces that we should where our children and our youth are at.

Also, just preemption around um that law as well and just sensible gun measures, uh the one-time public safety aid in 2023 to make that ongoing, uh, the work for our copper wire theft that we've been doing to help uh mitigate that, and then um hearing from you all on some of the legislation just opposing um any harm to our new Americans with ICE cooperation um with those legislation there and public safety space.

Um, and housing and economic and community stability, just around the housing and any kind of investments that the state can make there for the heights um for housing and uh investment bonds there, um, our work with the continuum of care with Ramsey County and with Hennepin County in the city of Minneapolis for our unsheltered and homeless population and any prevention efforts and emergency shelter support we can do there, um tenant rights protections, and then any policies that we can help with some of the racial disparities that have um impacted and hurt some of our community members that have been here.

And then finally, our last slide here, just other organizations, just any type of investments in clean water, lead line replacement funding, and then also just um any work around climate change as you've heard previously.

So this kind of highlights encompasses uh some of the conversations we have, not obviously everything we've all seen that the document is uh lengthy, and I look forward to you all's conversation with mayor elect.

So Mr.

Peterson, thank you very much.

Um, really see a lot of our thoughts and priorities reflected here.

It's already along legislative agenda, so looking forward to uh what the mayor elect will be proposing as well.

Um, and I think this gives all of us a good sense of what we might want to have further conversation with you about to make sure it's included before we see this again on January 21st.

So thank you again very much.

Um, with the uh questions from my colleagues, okay.

Um gonna take a little bit of chairs prerogative here because we have a very special um presentation for some of our very special guests here.

We're gonna move item 35 uh up and take that item now.

Yeah, let's go.

Item 35 is resolution public hearing 25-257, amending the financing and spending plan in the Department of Parks and Recreation and the amount of 230,000 for the Baker Park Improvement Project and entering into a grant agreement with the St.

Paul Parks Conservancy for the project.

As council member representing the West Side and Baker Park, I could not be more excited about this item and about our guests who are here today.

I'm excited to welcome up Director Rodriguez to take us away.

Thank you, Council Council President, Council members.

Just wanted to take this time to express our sincere gratitude to the NFL and the Minnesota Vikings for their continued uh partnership and generosity.

If you look across the city from Oxford to North End Community Center to Conway and to now Baker, uh they continue to provide meaningful investment in our communities and most importantly for our young people.

Um also want to thank the St.

Paul Parks Conservancy, Lisc, uh Westco, and their continued support and their commitment to strengthening our parks and public spaces.

Their partnership plays a role in in getting to the finish line in critical projects like this.

Um also want to give a special shout out to the Westside Boosters.

Um Bob New of Santino, everyone that shows up every day to provide uh programs and services to our young people, their dedication and consistency make a real difference in our neighborhoods and our communities, and this field improvement will truly be a game changer for the kids and the families that they support.

Um so with that, I'd like to welcome up all of our partners, specifically our young people to come and stand with me real quick, and then uh and I will welcome up Lester Bagley from the Minnesota Vikings.

Thank you for being here.

Good afternoon, uh City Council President members, Lester Bagley, Executive Vice President of Minnesota Vikings here on a great day.

We get to honor the uh mayor Carter, uh Chief Inks, uh uh former city council member Starks, uh a great great group of people stark uh rather, but uh great group of uh of folks um and an opportunity to celebrate community, and that's why we're here.

Just wanted to uh say thank you on behalf of the Vikings to uh St.

Paul Parks, to the Parks Conservancy, to the NFL and to Lisc for the partnership, the opportunity to make this this new football field happen where hopefully dreams come true and uh kids get to play and get outside, both men, women, boys, and girls.

So uh very excited about that opportunity.

Uh great relationships and respect for uh the city of St.

Paul and uh uh the mayor uh and the future mayor, uh all great uh people and great uh relationships.

So looking forward to that.

So with that, um thank you very much and school.

Hey and of course, we couldn't end this without a surprise for our young people, right?

So um underneath here are some bags that we will hand to each of you who wants the first one.

We'll start you want to open that on tell us what's in there.

Is there a signature on it?

Signed by Aaron Jones.

What year?

I think you've got a few jealous city council members up here right now, especially Councilmember Joe.

I I want to sign helmet by Aaron Jones.

There you go, folks.

Director, would would any of our young people want to come up and just say their names and what they love about St.

Paul or the West Side or the West Side Boosters?

And you guys want to come up and say a few words?

No.

Oh my god.

No, I'm gonna go to the next picture.

Welcome up.

Welcome up.

A thing that I like about Baker is like uh our community is like a family to us, and we all play together and stuff.

Yeah, I just want to thank for the West Out to bring me in to the community.

Thanks all appreciate you.

Thank you guys.

All right.

And just so you know, these boys were the first team to play in the now here at the Junior Olympics.

We made it to the Junior.

We made it to the Junior Olympics, but we lost the game that we need.

But we're going to Florida and we're going to get back in the Junior Olympics and winning the whole thing back all.

Do you guys come up?

Sure.

Would you mind if council members came down and took a quick photo with our guests?

Alright, we're gonna do a quick photo.

Can we speak?

Right, right.

Give the council.

Let's not get a good idea.

All right.

That was really exciting.

We're gonna do what we call in the council a hard pivot and return back to item.

Oh, I'm so sorry, we need to actually vote on that.

I mean, a public hearing.

Okay, that was a public hearing.

Uh okay, so this is a public hearing about the item we just heard about.

Is there anyone here?

Anyone else here to speak on that item?

See, now I'll take a motion from Ms.

Joseph 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.

I will note to our guests that we do have some more seats in the front now.

If anyone wants to come and sit down, make yourselves comfortable.

And we'll go back to item 33.

Item number 33 is SR25-270, graduate internal presentation.

Miss Bowie.

Thank you so much, Council President.

I just want to introduce Ronde Berry, who was a graduate intern in my office.

He started some months ago.

Um, and he is uh closing out his finals in terms of his last year um in law school.

So he's just gonna give a brief presentation, particularly about his tremendous work um in the ward wine's office, and also um share some of his his learnings and also his uh recommendations, particularly around uh the the work we're doing and in Ward One and also the reparations commission.

So I'll just pass it on to our esteemed um graduate intern, Ronday Berry.

Great welcome.

It's hard to uh follow up, but I just went through uh Saw itself.

Congratulations to those kids.

But uh for everybody here, my name is Ronde Berry.

Um I am currently well at one semester, I guess I'm a law lawyer, so I just finished my for that.

Um before law school, I worked with Black Civic Network.

Um at Blessed Savannah, we did like get out the vote campaigns and the voter registration efforts in St.

Paul.

Um, while interning with Ward One, my role is to support the community engagement and conduct listening sessions with the reparations commission.

Uh so just an overview of like what I some work I did.

So I promoted listening sessions.

I invited stakeholders and constituents to attend like the events to become involved.

Promoted the events on the social media page, which if you haven't already follow the Instagram page.

Um promoted the reparations commission, actually.

Chair Cruz is here.

Um then also attended all the commission meetings.

So what some of the key themes that I observed in the listening sessions.

Um the health disparities in the black community was talked about a lot.

The community members expressed a desire for support for the descendants of Ronda, particularly with uh land restitution.

Increased support for housing, programs to help individual organizations utilize vacant property for economic development and identify healthcare uh providers that were allies of the black community.

So, what methods did I use for the public engagement?

Uh Ward 1 already had a newsletter.

Uh, but one thing that we wanted to do was actually increase the amount of people that was a part of the newsletter, so we increased a huge enrollment in that.

Posted updates of everything on social media to inform the public about upcoming events and events that Councilmember Bowie was speaking at.

Um then attended a means of community group minutes to observe and uh their problems and understand what's going on in their neighborhoods and everything.

So, what did I learn of the reparations com uh commission means?

I must go to the last bullet point because I never knew like the history of I-94.

And that one kind of uh that was a big thing to learn about in a sit through.

Also learned about how various organizations wanted to be partnered with the ADOS community, especially the reparations commission to help everything that was going on.

And then I gained insights from organization how they want to help the city of St.

Paul grow and develop, which I thought was a very interesting thing.

So the overall thing that I learned during this internship is the importance of building trust with the community.

Um everyone wants to be heard, but everybody don't feel like they have a voice and thought to the right person.

Being that being able to that bridge to help people speak to the uh council member Bowie was a very important thing.

Um, the need for inclusive policy discussion that reflect what community members want and need is also a big thing because I feel like sometimes people don't feel like that they are their voice or with their ideas of uh what they want to be changed to happen, and being able to have that bridge and like give them a line of communication for that was also important.

And then just also exploring the best uh measures to have everybody engaged.

Everybody in today's time use different site forms of social media or like ways of communication, so figuring out all those ways to get everybody involved.

Some relations a bit.

Uh obviously being around all the city council members is a very good thing to be around.

Um, but the also work with the St.

Paul Reparations Commissioners like Cher Cruz is here.

Um met with various judges like just being in the building, which I thought was a very good learning tool.

Um, met with the city attorneys and member of Mayor Carter.

So the strengths of this internship award won this year.

Um, we experienced strong participation, listening sessions and community events.

More than 20 plus people attended each listening session, so we're looking to increase next next year and a half 30 plus.

Um, strong engagement at the boost of events that we attended.

And if you ever see us at any event, please stop by.

And then build connections with key community groups and plan to continue those relationships next year.

Any questions?

All right, well, thank you so much for not only information but for your work with us.

Um, Councilmember Bowie, thanks for taking the time to help us hear more about the work you did.

Any questions from any colleagues or discussion?

Doesn't look like it.

Um, Miss Bowie, do you want to?

Yeah, I just want to say I appreciate you stepping into the hot seat.

I know um, especially imagining my experience and as a college student coming before the body in such a formal way.

I want to say I appreciate you saying yes to your leadership.

Um, and also want to just say I appreciate you being an extension of the priority of an engagement, you know, coming into this office.

We all understand the importance of engagement and people being heard.

So thank you for being that bridge.

Um, um, not only to the ward wine's office, but also to the city as a whole.

So thank you so much for sharing um what your experience has been like and also sharing what you hope to do in the future.

So thank you.

And all the best.

Yep, thank you.

Item number 34 is or is final adoption of ordinance 25-4, amending title four of the administrative code to add chapter 92 titled tree preservation for city sponsored projects.

And this is an item that is actually not before us for final adoption.

Uh, it was going to be, but um, we have been doing truly thorough, deep and thoughtful work since this item was last in front of us.

And uh actually, as a result of that work, we did not want to do final adoption today, but to uh make sure we took the time to really get this right.

Um, I'm gonna let our speakers say more about that in a moment.

Um, but I want to express my gratitude to directors Kershaw and Rodriguez for your leadership on this, um, to my legislative aide, Megan Jackett for her in indefatigable work on this, um, and to our public in input group members, uh, several of whom are here today and are gonna speak for all of their um time, diligence, and input to this process.

I think we are we are getting there, we are making huge progress.

Um, and this is something that I know is is uh of interest to the entire city, how we preserve trees in our neighborhoods um is critical for so many reasons.

So, with that, directors, the show is yours.

I just introduced myself the last time.

Um, good afternoon, everybody.

Andy Rodriguez, Park Director with the City of St.

Paul.

Um, Council President, Council members, thank you for the opportunity to provide an update on the tree preservation ordinance and its current status.

Um, as mentioned, the ordinance remains on track for poll implementation during future construction season.

Um, between now and then, staff are actively applying and testing components of the ordinance where feasible with ongoing projects.

Um establishes uh a couple key standards that will apply across the project lifecycle, including the use of certified arborists, comprehensive tree surveys, formal tree preservation plans, uh threat strengthened tree protection requirements and updated planting standards.

And we are not seeing the PowerPoint just.

There we go.

Okay, thanks.

Um these elements are now being integrated into our internal workflows and our early design processes.

Um additionally, our team is finalizing standard operating procedures for both tree protection and tree planting, and those SOPs will be made publicly available by February 1st.

Um I'll turn it over to Sean to speak on some legal and practical considerations.

I'll drive.

Thanks, Council President.

Uh Council members, my name's Sean Kirsch, I'm the public works director.

This process, I want to reiterate your point, Council President, about Megan Jeckett's leadership in pulling together community input on this and working with staff, and certainly another great opportunity to work with Director Rodriguez.

Part of this is balancing the critical importance of trees with the need to improve our infrastructure, whether that's street reconstruction, sidewalk repair, sewer repair, water lines.

One of the legal considerations is at this stage the proposed ordinance would only apply to right of way that the city owns.

That there's some right of way that's owned by MINDAT, Arcade is an example, West 7th is an example, or the county parts of Marshall Avenue or White Bear Avenue are examples, or property that's owned by Met Council.

We're starting first with property that the city owns in that right of way.

Certainly, we're going to work with those partners to encourage their adoption of this in their work because some of the key aspects of this will apply on uh projects that don't necessarily require a full construction plan.

So if you think of health and safety uh work that's done either to repair a sidewalk panel or a series of sidewalk panels, so the sidewalk is um you can get across that sidewalk for mobility, or to replace lead water lines or sewer lines.

That work is done often on fairly short-term basis.

You're replacing existing infrastructure, you don't go through the same processes that you would for street reconstruction or for a mill and overlay.

So those projects, sidewalk panels, lead line replacement, sewer work would still follow the tree preservation standards for construction and those standard operating procedures.

That's a huge benefit, even though they wouldn't necessarily go through the full uh process that a project that includes a longer design timeline would include.

Thank you, Sean.

Um so you can see just some of the guiding goals for this work, uh, the staff teams between public works, uh parks, and then our community-led effort on behalf of uh Megan Jacket and Ward 2 office has really done a lot of work to develop shared goals to guide both the ordinance and its implementation.

So that's uh clear and timely decision making, improve in it with the goal of improving public trust in both parks and public works, enhancing interdepartmental cooperation uh and coordination, which um can be admittedly a little challenging sometimes when we have different goals about sidewalks or having to replace panels and um the impacts that that can have on a tree or in someone's neighborhood.

So trying to come to some consensus on uh process flow and how those decisions are made.

And then uh central theme in this work has been treating trees as critical public infrastructure, um assets that provide measurable environmental, economic, and community benefits.

I think we all know that, but memorializing that in the ordinance in an ordinance, I think is is what is most important.

Um you can see here this the an overview of uh tree infrastructure work to date.

So this started back in in the summer and continues into the winter months and into 2026, but just multiple sessions and outcomes developed in consultation with some consultants and others to really just dig down on these issues and come up with an ordinance that is very well informed across both departments.

Um again, just uh an overview of the draft project design and construction process.

Um, you know, council approves a project, uh PW project manager in public works is assigned, um, arborist selected, tree survey conducted and going through all these different steps to make sure that we're taking every protection possible uh to preserve our trees with the complexities that construction bring.

Um, as mentioned, uh two primary groups of standard operating procedures to be delivered by the public by February 1st.

That follows tree protection and tree planting.

So our staff are actively working on those right now and expect to provide a status update to all of you by that time.

Um goes without saying when we implement something like this to this scale, there are some uh challenges and considerations that we're gonna have to talk to in future budget cycles or other things, but uh additional costs, consulting arborists.

We do have arborists on staff in our forestry department, but the workload of the amount of construction across the city, we just do not are not resourced properly for that.

So bringing in consulting arborists or contractors to help do that work is something that uh we need to look at, and then more contractor requirements, more staff time needed for design and ongoing monitoring of tree protections and preservation as a pro throughout a project duration will require some resources.

And then how do we roll that out?

How do we um keep the public informed um of the new ways of interdepartmental uh cooperation or any status updates if a tree does need to be removed?

Um, what is that um kind of public interface or communication, the bidding process, and then uh essentially a retrain on procedures for both uh internal departments and for our contractors.

These are gonna be new guidelines for everyone to follow.

Um, and we want to make sure that everyone's informed on the process and what is expected of them, and then decision making evaluation and and monitoring.

Um happy to stand for any questions that you may have, and just I'll close in saying that you know, for everything that goes on in St.

Paul, what's something that everyone gets behind is trees, and I think that um this is a very powerful ordinance when it's all said and done and will uh be very positive for the city of St.

Paul.

Thank you again to you both and to your teams.

I think a key uh point that's important to point out is that this ordinance is only going to work if there's cooperation between your two departments, and the fact that there has already been that cooperation between your two departments just to get to this point and to get us to the final passage really sets us up for success once we have this ordinance on the book.

So thank you.

Um I want to bring up there are a few members of the public input group who are just gonna quickly uh reflect on their time so far, um, and then we can take any questions that folks have.

Um so to the public input group members uh welcome up.

Floor is yours.

Hello again with your last time, and um, I just have four quick things to say.

Bridget, will you just stand right in the middle of the two microphones on the street?

Oh, sure.

Say your your name and where you're coming from as you start.

Hello again.

Okay, again.

Um, this is I'm Bridget Allen Alice, and I work on the um the preservation um group that was put together, and we work with Megan Jacket.

We're up here, we enjoy our time together so much, and uh we're really looking forward to a great tree preservation ordinance, but I just want to say four other things.

Uh, number one, um, and I said this before, but trees are really the lungs of our city, and they affect everyone, no matter who you are, and we need to have great lungs.

Number two, um, I have a little picture, can I show it?

On the voice activated projector.

Yes.

Um, some of us are big walkers in the city, and we love is it not coming on?

It's coming anymore.

Okay, all right.

My first time doing this.

And we love trees.

Spring, fall, summer, and winter.

I mean, this is just beautiful to walk in this in the winter.

And so forth, I think we have a real active group in the audience, so write letters supporting this.

Thank you.

Thanks, Bridget.

Welcome up.

Hello, council members.

My name is Meg Doer.

I've been um a part of the public input group since May.

I also serve as the president of the West Seventh Fort Road Federation, and um, in my day job, I'm an invasive species biologist.

I've worked in natural resources conservation and wildlife management for 22 years, and the changes that I have been just seeing have been shocking to behold.

Um weather extremes, um, huge pendulum swings from severe drought to monsoon rains, even here in Minnesota, um, increasing severity and intensity of storms, and all these things, of course, make trees more vulnerable, but also underscore the importance of trees.

Um, we need trees for um combating urban heat island effects, handling storm water, providing shade, they're so important for livability and enjoyment of the city.

And for a long time, I think the city has kind of treated them as expendable with the idea that we could just replace them, no big deal.

But in the new regime in 2025, um, it's gonna be so hard to have new trees survive.

Um, I can't tell you numbers, but the amount of new planted trees that do not make it is just staggering.

Um, they are run over by drivers.

We have deranged um psychopaths cutting down 60 trees along Shepherd Road in an hour.

That's a lot harder to do on a mature tree.

Mature trees with their deep roots and thick trunks are already providing those benefits, and they can survive.

There's they're still struggling in these conditions, but an established mature tree is gonna be so much more resilient and able to survive these new conditions.

They could maybe handle getting hit, bumped by a car, and it's gonna be a lot harder for some deranged individual to cut them down.

So this ordinance will strengthen the protections for those existing trees, and so I urge you to support that.

And I I thank the um leadership of council president Naker and her staff.

Um so just I urge you to support this and keep and provide the funding support that is needed when it is approved.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Um council members, Colleen O'Connor Toberman.

I represent Friends of the Mississippi River on the public info group.

Uh, another commendment to Council President Naker and particularly Megan Jackett for their phenomenal work on bringing this ordinance uh along.

Um the fact that it's not ready for a vote today speaks to how good of an ordinance you're gonna get before you and how challenging it's been to find the right path.

Our tree preservation group has had a lot of really good conversations.

We haven't always agreed, and that's been very healthy.

We've worked through a lot of really healthy, different perspectives and different needs and different experiences in the city, and I think that that means that we're gonna end up with a really excellent product.

Um, and it's also, of course, been a huge lift for public works and parks to prepare uh the the standard operating procedures and prepare to implement this.

Uh, once it is forward uh before you uh we certainly ask for your continued support for the ordinance and for the budget to make sure that it is carried out appropriately in the years to come.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Great.

Uh thank you, Council President and Council members.

I'm Michael John Peace with the St.

Paul Parks Conservancy, which has been my role on this uh public interest group.

And again, speaking to the diversity of perspectives and experience that came to the table and really understanding we started with an ordinance that was really all about boulevard trees and really grew to expand the life cycle of trees and how the city and how projects care for them.

And I think again, we've mentioned it, but bringing in those arboristic key points so that you're not having people whose job it is not to understand the life cycle of trees at the construction site, making decisions uh where the tree doesn't have a champion or a knowledgeable uh partner in that.

And there's also a piece that you'll find we we spend a lot of time talking about tree equity because if all we're doing is replacing trees that already exist, that's not changing our tree canopy for our high need uh neighborhoods that have negative health impacts uh and negative beauty impacts and joy impacts uh because they lack trees.

Uh so we really worked hard on putting language in there about when trees can't be replaced in the area where they were originally because they can't thrive, or you're taking out mature trees that where a little sapling is not gonna do the same job.

Can we print plant saplings in other parts of the city?

So again, there's just a lot of passion that's gone into this, and um speaking to the point of the vandalism along Shepherd Road.

I've been a little late announcing it, but tomorrow we'll be announcing our partnership with St.

Paul Police to offer a cash reward.

Some donors have come forward to uh uh information leading to the identification of the uh folks who have been doing that repeated damage, whether they're the same people or different.

Um so there's just been a lot of passion and thought put into this, and I really applaud the city leaders for saying they want to come back and report to us how this has gone the first year, right?

Because you put it in practice and things will need to be adjusted on their standing operating procedures.

So I think keeping the dialogue open is gonna be really important.

So thank you.

Thank you all so much again.

And the public input group has been meeting uh uh volunteers coming together over and over again, I think for longer than we thought you would be to try to help us get the best ordinance we can.

So thank you.

Thank you again to our directors.

Um, I'm gonna move to lay this item over till May 20th, 2026 for really really final adoption this time.

Um, is there any discussion of that motion or questions from any of my colleagues?

Seeing none, all in favor say aye.

Aye.

Five in favor, none opposed.

The item is laid over to May 20th for 2026 for final adoption.

Thank you so much.

And before we move on, we are going now into the public hearing section of our agenda.

Uh so just a note to anyone who's here to testify on a public hearing.

The way um we do public hearings here is when your item is called, we invite you to uh line up on both sides.

Um sometimes we'll have a little presentation first, sometimes we'll just go straight into the public hearing.

We'll tell you that.

Um, and then we'll have you come to the front, stand right in between the two microphones.

You don't need to adjust them in any way, they should pick up your voice just fine.

Um, you'll have two minutes to testify.

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

Um, two minutes do go by quickly.

Um, it's my job as council president to make sure that everyone has the same two minutes.

Um, so I appreciate your cooperation in advance to help us stick to that.

Um, and that helps us make sure that you have the full attention of this entire council on the first speaker as you do on the last speaker.

Um, and so uh and when you're done, please make sure to sign in.

So we'll read the first item, which is about our planning commission process.

Yep.

Item number 36 is ordinance 25-79, amending chapter 107 of the administrative code pertaining to improvements to the planning commission process.

All right.

So this is a public hearing about uh planning commission.

Is there anyone here to speak to this item?

I see someone's already here.

If anyone else is here, come on up.

Welcome.

You want to reiterate the planning commission.

Yep.

Yep.

The planning commission.

Public hearing about the planning commission changes.

Oh, okay.

Okay, sorry.

We're getting there, we're getting there.

Um yes, this, and sorry, I should have said this earlier.

Each of our ordinances has a first reading where we hear a staff report on what the ordinance is about.

A public hearing is usually the second reading, and then a third reading where we take the final vote.

Um, so all of these items uh that are ordinances and they're here for public hearings, like this one.

We had a staff report about last week, um, and now this is the public comment time.

So, anyone here to talk about the changes to the planning commission process, please come on up.

Welcome.

All right, I'm gonna be fast.

Uh good afternoon, Chair and Council.

Um I name is Christine Grill.

I live at 1415 Alaska Avenue in Ward 3, and I'm here to speak about the proposed changes to the St.

Paul Planning Commission.

I've been a member of the planning commission since 2019 and chair for the last two years.

I currently sit on the zoning committee, the steering committee, the uh communications and nominations committee, and I was chair of comprehensive and neighborhood planning for several years.

So a lot of experience with the committee.

Um today I'm speaking as an individual and not at the behest of the full commission.

That being said, I can tell you that this proposal was very well received when presented to the commission, and I have received no comments from any commissioner in person or electronically that oppose the proposed can changes.

Um I believe the staff report does an excellent job of highlighting the benefits of this update, and my hope is that these changes make serving as a commissioner more compatible with people's lives as well as simplifying the process for the public and the staff.

I'm happy to take any questions.

Otherwise, thank you so much for your time.

Thank you so much and make sure to sign in.

And thank you for your leadership on all of those different committees.

Um else here to testify on this item.

Come on up.

Welcome.

And you yeah, you can sign in after you testify the microphone.

I can't read.

Uh my name is Tim Marino.

I stay at 795 Sixth Street in uh Ward 7.

Um, just briefly uh talking as a member of the Transportation Committee.

Um, I think that we need to have some discussions about the future of the Transportation Committee because as it is established under City Council and not by uh the bylaws of the Planning Commission.

Um, there is a limitation of how we can affect the the composition and the future of that committee there.

Uh I've spoke to multiple members who were former members of the transportation committee who are very invested in the business of transportation in St.

Paul, who say they dropped out because they don't feel like their voice matters.

They feel like this is a rubber stamp that their voice is just another one in the system of things, and they could go into an open house and save a Monday night.

Um we need to make sure that we have processes in place for if we want to be able to pass resolutions.

How does that come forward to the city council?

How do we make sure that we are able to do more outreach to get a more equitable board on that transportation committee as a whole?

And in my opinion, uh moving it under public works and not planning an economic development, as there is not as much overlap in plan economic development as the nuts and bolts of public works.

And so right now it's kind of a little bit of both, but as our role is underneath the planning commission, it means that it's kind of a weird thing if we're kind of part of it and kind of not.

And so I think some clarification as we are thinking about the future of planning commission is gonna be important for transportation.

Thank you.

Thank you so much and make sure to sign in.

Anyone else here to testify on this item?

Seeing none, I will take a motion from Ms.

Yang to close the public hearing and lay the matter over till January 7th for final adoption.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed.

Six in favor, none opposed.

The public hearing is closed, and the ordinance is laid over to January 7th for final adoption.

Item number 37 is resolution public hearing 25-291, celebrating the 50th year anniversary of the Hmong resettlement to the United States.

Uh, I'll take a motion from Ms.

Yang for version two and Ms.

Yang.

Thanks.

I'm gonna go up to the quotium.

Just a quick thing.

You don't want to adopt version two since like that's the body.

Okay, good evening, everybody.

Well, at this time, I will be uh introducing the resolution to celebrate the 50th year anniversary of the Mong resettlement of the United States.

I know we have many um excited folks here to support um here uh in presence or to testify and so I welcome you all to join me at the podium.

Uh, and I want to reference that we do have uh Hmong interpreter in the room here today, too.

So if anybody would like their assistance, um please uh please go to them.

Um Tailhutia Niha Sato Kipan de Khandakian Da Nu Show and the Hopatai Luther Shitia.

Can I just get a show of hand for where the interpreter is?

Um and then during the uh we will have a public hearing after this, especially because there are so many folks who are eager to come and speak about the significance of this resolution, therefore we will um need some extra time for interpretation at the at that time.

Um, I play atoku la tata, the resolution not call behu a public hearing shall hailu on at the microphone Hide Ya Vidika Resolution Doko, Yay Talushi Hand the Yatia Kazakot and the La Guta Shihoy in one day, not um la hailu, well thank you so much, everybody.

Uh it is uh truly humbling and such an honor to bring forward this resolution.

My name is Nelson Yang, and I'm the St.

Paul Council member representing Ward 6, which is a part of our wonderful Eastside community.

And uh I can't say enough how special this moment is when I look in uh the room today, I see so many people who are the pillar of our Hmong community and have really been the building block to uh the building blocks that allow for our community to have the quality of life that they have today in our city, and not just in our city, but so many of them make contributions to our Hmong communities and our entire community all across the country as well.

And so I want to extend a thank you to everybody here who um are I I will name it here in a bit, but I just want to really acknowledge um first off our veterans who have taken their very special time to join us today.

And um I will what I will do first is I want to uh read out the resolution to share about what's in it, and then I will make my comments briefly afterwards.

Whereas thousands of Hmong and Laos were recruited by the United States Central Intelligence Agency in the secret war led by General Wang Pao, serving as special guerrilla units alongside U.S.

troops from 1961 to 1975 during the Vietnam War.

And whereas many Hmong fled their homeland due to political persecution, and a significant number resettled in the United States in the late 1970s as political refugees after the 1975 into China Migration and Refugee Assistance Act and the Refugee Act of 1980 was signed into law.

Whereas in November 1975, the first Hmong family resettled in Minnesota, and we actually are joined by um by Gao Li and Pong, who are uh one of the three first families to move here into St.

Paul.

Um today, the city of St.

Paul is home to more than 36,000 Hmong people, making it the urban city with the densest Hmong population.

And whereas the Hmong community has contributed to the growth and progress of our city and significantly shaped our economic, social, and political landscape through their cultural contributions and monumental achievements in many fields, such as food, health care, education, entrepreneurship, nonprofit, first responders, government, politics, and more.

And whereas we celebrate the latest accomplishments of distinguished Hmong role models in our city, such as Mark Hugh, an award-winning pastry shop who opened Mark Hugh Petisserie Paris in 2019 in the Frogtown neighborhood, Sunisa Lee, the first Hmong American gold medal olympian at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and a proud proud Eastider.

Kali Her, the first Hmong American woman elected as St.

Paul Mayor in November 2025.

And former state representative of District 64A and countless others whose achievements reflect the strength, resilience, and leadership of the Hmong community and continue to inspire future generations.

And whereas the City Council remains committed to collaborating with the Hmong community to elevate and honor their experiences and identities and ensure they live lives that are dignified and thriving in the city.

And uh be it resolved, the City Council thanks the Hmong community for their profound leadership and contributions, expresses support for the community's endeavors and wishes for their continued success.

And be it for the resolve, the St.

Paul City Council celebrates and recognizes the 50th year anniversary of the Hmong resettlement to the United States.

Thank you.

And I want to thank Gaying Yang too, which is a Ward 7 resident, who was one of the first few folks to reach out and say, hey, can we do this resolution?

She has done really tremendous and just life-changing work in partnership with uh leaders, Hmong Women leaders like Gaul Yang and Mao Tao, who founded the Women's Association Association of Hmong and Lao.

And I just um want to name that like I this room would be overflowed if we had everybody in it who has had such a huge impact to not only our community here in St.

Paul, but honestly uh all across the country.

I what I have here today is I brought a story cloth with me.

Representative Chayoka holding this with me.

This is uh so in our you will often see this.

Um we call it our Bandao or Mong Pandao, it's a story cloth.

And this story cloth is very special to me.

My family, um, my parents, they came to the US here in the late 1980s, and they um were sponsored here by three very wonderful uh individuals Donna Howard, Julie Morgan, and Tom Morgan, who are honestly my family, friends, and uh my true um some of my my most amazing role models.

Unfortunately, Donna left us a few years ago, but when she passed away, this was uh returned to us.

She had it in her home.

Um it was on the wall the entire time.

And this is a story clap that depicts the journey that our Hmong people had to make when they experienced um, you know, after the secret war was lost, and that war um really again in the resolution, our Hmong people were recruited by the US CIA to fight against the spread of communism, and when that war was lost, then it resulted in our Hmong people having to disperse and really uh flee for their own survival.

And I must say that you know, to me, it is such a um there's so much grief in it because our Hmong people were left to die in the jungles and to fend for themselves when the secret war was lost.

And so this is the very um you know, very difficult journey that they had to make, where some families they had to walk for days, some even months, um, just to get to the Mekong River and cross the river to get to Thailand.

So they crossed that border to get to refuge and safety.

And um, you'll see here they were using the floating tubes to get across.

Some God were on boats, and um eventually, you know, we were um we were able to come to the US here.

And this is the story of our Hmong people, and um, even though I was born here in the US in Duluve where my parents first landed, I always carry the story of my Hmong people with me because it is uh truly a story of strength and resilience.

And over 5,000 years ago, um we used to live in what is now China, and our story, no matter no matter how many times we have been displaced and have to have had to seek refuge.

We have always remembered um that we are, you know, our blood is the blood of Hmong people and that we are warriors.

And our Hmong people are here, we have been here for 50 years, and I want to make it clear that we are here to stay.

We are here to stay, and in light of the uh the atrocities, the injustices that so many in our communities here and all across the country are experiencing from the attack on our immigrant uh communities, um, our undocumented communities, refugee communities.

It is you know truly an attack on all of us.

It's an attack on all of us.

And so I can't say enough how important this resolution is to the 50 years that our Hmong people have been here, but also speaks volumes about why it is so important for us to be in solidarity and to protect our communities to keep our families together because we know that love is the strength of our community.

And if it's anything, what I I have learned from my Hmong people is that love is always at the core of who we are and why we are so family oriented.

And so um I I just want to say um um very briefly, um called di resolution not yeah don't need so link so to Luto Che Not Don't do O Chinyho Notya Chanta Waching Hing Wa Bay Lun No Zuck, Hai Tia Yavi Mwan Bait So Lin Sedu Big Yang Hong Bay Lundong Lungy Vaco, Bait Yang Hong No Yatan Dei Chomol Ni or Cash Lutya Tapati Hong Kanye Zhong Tia Baby Vaco Handong Now Hong Yeah Chi Chong Say Boyal Bek Yang Hong Ying Young Yonder Nong Tai So At this time What I would like to Do Is Um I would like to Translation To The Public Hearing And I Do Hum Uh Limited Number of Resolutions Here We Donna Enough We only have 20 Copies Um But I would like to Pass It First Um Hand These To Our Veterans Our Elders And if anybody Uh Would Like A Copy And Do I I Do Wan Myb has a C at One We Will Mail Them And My Staff Sarah Will Take Care of Doing That So If You Can Make Sure To Meet Sarah Sarah Can You Raise Your Hand Okay There So Sarah We'll get Your Information In the Case That We Do Not How For Everybody Um And I Also Have City Hall Pins That I Will Hand Um to Our Veterans As well.

All right, So Thank You And Sarah, I'm Gonna Ask You Come here for a Quick Photo.

We're Gonna Do A Group Photo And then We Will Do the Public Hearing Could I Pun D.

Oh, Yes, Yes.

Thank You Love GA.

Okay.

Okay.

Just Gonna Flip It's Upside Down There You Good All I One Thing I Do Wanna Mention Too Is I Jame Brewnity Leave.

I know Many of You At the Table Have Asking To Meet My Babies Umfortunately My Newborn Is Not Here But My I Wanna Say Thank You To My Father In Law Zha Hua Zhang That Zika Zika Bai Jaka Dele Te Pa Yong Um My Father In La Zhahu Zhang My Husband Kong Zhang In Case He's In the Room And then My Daughter Chia Cha, who's One Year Old And My Son Zong Ka, who's Three Years Old.

So You Do the Work Um Here Every Day And Sometimes Oli Don't Get To See Us And So Me It's Very Special That They Get To Be Here For Such A Wonderful Moment All So Instructing Folks I'm Gonna Hand Out The Resolution Yes Thanks And Ms Yang I think We need to Mer Move Version Two and Vote On It Before We Before We Do The Public Hearing So We're Jake Amotion Fsang for Version Two We'll Take A Vote And then We'll Open Up Public Hearing It's Amotion Fs Yang for Version Two.

All In Favor say Aye.

Aye.

All Opposed?

Six In Favor None Opposed The Um The Amendment Is Approved.

And We Have A Guest in the Middle Our Horseshoe She's Almost Not Visible Above The Dias.

Okay, Great.

Okay, So Well, If It's Alright With You I Was Talking To Representative Chai, and He Um says We have a Great Group Up here Already And The Can Jesus To The Microphone.

Does That Work With You Or Do You Wanted Them To Be In The Two Lines?

Uh No No No, They Can J Whit We'll Just But We'll Start The Public Hearing Officially And People Say The Names and Have The Two Minutes.

So Okay, Great.

Okay, So This Is The Interpreter Help Comp here Close To the Mic And Then Command Sai Um Do Council President Haiong What Chandong.

All right.

Welcome Up Whoever's First.

Yes, My Name is State Representative Cha from Woodbury, Minnesota State Representative.

Thank you.

Thanks to the Council and to the City.

I won't give you a history lesson, but I was born after 1975 and 76 in a refugee camp in Thailand.

I came to the United States and I came to St.

Paul in 1981.

My previous address is 495 and a half Dell Street North, which is the adult bookstore on the corner of University in Dell.

That is my humble beginnings.

I am St.

Paul.

I'm from St.

Paul.

I grew up in St.

Paul, attended St.

Paul Public School at uh Webster Magnet Elementary.

And I'm a product of St.

Paul.

And that is why I'm here.

I want to talk about the American dream.

And it is possible.

It is a city like St.

Paul.

It is a state like the state of Minnesota.

That today we have nine Hmong legislators at the state capitol, of whom six are from the refugee camps of Laos and Thailand.

I'm so proud of the city.

For over 50 years, they have fostered the Hmong community.

They have supported us.

They have provided us a new home in our new homeland.

They have fostered our American dream.

And here I am standing.

A little boy from a refugee camp in 1975, who resettled in St.

Paul in 1981, who attended St.

Paul Public School, the social services that was provided, the public transit.

I'm not ashamed.

I'm not afraid to say that.

Those that are the veterans and the grandma and grandpas who we buried in the Jackson Cemetery.

That this is our forever home.

And we stand with all immigrant communities in the city of St.

Paul.

Thank you.

Thank you, Representative.

Please please make sure to sign in after you're done.

Welcome up.

You've got two minutes.

Start with your name and where we're coming from.

Good afternoon, madam council president and members.

My name is Michael Young.

I'm an Eastider.

Have been a citizen of St.

Paul since 1979.

I'm a board member of the Dayton's Bluff Community Council.

I want to thank Councilmember Nelson Yang for reaching out to me about this opportunity to speak in support of this resolution.

During the Vietnam War, roughly about 1955, 2005, the United States of America, under the leadership of President John F.

Kennedy, authorized the recruitment of my Hmong people in Laos to fight and die in the places of thousands of American troops in Southeast Asia.

The American Hmong Secret Army, trained and instructed by the United States, had three specific tasks.

One, cut off communist reinforcement to fight American troops in South Vietnam.

Two, rescue a down American pilot.

Many times it took 15 to 20 platoon members for rescuing one down American pilot.

Three, gather intelligence and protect the top seeker U.S.

air base for American bombing operation in Vietnam.

The cost of supporting the United States was immense, including the death of my mother's younger brother and my father's younger brother in the same day.

Between 30 to 40,000 Hmong soldiers were killed, many as young as 12 and 13-year-old, with many thousand more missing in actions.

Hundreds of thousands of innocent Hmong women, children, the elderly, and other civilian were also killed.

The majority of those of us who survived the war continue to be traumatized without any VA benefit for our veterans.

Here in St.

Paul and across the nation, our Hmong community continue to thrive, contributing significantly to the Minnesota economies, generating hundreds of millions in revenue, leading local food movement, but dominating farmers market, paying billions in taxes, filling crucial roles in various work sectors, creating a substantial economic engine value in the billions.

As noted by the Minnesota Historical Society, the Minneapolis St.

Paul Business Journal, the Longfellow Nicolas Messenger, and the empowering strategy from large markets like Hmong Tao and Hmong Village to skilled professionals in Madison Education Technology, not to mention serving the U.S.

Armed Forces and in legislative body.

That is a little over time, so I'm going to need you to wrap up really quick.

Collective, thank you.

Thank you.

And on behalf of in the spirits of our family, celebrated family, thank you so much.

Thank you so much.

I'm so sorry, two minutes is short, but I want to make sure everyone has the full attention of this council.

Come on up, whoever's next.

Welcome.

My name is Mike Yi Vu, and I'm a proud product of the city of St.

Paul.

I was the first executive director and co-founder of Hope Community Academy, the very first Hmong focused charter public charter school here in Minnesota and in the in the in the country, excuse me.

Um this year marks our 50th year living in the United States.

Our Hmong families have resettled here as a result of the war in Laos.

Here in St.

Paul, we witnessed the initial struggles of adjusting to a new life in America, including the harsh Minnesota winters.

We not only survive the winters, we are here making Minnesota and the city of St.

Paul our permanent home.

The city of St.

Paul has had long held a history of providing social services to new immigrants who have settled here.

And as a result, our Hmong families have grasped that support.

Through our hard work and perseverance, our Hmong community here in St.

Paul has led and continues to lead the way for our fellow Hmong communities elsewhere in the country and around the world.

And as an example for other recent immigrants, the Hmong in St.

Paul has produced not only the first Hmong Charter School, but our Olympic gold medalist, Sunisa Lee, our first St.

Paul Public School Board member, Duali, and of course our state senator representing the East Side, Mimwa, among others, and most certainly St.

Paul's mayor, Lakauli Her.

Our Hmong family businesses continue to thrive.

And so in closing, I strongly support this resolution, celebrating our Hmong's 50th year here in the United States.

When a city gives to its people, the people will give back tenfold.

This is what our Hmong family here in the city of St.

Paul has done and will continue to do.

So thank you for this opportunity to speak to all of you.

Thank you so much.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

I forgot my paper, so I have to read from my phone here.

No problem.

So good afternoon, Council President and Council members.

My name is Gaul Li Yang, and this is my husband, Pong Yang.

He uh he's a former lieutenant with the US Secret War.

Uh he was one of the uh the only 10 uh Hmong pilots left that survive.

So uh everybody is you know disappearing.

Um in 1976, where we came to Minnesota as part of the very first few Hmong families resettled in the state.

Uh Minnesota became our new beginning.

We spent most of our years on the east side of St.

Paul before moving on to Maplewood, just beyond you know, the uh outskirt of the city of St.

Paul.

We just couldn't move too far away because it's uh CDA, the City of St.

Paul uh, you know, it's uh have become our new home for us for a long time.

Uh as one of the first Hmong families in Minnesota, we carry the deep sense of responsibility to be good citizens of this great state and nation.

We believe in helping one another and in building strong uh relationship with our new neighbors and community allies.

Um to support our growing community.

My husband Pong served on the board of the first Hmong nonprofit organization, the Hmong Association, established in 1978, which later became Lao Family Community.

In 1980, I was honored to co-found the women's association of Hmong and Lao, the first nonprofit organization dedicated to support Hmong women.

We arrived with nothing but the clothes on our back.

Yet we carry hope, resilience, and a strong desire to make Minnesota our home.

A place where everybody can enjoy freedom and peace and harmony.

As we mark the 50th anniversary of Hmong resettlement in Minnesota, we ask for your support in recognizing and celebrating the his historic milestone.

It is an opportunity to honor the sacrifices, contribution, and achievement of the Hmong people and their lasting impact on the great state of Minnesota.

Thank you.

We are we are way past the year.

Thank you, and God bless America.

Thank you so much.

It's hard to stop people at time.

Come on up, welcome.

Thank you.

Uh Councilmember President, Council members.

My name is Mayn Zatao, President and CEO of the Hmong American Partnership.

Thank you for your support of the resolution, and thank you to Councilmember Nelsie as well.

This resolution is more than a measure of time.

It is a recognition of resilience, contributions, and belonging.

Fifty years ago, Hmong families arrived here in this country as refugees of war, displacement, and loss.

They came with little material wealth, but with extraordinary strength, many of which you heard already.

We see that impact today in our classrooms, in our hospitals, at our city, uh, county, state levels, um, and soon to be our mayor here in St.

Paul as well.

In our small businesses, boardrooms, local, uh, as well as even on the world stage.

We see it in entrepreneurs creating jobs for the city, young people leading with confidence, and our elders who continue to persevere.

Organizations like Hmong American Partnership, 35 years strong this year, emerged out of necessity from our community for our community, ensuring that our families can navigate a whole new country without ever leaving their identities behind.

And in doing so, they not only strengthen the Hmong community here, but other new Americans and all of Minnesota.

And so not only does this resolution honor the Hmong people's resettlement here and the contributions, but calls us forward.

It challenges to remain united across cultures and generations, to invest in policies and partnerships that expand opportunity and to ensure prosperity, safety, and dignity, and shared by all of us.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Nailed it on the two minutes.

Welcome up.

So happy that um these days the American people opened the door for us to come here and leave.

But this year is some honorable year that's um pretty hard for us to live in the country for 50 years.

One thing that there exists is some of the um the monk who um didn't know what to do, and then uh they end up um with according to President Donald Trump policy to take them back home.

So we we are kind of like uh baby.

This year we have um invite um our Republican um to talk to us, but um it's go nowhere, and then that seems still have a struggle for us.

Yeah, we are not um against uh President Donald Trump, but we want um everyone to come to the table and then uh talk about what's the proper way um that um we shouldn't shouldn't be doing and then don't want to let um those ignorant have to to go back home.

No no to some hot dog city who says today I come here um to request um our Saint Paul and Minneapolis um to work together um regarding um what should we do regarding those um whose necessary who is not um to deport to to back to Laos.

Good job.

That's a good thing.

I have um I'm gonna talk about um the other high level of um official, but um at this moment I would like to ask um your entire council here um in Saint Paul here to work with us and then see what we can do.

Let's see, yeah, okay.

Um page among Divine Otto Say to Timo D.

Oh no, but you know.

We want to make sure that um don't divide us um like a family and then some to go back and then some stay here.

So it's a hard for us.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

Good afternoon, um, council members and um council president.

My name is Mai Vang Husel.

I am the founder and executive director of Hmong Museum.

We are located in St.

Paul, um, inside of Hmong Village.

Uh so I would like to share a little bit of um history that's a little bit further back.

The Hmong people have been a displaced people for 200 years.

Um, and so when we think about that, that is four generations of Hmong people who have been displaced from China to Laos and now to the United States.

So we're we're a group that were being oppressed, and our culture was being um erased by some of the larger countries.

And so commemorating 50 years of Hmong in the United States, uh, Hmong people here in Minnesota and in St.

Paul, which is um then kind of called the um Hmong capital of the world.

Um there are many things to celebrate and commemorate.

Um the last 50 years has been the most um peaceful time for our people.

And when there is peace, that means that there is growth, that means that there is a way for us to create, and we have seen and heard all of those wonderful things, so I won't repeat it here.

Um, but uh that is why we should celebrate the 50 years.

Um I shared with one of my board members why St.

Paul was so important to us.

I I was born and raised in St.

Paul, and um some of my best memories was going to uh Komozoo, and now we bring our nieces and nephews to Komozy to create new memories there with them.

And so Saint Paul in Minnesota is our home.

And um uh my hope for the future for the next 50 years for the Hmong people is that we will be able to continue to celebrate our culture and preserve our our history, and that is something that Hmong Museum is doing.

Um, and so we hope that we'll be able to do this um going into the future, and so um I thank you all for your time.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

Hi, can I start?

Please.

Okay, hi, good afternoon.

My name is Gloria Wong.

Um member honorable members of the city council, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.

Thank you for the opportunity to share a few words with you in the support of the resolution uh recognize 50th and visit Hmong settlement in the US, specifically Minnesota.

During the Vienna War, Laos is a neutral country, was heavily involved with US convert um operations, knowing also as the SICA war.

Mm people were recruited, trained and army by the US military NCIA to fight for them.

As a result, among soldiers and members of their communities suffered heavy casualties.

After the war ended, the US pour out.

Today I have the honor, privilege to come here to ask for your support for the resolution to honor and recognize profound milestone, the 50th anniversary of Mmung refugee settlement in the United States.

This resolution is deeply important to me and to many in the Hmong community because knowledge is resilience and strength and sacrifices.

We have been doing during and after the secret war.

A conflict many know as a Vena war, but one for us left scars that are both visible and unseen.

I speak from my heart.

When I say that, the memories of those days so vivid.

I start a nightmares of running through the tents and jungles of Laos, fighting for my life as a woman through land and dreams, despite the horrors that we face into society that we endured.

That is tough.

The resolution marks that not just 50 years settlement by Muggs, 50 years of transformation from the high mountain the Laos, home to our indiligence from Hung community to Boston City of America.

We had journey for we have called America home, not just name, but in spirit.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

My name is Tong Wang.

Um the chair of the um uh you and the GU veteran in Minnesota.

And I also know a few family Hmong in Minnesota on 1976.

And we are here to settle in Liberty Plaza Housing, Sasida Housing, the corner of the Marshall Investon, and that place the Belmong community in Minnesota.

And 1978, 7 uh 76 or 77, 78, the US Grand Uh Lao and Cambodia as a refugee stared at.

So the Hmong came to Minnesota, a lot of number on 1978, 79, 80.

And also I was one of the case worker working with Church World Service to settle Hmong and Minnesota.

So Minnesota is we have uh four big agency who sponsor Hmong and Minnesota, right?

Lutheran Social Service, Catholic Charity, uh, International Institute, and Church of World Service.

So we, the first hand who's helping Hmong family in Minnesota, we talk about Hmong Association wherever there are second hand.

The first hand is mostly we forgot about our sponsor.

A sponsor didn't do a lot of hard job.

And we sponsor Hmong family.

Mostly every family nobody speaks English.

So they depend on the uh kids worker to help and to uh find a job and find housing, apply for social security, everything for the family before anything else.

So the Hmong have been uh suffer a lot uh when uh change for um culture and language and everything and uh by that time, the 80 to 90, we have about 80 or 90 percent is of public housing.

That is that is time, sir.

I'm gonna need you to wrap up.

Yeah, and also public assistance.

Thank you.

To take about 20 to 25 years for the Hmong people to be off public housing and public assistance.

Thank you, sir.

I do need you to stop there.

Thank you very much.

Please sign in and welcome up to our next speaker.

Sorry, we need to keep moving.

I apologize.

I wish I had more time.

I can tell you more about what you were uh happened to Hmong Community Minnesota.

So thank you.

Thank you very much.

There's lots of other ways that we can interact as well besides this forum.

I know it's very limited.

Welcome up.

Thank you.

All right, good evening, Council President and Council members.

Uh, my name is Teresa Tao Yang and I am from White Bear Lake.

Um, however, I've lived on the east side for a while.

I'm only thank Council Member Yang for presenting this resolution as well as recognizing the 50th anniversary of the Hmong community's presence in the United States.

This resolution commemorates a journey that began with displacement and uncertainty and has become a powerful testament to resilience, contribution, and belonging.

Fifty years ago, the city of St.

Paul and the state of Minnesota welcomed Hmong families seeking safety and opportunity.

That welcome, strengthen our community.

Over the past five decades, the Hmong community has made lasting contributions to our city and state as business owners, educators, healthcare professionals, veterans, artists, and public servants.

Here in Minnesota, Hmong leaders have served in elected office, built thriving enterprises, and help shape public policy.

As the principal at Suki Upper Campus, a Hmong language and cultural middle school within St.

Paul Public Schools, a first in the nation.

This milestone is both professional and deeply personal.

I am here because of the sacrifices of our elders and because this city invested in education, opportunity, and in inclusion.

St.

Paul Public Schools now has six Hmong principals and a Hmong assistant superintendent, the highest concentration of Hmong administrators in any district and a Hmong school board member.

This reflects intentional investment in equity, leadership, and educational excellence.

Fifty years ago, the Hmong community arrived with hope.

Today we stand with pride.

Together, we can ensure the next 50 years are defined by leadership, opportunity, and shared prosperity for our children, our city, and generations to come.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

Good evening, everyone.

Um my name is Ah Vang Low.

Um I'm an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota, and I teach student development, um, academic identity, uh, and Dare SA everything under DEI.

Um this resolution is so important to me because of the identity that we give to our Hmong people, um, specifically St.

Paul statewide, nationally, um, recognizing us Hmong as a group of people that has gone through so much and then have grown the economy in so many ways too, um, particularly here in the state of Minnesota.

So I want to continue to build that recognition and acknowledgement for our Hmong people, and especially for our young Hmong um generation of students.

I still see, I was there 25 years ago as an undergrad, and now I still see a lot of students coming here and still grappling with their Hmong identities in so many ways.

I see some that completely embraces it, and some that like continues to learn or is still trying to grapple with it, um, like me, right?

Like I grew up in a predominantly white uh neighborhood, and then I went to the U of M, which is predominantly white, right?

And so I did not um come to terms with my Hmong identity until I joined the Hmong student group.

In fact, one of my mentors is here at the University of Minnesota.

There was only three that can kind of on hand people that can help us.

And we we held on to them for dear life because we are family.

And um my students now uh are still grappling with that, and so if we continue to honor and recognize and acknowledge our resilience, I think our identity just continued to grow as we modernize and start to wear all these beautiful Hmong clothes, uh, and not the heavy stuff that we have back there back in the day.

Um, I think we'll just continue to help our young people come to terms with being Hmong and continue to represent us worldwide.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Anyone else, Ms.

Yang, who you're expecting to speak?

Oh, welcome up.

Well, good uh evening, Assim Council present, uh, council members, community members.

Yarong shada.

My name is Paul Yang.

I'm a byproduct and a success story of St.

Paul.

Fifty years ago, the Hmong people began a journey not of choice, but of courage.

Recognizing the 50th anniversary of Hmong resettlement matters because memory matters.

It affirms that history is not forgotten, that sacrifice is not invincible, and that the promise of America includes those who pay at a price for its freedom long before they've ever set foot on its soil.

And St.

Paul, that promise took root from the first Hmong family resettling here in Minnesota back in 1975.

This community has built something something extraordinary.

And uh we help we have helped strengthen our economy, enrich our culture, and shape the civic life of our city.

This story inspires not only the Hmong community, but all communities, because it reminds us that what is possible when a city chooses inclusion over indifference.

And this is personal.

I'm a first generation immigrant, the proud son of brave parents, uncles, grandparents, uncles, elders who fought in the war, and sacrificed everything so we could be here today.

I'm the first in my family and lineage to attend law school, and right here in St.

Paul at Hamlin University School of Law.

Now a business owner with my own law firm practicing here in the Twin Cities.

My story is not unique.

It is a reflection of what happens when immigrants are given the chance to belong.

This is what makes Minnesota special, and this is what makes St.

Paul strong.

Supporting this resolution is about honoring the past, recognizing the present, and committing to a future where every community can live with dignity, opportunity, and pride.

And today we celebrate 50 years of resilience, and we look forward with gratitude and confidence to the generations still to come.

Thank you, Joe.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Come on up.

Welcome.

Thank you.

My name is Paul Moh, and I live in on uh Eastai Sang Paul.

And I heard so many people, they talk about so many things.

So I make it short here.

Honorable City Council of the Sangpa City.

On behalf of the Hmong Community, I wouldn't like to express our necessary appreciation for your hard work for your leadership and continue dedication to the city of St.

Paul.

Thank you for your ongoing support and commitment to improve the quality of the light for all Hmong residents in Singapore, including the Hmong community, your effort to promote equity, safety, economy, opportunity, and community development, have help and make St.

Paul better place to live and work and raise our family and children.

Your lessoning, your air, and your wellness to stand with our Hmong community to build a strong, good, healthy, and more inclusive city for everyone.

Thank you again for your service and for all that you do for the Hmong people and for everyone in St.

the city of St.

Paul.

Thank you so much.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

My name is Jay Lani Hussein.

I'm the executive of care of Minnesota.

But I want to tell my experience and first and foremost, it brought a lot of emotions to me.

I came here in 1993 in Minneapolis.

And Minneapolis was very white in the 90s.

Most of you probably know.

But I uh as a Somali American immigrant, our story is really uh a reflection of who made it home for us here.

And it was the monk population.

Um I'll share with you two stories.

Uh, first and foremost, um, my first friend that I ever visited their home and played video games with that my parents ever allowed was my monk friend in South Minneapolis.

Um, and my uh childhood friend in bankrupt elementary school, some side, I don't know, I don't know if where he's at now, but um, and I remember him just sharing and feeling a sense of welcome.

And I believe most of our immigrants who came after the monk population, we are indebted to you for your grace for what you had to endure to create an environment that is welcoming to other immigrants and people of color.

You took a lot, you dealt with a lot, and you paved the way for all of us.

I remember as a child uh looking and my parents looking for things that we remembered in our communities, and we found them in the Hmong uh grocery stores, whether it's the Chinese medicines or the things that we knew.

Um, and finally, I remember uh my father and I had uh uh been asked to uh explore farming, and so we went to Rosemont and we started to farm, and it was a Hmong farmer who found me and my dad sitting on the floor trying to plant uh pot tomatoes the old way, and he looked at us and he said, What are you doing?

So we're planting tomatoes.

Like, that's not how you plant tomatoes.

Uh and I remember him coaching us and helping us, and uh uh, and so I will say that Minnesota and the city of St.

Paul uh is greatly indebted to the Hmong population, their sacrifice, their incredible gift to this city to our community, and I'm truly as a Somali American, especially in this unique moment.

Um, I want to thank you and celebrate 50 years and many more years.

Thank you so much.

Um, and uh your your you as we say we are a family.

Thank you so much.

Make sure to sign in.

All right.

Anyone else here to testify on this item?

Otherwise, I it was a motion from Ms.

Yang for version two.

Um, we already did that.

Um okay.

Um so motion for Ms.

Yang for approval.

Is there any discussion of the motion?

Council Vice President.

Yeah, I I just want to um just reiterate and acknowledge some of the things that were mentioned.

But uh, the largest delegation of our current posse delegation up at the state legislature is Hmong.

And that is not without investment and leadership of these communities.

Um I was very honored to attend the 50th anniversary uh celebration with Councilmember Coleman, Councilmember Rui, Councilmember Nelsie was the inviter, and of course, uh councilmember Johnson.

Um and it was an incredible evening of um dancing and food and celebration, but also one that uh the through line was grief.

There's a lot of loss in our communities to come here.

Um I want to also bring in two names to this um space.

You know, our current county commissioner Mai Cha Zhang, Mai Chang Jong, who is our first Hmong person on any county board in the state of Minnesota, is right here in Ramsey County.

Um, and I also um want to bring in the name of your um relative as well, um, council member Yang, um, what an idol and mentor of mine as well, um, our former school board member Marnie Zhang, who breathed fire into justice and breathed life into liberation, and I miss her a lot.

Um I also have a story similar to Jelani's.

My neighborhood auntie um took me under her wing.

She spoke to me in Hmong.

I'm Korean, I don't speak any Hmong.

I I think I say Najhang, and that's about it.

Um, but she spoke to me in Hmong as if I understood everything that she said, but she mended my clothing, she passed on um her culture through um through food.

She embroidered me an elephant's foot that I have in my home.

Um and of course, I learned the correct way to roll uh egg rolls from her.

Um, but I just want to um lift up the last thought is there are so many communities that are here in Minnesota now and have it a little bit better and easier because our Hmong community arrived here and fought for better processes, better services, um, stronger laws.

And so there are communities, and especially in the North End where you have um Karen and Burmese and Kareny uh folks that have landed here and had it a little bit easier um in spite of all of the loss and hardship on the way to get here, but it's because the way that because the Hmong folks led the way on bettering everything that we our systems needed to welcome new folks to Minnesota.

So we I'm very honored and very happy that you brought this forward, and thank you so much for your leadership on this, Councilmember Yang.

Thank you, Vice President.

Um, Ms.

Coleman.

Thank you.

I just I want to echo the thanks to Councilmember Yang.

This um having this space and having this resolution, it is a real privilege to have the conversation in this space and in this room that we've been able to have over the last little bit of time here.

I I think it is a reminder of everything that we are working for here in the city of St.

Paul and the type of city that we want to be, which is one that creates opportunity and welcomes people and celebrates people for exactly who they are and opens our door to those who have experienced incredible grief and incredible strife.

Um that brings people into a city where they can be at home.

So I'm very grateful to everybody who spoke.

Um, and thank you so much, Councilmember Yang.

Um and I was buying go ahead.

Thank you, Council President.

I also just want to say thank you for well done, phenomenal.

I think about um really the power of representation and uh how you allow for communities' voice to be present, and even in all of the um um testimonies that was given today, I learned so much.

Um I also just want to say thank you for also being an invitation, providing an invitation into your community, understanding that Ward 1 also has such a large Hmong population.

I just think about just like my upbringing and being born in the early 90s, like Hmong, the Hmong community was the cultural fabric, was the foundation of like what I know of community in a strong pillar.

Um, and it's just an honor to serve alongside that representation, not only in the council, but even now um in a transition with the mayor, uh mayor like um Kuli Her.

I just want to also just highlight um, because we talked about uh Mai Chong, who I've met as an LA um and also I want to recognize the former um council member Dai Tao, you know, Dai Tao's not here, he might be still in Florida, but uh was uh hoping to see a surprise.

But um in his his public service and his commitment and being the first Hmong person um I believe in the entire state to serve on the council, so to recognize him.

Also um the immortal spirit um who was like my first Hmong stories teller um I met in in school, Tujer Umjong and like his enormous beautiful spirit and how he told the story and how he um just I just think it just transcended, particularly around the love and the passion and the history.

Um and I also want to highlight the first author who I've ever heard and that made me cry, like when I think about the story of St.

Paul, um, you know, Kuwa Kalihar, or Yang, excuse me, Klee Ko Kalia Yang.

Um and I just remember like in my upbringing, especially being a creative writer and finding my voice, right?

And finding my story, how vulnerable she was um sharing her story about being at a being in a uh um uh giving back, I believe, at a homeless shelter or something, or a um service shelter or welfare line, and seeing her mom, you know, being in that line getting Christmas toys and like seeing how like the sacrifices her mom had to go through, particularly to make sure that her kids had something for during the holidays.

Um how that is a very similar story to so many communities of color, so many communities that have um um experience poverty, right?

And um I just want to say I commend you.

I know sometimes, especially in the settings and public forums, you know, um we don't get enough of this historical context.

We don't get enough uh time to really truly honor and genuinely honor the people and the leaders that contribute to our community.

So thank you so much.

Job well done.

Thank you, Ms.

Bowie.

Um I will just add my thanks to you, Ms.

Yang.

I want to thank everyone who spoke here today.

I want to recognize that often what was being shared were very personal and in some cases very painful stories, and I'm I'm really grateful to those who took time and were willing to share those with us.

Um and in addition to everything that's been said, I I think what is truly remarkable about the Hmong community has been the way that they have come, embraced St.

Paul, embraced Minnesota, embraced the United States, contributed so much to the community, um, defined and shaped the community, and still held on to the Hmong culture and language and traditions.

And that is an extremely difficult balance to strike.

Um, and it is uh it's inspiring, I think, to everyone who has come from somewhere else to make this place home.

Um so thank you for your leadership in bringing this forward, allowing us to commemorate this important year.

Um to many, many, many more 50 years is to come.

All right, with that, I think we will take a vote uh and move on.

So uh all in favor say aye.

Aye.

All opposed.

Six in favor, none opposed.

The resolution is adopted as amended.

Item number 38 is resolution public hearing 25-283, approving the establishment of the Grand and Victoria Redevelopment Project Area and the Grand and Victoria Tax Increment Financing District, and approving the adoption of a redevelopment plan and a tax increment financing plan, therefore, and the use of a project labor agreement.

This is a public hearing.

If there's anyone here to speak on this item, please again come on up.

You can line up on both sides of the microphones, and you'll have two minutes.

Come on up.

Make sure to start with your name, where you're coming from.

You shouldn't have to adjust the microphones, and make sure to sign in when you're done.

Uh President Necker, City Council members, thank you for the opportunity to speak this afternoon.

Uh, my name is Bob Meshewski, and I'm a member of the Insight Steering Committee.

Insight members have conducted exhaustive analysis of the use of TIFF in the city of St.

Paul.

And we've come to the conclusion that it has been overused, that it is not accomplished its objectives, and that it has been very costly to taxpayers.

Now, documents detailing our analysis are in the public record, and we hope you have had a chance to review them.

They reflect our uh opposition to the use of TIFF on this particular project.

Now I should add, and I shouldn't uh make make it clear, we are not opposed to this project.

It very likely will be a net benefit to the neighborhood.

We are opposed to the use of two thousand two million 2.95 million dollars for TIFF on this project.

UmSight has noted that 8% of the property taxes of each individual in the city of St.

Paul go to support the costs of TIFF projects.

One of the requirements in the TIFF policy for St.

Paul is that a TIFF project meet a clear and compelling public need.

Co-op public purpose.

I ask you as you think about approving this project.

Does this project meet the high standard of having a clear and compelling public purpose in making a judgment that you're going to give a substantial public subsidy to a very successful developer and add to the cost that are already very high for uh St.

Paul taxpayers?

Um your vote on this uh project is going to be very closely observed and will have an impact on how other developers present themselves for future projects.

Thank you for this consideration.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Come on up, welcome.

Hello, greetings, uh, council president, council members.

My name is Barbara Sibley.

I'm from Ward 4, and I'm also a member of the InSight uh program.

And I'm a voter in 45 years of product manufacturing in a variety of interest industries from computers, supercomputers to medical devices.

Therefore, I'm very experienced plowing through thousands of requirements and certifications, tests, and proof of uh compliance.

Therefore, when I was reading the packet last week at the HRA meeting, I expected uh detailed, even in the preview, a detailed report of the BUT 4 test.

This feels conversational rather than uh detailed proof, and I really hope that you received that in all of your deliberations about this.

I can't understand the use of TIFF for this project other than the guy who needs financing for that's about it.

I would have expected to see something about asbestos in here.

I would have expected to see something uh other than uh a small infill project and an already improved land.

That that's that's not beefy enough to me for a requirement and meeting the butt for test.

I'm comparing it to the Hill Crest Golf Course.

Now that's not using TIFF.

The Port Authority decided not to use TIFF there, and I think that for from what I understand it's part of their relationship and project and collaboration with Habitat for Humanity.

But now that's a property with all the contamination that was there from golf course practices.

That would that you one could understand that being a prime target for TIFF.

This one I I'm not buying it.

I can be positive about the project and yet queasy about use of TIFF.

Please, I hope you looked at the public comments.

They were extensive, both to the city council and to the HRA.

Please consider that the city that taxpayers have a lower and lower appetite for TIFF.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

Hi, good evening, Council President, Council of Members.

Thank you for your time here.

I'm a taxpayer.

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

Sorry.

Susan Johnson.

And I have lived, I'm here.

I just have two points on this um proposal.

I just to say that I just don't feel that taxpayers should be playing paying a subsidy for someone to come in and develop this area where we are going to be paying the taxes and for the services in the area.

And it's really more of a private funding that the developer should be coming in to talk to banks, and taxpayers should not be shouldering this burden.

Um I really feel like it's it's not our role that it's a banking thing.

This particular my second point is that this particular area is I have shopped and dined and hung out in this area for decades.

I've lived in various areas in Ward 4, and I love Grand Avenue, and it's always been kind of a shifting businesses come and go, but it's a you know it's a neighborhood that embraces all of the businesses, and whoever whatever developer comes in and gets that spot and gets the funding, which should be private funding, is going to make a good profit.

And I don't see it's not meeting the criteria for a blighted area.

It's a vibrant area, and so I just don't think that it's appropriate.

And thank you for your time and listening, and I'm just asking you to please vote no on this.

Um thank you.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

I'm Sandra.

Thank you.

President Necker and Council members.

My name is Lietta Hugh, and I'm a concerned citizen of St.

Paul.

The 845 Grand Avenue project is located at the intersection of Grand Avenue in Victoria.

It's one of the most desirable commercial areas in St.

Paul.

You're being asked to support the developer with TIFF funding at the expense of your constituents.

During this past mayoral election, I knocked on dozens and dozens of doors.

And many of the people I talked to expressed deep concern about their property taxes.

They're going up and they're very high.

Some of them even said they were struggling to pay these taxes, and that they were thinking seriously of moving out of St.

Paul because they couldn't afford to maintain their home.

You're now considering an almost three million dollar gift to a developer.

And you're asking your constituents to bear that cost.

Your constituents deserve as much consideration as the developer.

Please show your humanity to your constituents and vote no on the TIFF TIFF aspect of this funding request.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

Council President and Council members, I'm John Manillo, President of the Lower Town Future Fund, and then member of Insight as well.

I believe Ari Pirates, the developer, is a fine developer.

And he's correct to say St.

Paul is dead last in major U.S.

cities for new housing development.

But the main reason for our concern is because overuse of TIFF subsidies deplete our tax base to pay for the operation of our basic needs.

TIFF increases property taxes to all St.

Paul taxpayers, both residential and business.

In the late 1990s, three major downtown office projects were developed using TIF.

Once these projects were built, our commercial vacancy rate jumped from a healthy 5% quickly to a 30% problem.

TIFF has incentivized extensive development in our downtown without having adequate demand to absorb all the new vacancies.

TIFF competed with existing taxpaying buildings.

All of downtown experienced a major reduction in valuation, and we have never recovered.

The struggling commercial market then attracted Madison Equities, who bought up everything at rock bottom prices.

St.

Paul couldn't support its basic needs that healthy downtowns usually have to survive a recession or a pandemic.

Unlike most unlike most cities, we have not been able even to begin to recover.

Should I say TIFF funding, developers receive a check back?

No strings attached from the city.

Thanks.

That is the time I need you to wrap up.

Thanks so much.

That's two minutes.

Thank you.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

Thank you, Council President and Council members.

My name is Ari Perretts, 1026 Portland Avenue.

I'm the founder and president of Afton Park Development.

I'm leading the redevelopment project at the Northeast Corner of Granite Victoria.

First of all, I just want to appreciate the members from Inside St.

Paul who are here.

One thing in important data point that I want to share to make sure that the record is clear.

If this TIFF plan is approved, nothing happens to that $200,000 a year that goes into the taxing districts to pay for city services.

I just want to make sure that everybody understands that number because it hasn't been publicly stated before.

Over the past few years, there's been no shortage of hand wringing and uh frustration about the challenges that Grand Avenue has had.

The revitalization of its commercial storefronts and the production of new housing have been widely acknowledged as important public goods that Grand Avenue and the city as a whole needs in order to remedy some of the uh challenges that it's had and to enable the the um important growth patterns for the next couple of years.

Blight, as it's been talked about for this specific project has been misinterpreted.

This intersection is not blighted.

This intersection is a fantastic intersection in the city.

These properties, the specific physical buildings on our parcel and our parcel only, have been found through third-party analysis to be blighted, right?

So that's been a part of the public discourse for the past number of days.

I just want to make sure that everyone is clear.

These specific buildings have either already fallen apart or are in uh dramatic need of substantial renovations that qualify as blight.

That's why this project qualifies, and I very much appreciate your your support and attention.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Is there anyone else here to speak on this item?

All right, seeing none, I will move to close the public hearing and then we can have some discussion.

Uh all in favor of closing the public hearing, say aye.

Aye.

All opposed?

Six in favor, none opposed.

The public hearing is closed.

Uh great.

Well, I uh want to say thank you to everyone who came out to testify on this matter, and not only to testify today, but also to send uh copious public comments as we're referenced, um, both to us and to the housing and redevelopment authority.

Just a quick point of order.

We will actually vote as a council and then we will um do some magic in a moment and we will gavel out the council, we will become the HRA, we will take a vote at HRA, and then we will come back to being the council for the rest of our agenda because this does need to be voted on by both bodies.

Um I will start by saying a couple of things that I fully agree with that have been expressed here tonight and in the testimony.

One of them is that TIFF is a tool that needs to be used judiciously and it needs to be used sparingly.

Um, like any tool we have, we need to be careful that we're using it only when we need it, and that we are following um the policies we've set out to determine whether or not it's needed.

None of us wants to be investing a cent or a minute in anything that doesn't need it.

All of us here are concerned about growing our tax base and concerned about um the tax burden.

Um and that is why I'm I'm glad that we have a policy that limits the amount of TIF in our city to no more than 10 percent of taxable market value.

There is always a um a ceiling on how much of any of our market value can be captured in TIFF.

Um, and I am also grateful Insight St.

Paul.

I think they've raised excellent points.

I know many of the folks who are here tonight, we've actually sat down around my table in my office.

We've had extensive conversation.

We can we can and will continue to do that.

Um, I think especially good points about the need to decertify and close TIFF districts after they've paid themselves off.

And I'm really looking forward to the year ahead when we plan a public um conversation, probably at our budget committee about uh TIFF, about the myths, about the truths, and about um policy changes that we might want to make to how we we use TIFF.

Um, and then finally, I also agree with I think everyone who commented on this issue that we want to expand our tax base, and that is the um ultimately the best way in a fully built city to lower the property tax burden.

We have to develop so that um we can make the most of the land we have and we can bring taxes down for everyone.

Um, in this case, reviewing the record and reviewing the third-party analysis, which was again not done by city staff but done by outside consultants.

Um, I do think that the blight test is met.

I think there's compelling uh evidence that this project um would not happen but for the the two million dollars of TIFF that we're talking about.

Um I think people can question that, but um so far I haven't seen evidence of uh the questioning being accurate.

We have not seen development happening in St.

Paul um without subsidy in the last few years.

And I think that is a problem.

That's something all of us want to do something about, but I do think it takes um some catalytic investments to try to get those developments happening and then make it so that um we get through this inflationary period, we get through this um tariff period, and we get to a point where development can happen again on its own.

Um, but in the meantime, we have the option to not grow or we have the option to grow.

Um, so for for me, uh the evidence is clear that um TIFF is justified in this project, um, and so I will be voting in support.

Um looking to my colleagues to see, and I will make that motion if there is discussion on that motion.

Uh Ms.

Bowie.

Thank you, Council President.

Um, I also want to just say I appreciate everyone who came to testify, and I do appreciate you uh opening up, particularly with the intentionality for next year to learn more about what TIFF is and what's not.

I think all of us appreciate going through a crash course around TIFF.

I unfortunately was not able to be present during the HRA meeting, but I do want to acknowledge on record that I did get a chance to get briefed by the PED director.

And I also have shared with you too that you know, understanding that there has been examples and projects in my ward that have utilized TIFF.

And one of the things that I am principled and is a value of mind is to make sure that these financing tools are going towards building affordable housing.

So for that, I do support the project and I do have a relationship particularly with the developer and wanted to ensure and support them that they have what they need, particularly with revitalizing the whether it's Grand Avenue's commercial corridor or other um development across the city.

But it is really important for me that we use these tools, particularly for our deepest uh priority of affordability and making sure that people have not only affordable housing but sustainable housing.

Um so I will not be in support of this, but I do believe I had a chance to talk with some of my colleagues who will be in support of it.

Um but that is a value of minds moving forward into the future.

Um, and I I just wanted to just make that very clear.

So if people were um in question, particularly of how I vote, that is a principle for me that I'm standing on.

Thank you, Ms.

Bowie.

Is there any other discussion of the motion?

Seeing none, uh, we'll move it looks like to uh roll call vote.

Yang.

Aye, Bowie, no Coleman, yes, Joest?

Yes, Kim?

Yes.

Council President Naker.

Aye.

Five in favor, one opposed, that being Councilmember Bowie.

The resolution is adopted.

All right, we're gonna do the awkward gavel out gavelin.

Uh, Vice Chair Jost is chairing R HRA, so I will uh with nothing else to come before us, the HRA is adjourned.

Call this meeting of the St.

Paul City Council to order.

Roll call, please.

Yang.

Here Bowie.

Here Colman.

Here, Johnson, Joast.

Here.

Kim.

Here.

Council President Naker.

Here.

Six present, one absent being Councilmember Johnson, and she's excused.

Item number 39 is resolution public hearing 25-10.

Public hearing on federal immigration operations in Saint and St.

Paul Police Department Conduct in St.

Paul.

Uh all right.

This is Ms.

Yang, did you want to make any comments before we start?

No.

Okay.

Um, this is a public hearing.

Uh, anyone who's here to speak on this item as we've been doing before, uh, line up on both sides, come on up.

You'll have two minutes, start with your name, where you're coming from, make sure to sign in when you're done.

Welcome up.

Um, tell people good evening.

I am independent journalist Georgia Ford.

I was live streaming on 1125.

I own two commercial properties in that district.

My children go to school nearby, it's the neighborhood where I grew up.

I'm standing today for the three journalists who were attacked by the St.

Paul police department on November 25th.

One who had to be taken by ambulance, and for myself, who was repressed from being able to do my job because of the reckless decision by SPPD to throw smoke and shoot.

Shoot not the people they claim were breaking the law, but recklessly at anybody standing on the other side of smoke.

This week I published over two dozen videos on my website that serve as evidence that SPPD used excessive force, excessive use of chemical agents, and violated our separation ordinance by coordinating with federal agents.

Today, I also published evidence of that coordination.

SPPD not only held the line for agents but gave no clear commands or warnings while allegedly doing crowd control.

Last week I asked the chief, would the officers who attacked journalists be held accountable?

And he said I was pre-assuming it happened.

For the record, I do not need to assume what I witnessed.

As I close, it's simple.

We want answers.

How long will the investigation take?

When will my request for body camera footage be approved?

And be aware there will be footage missing because there were cops who were not wearing their body cameras, which is a violation of their own policy, which I have proof of that too in the article.

And lastly, will this council take a stand for the constitutional rights of the three journalists injured by SPPD?

It was made clear to me in June when a federal arrest occurred at my office two blocks from here that I cannot count on city leadership to stand up against the feds.

But when the offense is at the hands of SPPD, the lack of action is extremely disappointing.

Yes, last week's resolution was a small step forward, but it is a far cry from accountability.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

And the council vice president.

Council Vice President reminded me that there is also a timer that you can see in front of you as well, I think.

Yes.

All right, welcome up.

Hello, uh, my name is Miguel Brito.

I'm a first generation Mexican American West Sider.

Um, I do want to thank the city council for providing the space on November 25th for us to tell our stories of what happened that day um and allowing us this opportunity today uh to do the same.

Uh my family had close friends that were inside the home on Rose Avenue.

Uh we were in direct communications with them as this unfolded, and at no point was there an act of war presented for the individual who was taken.

Despite that, the St.

Paul Police Department assisted federal agents in arresting a man who had not been proven guilty.

I want to be very clear, the presence of the St.

Paul Police Department escalated the situation.

I was on the front lines attempting to communicate with officers.

I believe that they were there to protect public safety and our First Amendment rights, but instead I witnessed peaceful protesters pushed back pepper sprayed and tear gas while exercising their right to protest.

St.

Paul police were more aggressive and more violent than the federal agents on site.

Contrary to what the police chief has stated, I did not witness any protesters arming themselves with sticks and rocks.

ICE routinely operates in ways that disregard due process when mass federal agents detained people without warrants, uh refuse to identify themselves, and take people from public spaces.

That is an unconstitutional seizure.

For the people experiencing it, it's indistinguishable from being abducted.

This is not hypothetical.

U.S.

citizens and lawful residents have been detained under these unconstitutional practices.

The chief has said police were present for public safety.

My question remains why is this at all when federal immigration enforcement repeatedly violates constitutional protections?

If we are truly a sanctuary city, our police should not be legitimizing these actions.

We saw a different approach in Chan Hassan.

People were uh police were present and did not engage with protesters.

If that can happen in Shan Hassan, that has to happen here in St.

Paul.

City Council members, I urge you to direct immigration assistance funding to district planning councils and in trusted hyper-local organizations and affected communities.

These resources must be close to home where trust exists and response is immediate, not lost in metro-wide, statewide or national systems.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

Council President, uh, a distinguished city council and distinguished guest.

Oh, I'm Trin Cruz, I'm a reparationist and a Rondo community member.

Ever since the forced forced arrival of enslaved Africans in the Americas, policing and penal policies and practices were enacted to discipline control, acclimate acclimate black people to systems of exploitation.

The criminal and justice system, which evolved is a direct extension and protector of the interests of the corporate and political interests of the corporate and political elites in the US.

From one of runaway slave patrols, vacrancy laws, chain gangs, the convict lease system to relentless police violence, killings, and mass incarcerations, racist policies and practices have decimated black families and communities.

The PC, uh, our civilian review board, up till November, I think up until November has had 80 complaints.

More than half of them will not be heard this year.

42 of them won't be heard.

And then 20 of them are still open civilian criminal cases.

So uh we think this needs to be addressed.

And uh also during the George Floyd, there were not very many changes from 2020 to 2025 around the St.

Paul Police Department's policies and procedures.

So we are strongly encouraged the St.

Paul City Council to take these matters up expeditiously.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Welcome up.

Hi, City Council Peeps.

I've never been here before.

I respect your position.

I don't know how to say it properly.

My name is Rebecca Esch.

Um I moved here a year ago with my family, and I live on the east side of St.

Paint Paul.

We were accepted immediately by the community.

My daughter sold Girl Scout cookies here.

We've been helped, um, loved.

We love our neighbors.

Our my daughter loves to walk down Rose Street to go to the Arlington Hills Library.

There's stray cats and dogs that she interacts with.

This is our neighborhood.

It's a diverse neighborhood.

It's filled with all different immigrants from all different communities.

So when I heard that there was a disturbance on Rose with ICE, I headed over to um peacefully observe.

And I wasn't gonna come to speak today until I read the art, I read an article yesterday that had multiple misstatements and flat out lies from the police chief.

It was stated that SPPD didn't use chemical weapons until the end.

And I know from personal experience that this is a lie.

I was pepper sprayed by SPPS while I was peacefully observing long before they misused pepper tear gas on the crowd.

They used it liberally, they used it without bias.

I felt bug sprayed as if I meant nothing to these people, as if I was not a person.

I was something to be controlled.

To read lies from a police department that is supposed to protect us is horrifying.

So my questions are why were they in riot gear at 11 a.m.?

I haven't heard, I haven't heard of any any event, anything that they needed to be in riot gear that they had come from.

Um why didn't they communicate to the crowd?

Why didn't they say we're we need to move back, you need to spray?

Why did they get out of their cars to hurt others?

I personally believe that the show of force from SPPD was purposeful in a neighborhood already on edge from the actions of ice.

They protected ice, allowed a community member to be kidnapped, and did immeasurable damage to the delicate trust of a marginalized community.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome.

Hello, council members.

Um, my name is King Demetrius Pendleton.

I'm an independent journalist photographer.

I'm also one of the journalists that was out there when the rape was going on.

Um, my ankle got sprung during this preposterous raid.

Um, not only that, I just wanted to have a quick um brief of silence or just a moment of prayer for my sister Moni Cullus Dodie, and I just want to put it on the record.

I asked that the mayor that's leaving the office and the mayor that's coming in, please look into Marcus Golden Case and clear his name because he does have family members that's really um troubled about what happened to him.

Also witnessing what happened during that particular time of the raid.

I was pepper sprayed, I was shot at, and things of that nature.

What they did was totally preposterous.

They basically gaslighted the community, and I do not feel safe around St.

Paul police officers, do not trust them.

And what makes it so bad, ICE basically um walked away, and next thing you know, it seemed like they just wanted to, St.

Paul police officers just wanted to unleash a lot of um chemical gas.

That's what we witnessed, and it was totally preposterous.

Um, I still have nightmares, I still have shortness of breath, and also I still have trauma.

And this is unacceptable, and I hope and pray that you all understand and also take this very serious, basically what we're going through, and ICE is here, and we know they're here to stay.

And this is just not the beginning.

This is just a start, a tip of the iceberg dealing with the administration that what we have in office.

I appreciate you all.

Thank you all.

Thank you very much.

Welcome.

Thank you.

Um, good evening, everyone and council members and council president.

Um, my name is Angela Jerome Tuckner, and I am a resident of St.

Paul, North End.

Uh on November 25th, I was on my way to the East Side Y via Maryland Avenue when someone was standing out on Maryland, blowing a whistle and pointing out the residence on Rice Street where the ice raid was taking place.

I drove around the block, picked up, parked the car, and joined the people there to observe ICE's actions.

About one hour later, maybe less, I be began to see groups of St.

Paul police walking to the raid, each with a spray canister of chemical agent.

When I saw the St.

Paul police department joining ICE in such large numbers and geared up, it frightened me.

At that point, I went to the back of the house because I didn't care to inhale pepper spray like the previous week at the Brotex raid.

The chemical agents affected me for about a day and a half afterwards.

The difference was that at the Brotex raid, it was only federal agents.

At the Rose Street Raid, it was alarming to see the large number of St.

Paul police officers seeming to join in and protect the federal agents.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Just a reminder to folks to make sure to sign in either before or after you testify.

Welcome up.

Hi.

My name is Tishira Garowaway.

Um my heart hurts for the way that I've seen human beings get treated.

What we saw is what a lot of our families are living with every day of our life after having encounters with the St.

Paul Police Department.

I want to say that this is not about us being against police.

This is about if anybody hurts another human being or mistreats another human being for any reason at all that they should be held accountable.

And it's sad that last week, president that you walked out on our community.

Our community is hurting.

We have families that are out here that are hurting.

We have children that are living without their fathers after encountering the St.

Paul Police Department.

And then the community got a chance to see the brutalization that could come from the St.

Paul Police Department.

And when we came here to express that to you, you shunned us and you walked away.

And that hurts deeply.

And to stand up and to be shunned like that is a pain that I can't describe, but I forgive you.

And I forgive the St.

Paul police department.

But that still doesn't mean that the St.

Paul Police Department does not need to be held accountable for the pain for the corruption and for everything that has been done to our community and most of all human beings.

And that's with dignity and respect.

I thank you for being here, for listening.

I thank you for my community for standing up against evil and corruption.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

Hi, good evening, Madam President, Council members.

My name is Carlos.

I'm from the West Side.

Um, yeah, I'm really resonating with a lot of what I'm hearing people say.

And um, you know, like the the root, um the the creation of police departments and what they represent.

It just feels like we're still really dealing with the branches of the what of those roots.

And I'm seeing a through through line about money and about power.

It's about money and power decisions that are happening here today.

It's like um we have to start siding with people instead of like um the structures that are in place that will always inherently benefit whites, white folks and white supremacy, patriarchy.

Folks have been terrorized for for generations.

Some of our communities have been terrorized by the police for generations, whether it's black, indigenous, brown bodies, queer femme folks, anyone who's been marginalized, been fucked with by the police.

I want to invite us because my ability to be here tonight comes to with my privilege and want to sit with that and know that it also takes people confronting and overcoming uh the barriers for them to speak up.

So there's a lot of people here who aren't here tonight, while there's a bunch of federal thugs in our neighborhoods.

We have our own thugs and bad cops make all cops look bad.

And they're just people, right?

So they get they can feel that power in the moment, but I want to invite us all to come back together and think about how we can get these thugs out of here and how we can start making decisions that center people and not power and not money because that's not what we're about.

That's what the oligarchs are about.

That's what America is about, but that's not what we the people are about.

If we take money and the police departments have too much power in every city in this country, get their money, put it in communities because we got us.

Thank you.

I love y'all.

Thank you very much.

Come on up, welcome.

Uh, good afternoon.

My name is Ruti.

I am a St.

Paul resident and a St.

Paul East Earth worker.

Um November 25th, uh, we were called as uh an East Side community show up to uh be legal observers, peaceful protesters, and ensure the safety of the family whose private property was being invaded by federal agents.

I want to make that very clear.

Um light of all the things that were um coming about as more of us more and more of us gathered to again legally observe to peacefully protest and to make sure that the family is safe.

Uh we were alarmed by the amount of SPPD officers arriving at the scene and being the ones to agitate and break our peaceful chains, uh human chains uh that we had in place.

Um I like to say that on that day I did not realize that I was gonna get pepper sprayed and tear gas for asking a SPBD officer for their badge number because we were asking, who are you with?

Who are you representing?

And you can see in their badge clearly, or their little signatures, it said SPPD, but instead I was met with tear gas and pepper spray.

Not only that, I was also met with rubber bullets.

It took me three weeks for my the rubber bullet that hit me as I was retrieving away and letting other residents know that there is tear gas in the area being held in their place of residence.

It took me three weeks to heal from that, and I'm sure others uh experienced a similar thing.

So I am here to really ask the council to reassure and make sure that the separation ordinance is clear and it is met, and that it is followed by SPPD, and they are also held accountable for their actions and aggression that they thank you.

Thank you very much.

My name is Tim Marino, 795 63.

Last night I was at the Eastern District Police Community Meeting, and the district commander told us we don't want to pick sides.

The actions that rose showed us that they were picking sides.

They said they're here to protect the community.

We don't feel protected.

Right.

Words mean little and actions mean more.

These actions show St.

Paul police is more concerned about false claims of rocks being thrown while ignoring the violence they did against us and ICE was doing against our neighbors.

The police chief didn't even have the courage to come to that meeting and face the people he ordered to brutalize.

Axel Henry has publicly said he wants more communication with ICE and not less.

That statement is disqualifying, and police axel Henry needs to go.

Our community is in lockdown, not from COVID, but from the virus of ICE.

People don't feel safe in our parks, our schools, community centers, grocery stores.

The doors are locked, and our businesses and cultural institutions are losing money.

And that's in advance of the construction that will happen this year on East 7th Street that will also affect these spaces.

People are peeking out of their windows in fear of ice.

Do you think they feel protected by that police department?

Do you feel like they are feeling like, oh, you're not taking sides?

When our journalists, our elders, our people on crutches are being pepper sprayed at point blank range.

The actions of St.

Paul police have told us that all ICE needs to do is to make up a story, and we're at their beck and call.

We need to strengthen this separation ordinance to close these loopholes so this does not happen again.

We don't got time.

This happens now, not months from now, not years from now.

We are out of time.

Our neighbors are out of time.

I'm gonna close with this.

Yesterday, somebody asked if ICE would threaten to shoot one of St.

Paul's citizens at point blank range.

Would you step up and stop that?

And there was silence.

Thank you very much.

Welcome up.

Hello, my name is Amarena.

I was born and raised on the east side of St.

Paul.

Um I was there on November 25th.

I showed up after my opening shift at the East Side YMCA.

So if you all go swimming in the morning, I am there making sure you can swim.

And this was at the point where they had already arrested two of the folks from Rose Avenue without a warrant.

Um and St.

Paul Police Department escorted ICE agents out from the Rose House out of the Rose Avenue onto Payton Avenue so they can leave.

Not only did they escort ICE agents, they protected ICE agents.

Um, when asked for the badge number, they uh answered in pepper spray and tear gas.

Um I am asking that the council members here hold St.

Paul Police Department accountable for protecting ICE agents for using tear gas and not um and for violating the separation ordinance.

Thank you very much.

Thank you very much.

Welcome.

Thank you, Council members and council president.

My name is Michelle Gross.

I'm president of the organization, Communities United Against Police Brutality.

On December 1st, we sent your um organization, your um council members uh and the full council a letter um expressing our grave concerns about the conduct of the St.

Paul police on November 25th.

Um, in that letter, I outlined the fact that I was on the committee that wrote the post-board model policy on police engagement with First Amendment protected activities.

So I know this policy intimately because I helped write it.

And I am here to tell you that the St.

Paul police violated that policy.

And by the way, I should explain that post-board model policies are required to be adopted by police departments, and those departments are required to have a policy that is at least as stringent as the post-board policy.

So this isn't optional.

They were required to follow that policy, and I can tell you that at least in four important ways, they did not.

Um, they were uh they uh deployed uh pepper spray and large amounts uh, you know, uh, as a collective punishment to people who were not even violating the law in any way.

They then spread chemical munitions to engage in uh essentially uh collective punishment to everybody there, as well as the neighbors in the neighborhood who were impacted by this.

They then fired through that fog, direct fire munitions without knowing who they were pointing them at, what body parts they were pointing them at, which is a grotesque violation, by the way.

And finally, they attacked members of the media, which is explicitly prohibited in that most post-board model policy.

So there are several areas that are problematic, and we did let you know about that on the first.

I recognize that you are that you have said that you're going to engage in an investigation.

This investigation needs to happen rather sooner than later.

And finally, I want to mention that I did on that very same day submit a data request for the name and the material safety data sheet related to the chemical munitions that were deployed that day.

This is something that they are required to provide under the model policy.

I have yet to even receive an acknowledgement of my data request, and I made that request on December 1st.

Today is the 17th.

I'm still waiting.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

Hello, my name is Ali Oliva, and I am a recent resident of St.

Paul, but have been heavily involved in organizing um for the last four years in the city.

I'm here to speak on behalf of Chino, who couldn't join us today, but um would like their testimony to be heard.

On November 25th, we were witness to SPPD doing more than simply crowd control.

Under the guise of public safety, we know that SPPD was on the scene of the Rose Avenue operations even before there was a crowd to control.

We saw them as early as 9 50 a.m.

when there was a dozen legal observers defending their neighbors.

We saw SPPD claim we needed to move the line.

We were holding against a warrantless illegal federal operation for an ambulance to come through.

No ambulance was ever going to get through because there were at least um eight ICE vehicles parked in the middle of the street.

We were shoved and tear gas, physically divided from each other and moved away from the raided home all under this lie that an um an ambulance was going to park in front of the house.

Even after ICE agents left the scene with Jeffrey, a young hard-working man who had no warrant for him.

SPPD continued to state SPPD pushed back on community members tear gas and shot rubber bullets at people who posed no threat, including journalists, people walking with canes, and civilians who carry no weapons.

Instead of SPPD showing such sights and force against a crowd of concerned residents who are defending their neighborhoods against unlawful random abductions by these federal agents, SPPD should be standing against these agents who are conducting illegal operations in SPPD's own community.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Welcome.

Thank you, Council President.

Uh Council members.

My name is Carter Bell.

I am a relatively new resident of St.

Paul, specifically the West Side.

One of the things that drew me to this city is the strong sense of community, that we stand with each other as residents, regardless of who we are.

I understood the separation ordinance as part of that.

Part of the community set sense of community protection, keeping federal agents from tearing our communities apart.

And so the response of the St.

Paul police to ISIS attacks on our community frightens me.

It brings into question whether or not St.

Paul police truly will defend our communities and whether or not they care.

The police's actions, their attacks against peaceful protesters and observers of ICE violates the law, endangers our entire community, and strong action needs to be taken to ensure this does not happen again.

That the most vulnerable among us are not endangered by our own police again.

Police should stand with us against this threat, not against us.

They should not have been there, they should not have attacked protesters.

Council members, I urge you protect our community.

Do whatever you can to ensure our separation ordinance is not violated again.

It should have never been violated in the first place.

Make sure that there is accountability for what happened, because without it, there can be no trust.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Welcome up.

Hi.

I was there during the Rose Avenue incident.

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

Said.

Thank you.

And what I had witnessed was our community gathered together to protect and to see out of concern what was going on.

And what we were met with was aggression and instigation and nothing less, as was mentioned earlier, than the manifestation and expression of white supremacy and police brutality.

And it is unfortunate, especially here, that we forget about the continuity and what had happened here five years ago within the Twin Cities that had sparked unprecedented worldwide protests.

And to answer the question someone else had asked earlier in regards to why is our constitutional or civil and citizen rights are being broken.

I mean, I'll just pull from revolutionary Malcolm X, who had pointed out the hypocrisy within enacting new and new laws or whatever have you.

And he had pointed out how if you needed to do that, right, then you weren't considered a citizen to begin with.

You were considered subhuman, right?

And so this is just a very long history of that that we're still continuing to see.

And well, I this is mostly to us, but it's important to understand that you cannot change the function of the state, two of them that come to mind, which is well, one, that it's either gonna be contracting or expanding, right?

Just as we are seeing play out in the Caribbean and in Venezuela.

Um, or rather, here, right?

Exploitation among us.

That's something that you can't legislate, right?

You can't legislate freedom.

So I'll leave it at that.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

Umsain, executive director of care in Minnesota.

Uh, and first and foremost, I want to just acknowledge and just say that right now, uh, our immigrant population, particularly the Somali American population, are seeing our president and this authoritarian regime target a population that's overwhelmingly citizens, in fact, 60% of our population are even born here.

Um, that should give us a clear indication what ICE is doing.

It's not doing its job.

They're not here to enforce anything, they're here to drive a political narrative and a political scoring point because residents of this great state and city spoke very loudly after the murder of George Floyd, and we decided that we're going to have different type of policing in the future.

That's literally what we decided to do.

And members of our entire population in this country and others were inspired to act differently.

What we saw with the ICE rate and what we will continue to see with ICE rate is ICE using law enforcement as a cover, but most importantly, entrapping police into a conflict on the streets.

They are not doing their best service.

In fact, they're lying to the police and letting them know that there's a riot and all this.

We've seen it in the 911 calls that they're making, among other things.

And law enforcement are tired of being put in that position.

But there are some law enforcement that are not tired who are also trying to, in the middle of this chaos, score political points to themselves to return us back to the moments before the murder of George Floyd.

So in this moment, I need every city, and including this body, to create the opportunity for a public hearing, not when a public hearing is fits within the line of the institutional time.

But if there is a moment like this, we need not only an investigation that will take months on, but an investigation that will take minutes.

Because we need to come to the truth.

Accountability is at the end of it.

So I ask you, council members and president, in this moment, you are a body elected by your constituents to stand up and protect the constitution.

Will you do that?

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

My name is Lewis.

I live on the east side.

I was there on November 25th.

When I arrived on the scene around 10 a.m., I was responding to be a legal observer.

I was there peacefully.

I was unarmed.

I was immediately met by violence from the St.

Paul police.

St.

Paul police showed up in riot gear.

There was no illusion of safety for us there.

It was very clear that St.

Paul police was there to attack us and to protect ICE.

We were lied to.

There was no warrant for Jeffrey.

ICE already had detained one person, and that's who they had a warrant for.

They should have been gone, but instead we spent five hours.

Jeffrey and his family spent five hours being trapped in their house.

We spent five hours in the streets being pepper sprayed in defense of them.

The actions of this city council, we need more.

Y'all owe us you owe the East Side so much more than an apology, but you could start there.

You could start there.

We need to see some real accountability, and we need it fast.

You ignored us for four weeks now almost, almost a month.

Unacceptable.

People are being taken off the street every day.

Our communities are organizing.

We're watching ICE.

We know where they are.

Not only was I attacked by St.

Paul police on the 25th, I was attacked by ICE agents this weekend.

They're violent, they're out of control.

I've seen it firsthand.

We need your help.

We need you to hold the police accountable.

We can do this as a community, but we need some help.

We need some assistance, and we need to not be attacked by the police.

Thank you very much.

Welcome up.

City Council, City Council President.

My name's Paul Sullivan.

I am an organizer with the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota, and I am here today to just express how in the 70 plus years of our existence as an organization.

This certainly stands out as an incident of violation of the people of St.

Paul's civil liberties that we especially wanted to call attention to.

To start, I wanted to briefly bring up this document that I'm hoping everybody is familiar with, which is the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of Minnesota.

Umstitution of Minnesota Article 1 under the Bill of Rights, Section 3, Liberty of the Press.

The liberty of the press shall forever remain in viable.

And all persons may freely speak, write, and publish their sentiments on all subjects.

Now, of course, we saw the attack on our community on November 25th.

We also saw, as has been mentioned by George Ford and others, the attack that happened on our press.

Three members of the press, clearly marked as members of the press, suffered from injuries from the St.

Paul police department.

This is deeply alarming and deeply concerning for the civil liberties of St.

Paul residents.

And I speak not only as somebody who works at the American Civil Liberties Union, I also speak as a Ward 4 resident when I say that we need more from our entire city to keep us safe with ICE.

Along with the I know I'm trying to keep time in mind here.

The point that I'm trying to get at, regardless of the actions of ICE on the 25th, the actions of St.

Paul Police Department were incredibly alarming, incredibly dangerous for our residents, including the use of chemical irritants and kinetic projectiles against those clearly marked journalists.

Thank you very much, and maybe at this point I would just ask if there's anyone else who plans to speak if you wouldn't mind lining up, just so we have a sense of how many more folks intend to speak.

Thanks so much.

Welcome.

My name is Linda Voigt, and I am a resident in Ward 1 in St.

Paul, and I was also a witness of the raid on November 25th.

And I'm here to say that the actions and weak excuses of SPPD are reprehensible.

As many other St.

Paulers, I am horrified by the violence the police inflicted on my community members simply because we're sick of seeing our neighbors become victims of a national blackbagging operation.

The escalation that day was the presence of militarily armed police, many of whom live across state lines in Wisconsin.

The escalation that day was the unmarked masked agent pulling a loaded live ammunition uh rifle at an unarmed man while SPPD was busy gassing people on the street, shooting people with less than lethal rounds and dehumanizing the unarmed people who pay their checks.

We demand accountability, we demand a real commitment to sanctuary city status, and we demand a city that cares as much about us as we care about each other.

Thank you.

Welcome up.

Hi, good evening.

Uh, my name is Eli Murdoch, and I'm live in St.

Paul in Ward 5.

Uh I was born and raised in St.

Paul and graduated from Col Park Senior High.

I want to acknowledge that we are on native land.

Land that was occupied by Native American indigenous people who were forcibly removed and nearly erased.

From 1995 to 2020, I have been pulled over by police in Minnesota 15 times.

15 times.

From 2011 to 2020.

I was pulled over 11 times by nine different police agencies in the state of Minnesota and one outside of the state of Minnesota.

That is disgusting and reprehensible.

That indicates that I've been targeted relentlessly.

The person that I believe, or the agency that I believe that is behind that targeting is the Ramsey County Sheriff's Department.

I hold in my hand a 27-page report generated by the Ramsey County Sheriff's Department regarding me.

It is one of the most racist hate speech filled reports that I have ever seen.

It is from my former employer, which was Fratalone's hardware and garden in Arden Hills, where I was fired through two years ago on in Native American Heritage Month on Native American Heritage Day.

This report demonstrates and targets me, and it also demonstrates six pullovers by the Rulesville Police Department alone.

It also implicates the Arden Hills Police Department.

And also I was constantly targeted by the St.

Paul police.

They have been part of the pullovers multiple times, and my neighbors have called the St.

Paul police on me as well.

Thank you.

Enough is enough.

I want the city council to convene an investigation involving city, county, state, and federal authorities who aren't associated with the police, and get that investigation underway right now.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

Hi, good evening, Council.

Um, Council President, thank you for letting us speak this evening.

My name is Haley Ball.

I'm a resident of Ward 5, and I have the privilege of serving the East Side of St.

Paul in a nonprofit organization.

I came to on November 25th, I came to the Rose Avenue residence as a legal observer.

I was one of the first people to arrive at 8:30 in the morning.

Um, upon my arrival, and there was a document target camera thing here.

Um I took some photos, and at 9.15, as folks will see, it clearly contradicts that St.

Paul police department was not um because that is clearly a St.

Paul police officer.

Um at that time at 9:15 in the morning, there were only roughly about five people standing there.

Um, and then they returned again, a gigantic group of them in riot gear.

Um, so I'm wondering where's the accountability and where is what's happening with cooperation and there should be no cooperation at this point.

And I encourage you, City Council, if you love St.

Paul just as much as I do, that you hold them accountable.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

I'm gonna stick this here because I can't hold everything.

Okay.

Um, my name is Rachel.

I am a resident of ward five, and uh let me first say thank you to those elected officials who are actually on site day of, because the reality is while we come here and we can use our voices, nobody believes us in the way that they believe you.

So thank you for showing up.

I really appreciate it.

I also was one of the first to arrive on scene at about nine o'clock.

SPPD pulled up behind me at 9 08.

They went and talked to officers on the scene, they determined that it was a different agency, and then they left.

So I know that they were there beforehand.

Um, after they left, uh, people joined us.

Um after they left, uh people joined us, we were there to protect our neighbors to find out what was going on.

Um as we stood there, people arrived, people have attested to the fact that SPPD arrived in two white vans later, there were things that happened beforehand, but I'm gonna jump ahead a little bit.

I want you guys to think about what happens when SPPD jumps out like the jump out boys in full helmets and gas masks and wooden batons and rubber bullet guns, and I want you to just for a second see if you can feel that in your face.

And if you can put your phone down and stay with me for a minute, I've been here for a really long time.

So I really want you guys to actually experience what it feels like to go toe-to-toe with that, because the reality is they were there to scare us.

And HSI lied to us.

They told us that they had a warrant.

The math is people were there on site at 8 30.

Jeffrey wasn't removed from that location until 12 30.

This is not something that needs an investigation.

If they had a valid warrant, they would have been in that house and they would have left, but they didn't, okay.

And people came, uh after, thank you.

After SPPD arrived, push us out of the way.

I need you guys to know that Jeffrey was told that we were leaving him.

That when SPPD moved us, HSI and ICE told Jeffrey and that family that we no longer cared about him and that we were gonna leave him there.

That heartbreak, if you can feel that even for a second, that degrades any trust, any work that SPPD has done to try to rebuild before 2020, back to 2016.

Thank you.

The reality is I will tell you that T Sands told me the reason they were there was because Mayor Carter was no longer the mayor.

You have a problem in your department.

Very much.

Please sign in.

Come on up.

Good evening, council members.

Uh, my name is Eric Gonzalez.

I live on Cook Avenue, just a block away from uh Rose Avenue.

I was uh on my way home on the 25th, and I was greeted by uh St.

Paul police looking exactly like soldiers, completely kitted out with Kevlar helmets, assault rifles, and they were forming a police line, which I believe is in violation of the separation ordinance.

Being a protective detail for ICE is collaborating with ICE.

When you looked out over the crowd, you could not tell who was who from a distance, and they were all performing the same role with the same goal, which was to perform a legal arrest there.

I'd like to skip ahead a little bit and talk about one particular incident um that was refreshed uh last night.

I witnessed a ICE agent aim down the sights of a rifle at an unarmed man during the protest.

Um we got so close to him firing, and we'll never really know how close we got to that.

I'd like us to take a moment and consider what would have happened next in the community.

I think it would have been a repeat of what we've seen before, and that tells us something.

We keep having these issues over and over that are downstream from America's greatest sins for hundreds of years, and we need to do something about it.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Just gonna do one final call.

If anyone else plans to speak tonight, please please get in line.

Welcome up.

Hello, my name is Emily.

I live in Ward 6.

I want to echo the words of all these amazing community members who are here today talking and speaking to the humanity of our neighbors who are being harmed.

But I also want to say that I don't feel any urgency from this council that I feel like that should be there.

And that if the humanity of our neighbors is not enough to drive you to move quickly and efficiently, then maybe your pockets will be, because we have extensive data showing us that interventions like this by the federal government and the SPPD will uh affect property values, it will drive down local businesses, it will defer future donations and grants to our communities, and it basically it will depress future economic development in that neighborhood.

And all this work that we're putting in for trees and all these other wonderful, amazing community things that we need will be for naught if our community continues to have disruptions like this.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Welcome.

Hi, I'm Jenny Laner.

I live on the West Side.

Um, I've been taking some notes as people were talking, and I want to address Saeed who said that um the St.

Paul Police Department showed up with aggression.

And I've lived on the West Side for 23 years, and any time a cop shows up, it's with aggression.

It's with disrespect and rudeness.

I have called for help, and I have also been a witness to crimes, and any time I talk to them, they are rude and aggressive, and you can't tell your story because they're busy asking you to how to spell your middle name.

You know, this is not.

So when people talk about this Rose Street situation as being a surprise, it's really kind of not a surprise.

They've been working up to this for a long time.

They treat us like we're fodder for their games.

And we're not.

They're they are our employees.

If you want to talk about tax money going to developers, how about the money that's going to these people who are supposed to be protecting us?

Another thing.

Um, you know, I have friends and family who are afraid to go to protests and to stand up for people because they're afraid of what's gonna happen.

And the police did show everybody why they should be afraid to show up to these things by what they did on Rose Street or Avenue.

That's exactly what they're afraid of.

I'm not afraid, but they are.

Um, okay, what else did I write down here?

Oh, the St.

Paul Police Department saying they didn't want to pick sides.

They should be picking sides, and it's our side.

They're protecting us with our tax dollars, so they need to pick us.

And that's what makes Minnesota so great is that we aren't one of those states that just lets the cops and ICE and everybody do all those things.

Uh we uh we welcome immigration and we protect our immigrants and St.

Paul Police Department's acts absolutely the opposite of that.

Thank you very much.

We are at time.

I need you to wrap up there.

Thank you.

The last thing I'd like to say is when they come out with these chemical munitions and these uh less lethal weapons to our small underserved communities.

Who's picking up those medical tax, you know, those medical uh needs in the hospitals and things when they have to go and they don't have insurance.

We do.

We're the ones who have to make up for the cops wounding our citizens.

Thank you very much.

Make sure to sign in.

Welcome up.

Hi, my name's Danielle Matthias, and I'm the director of policy and advocacy at the Minnesota Freedom Fund.

Um, I'm here today because public testimony isn't courtesy, it's a cornerstone of our democracy.

And so on the record statements matter, and they're how residents uh make it to the official history books.

Um, each of you today have taken time to speak on the record to say I want this reflected on the record.

Last week you had community members show up here who you knew wanted to be on the record before you passed your resolution.

And each of you took time because you know the importance of being on the record.

So to hold that power only for yourself, you should feel ashamed.

You had communities showing up to give public testimony on the harm that was caused to them.

And I know members of the council were also harmed or witness harm, and they had a chance to speak on that.

So while we're thankful to the resolution, and we know we're hopeful things will um come of that.

You should have done this four weeks ago when you had people sending you letters to come speak.

Um you are protecting your own voices while we're stricting the voices of the people that were most impacted, and that's not transparency.

And the people who showed up here tonight will continue to show up until you give us full accountability and transparency for what happens.

Thank you very much.

I should have sign in.

All right, welcome up.

What's up, everybody?

How's everybody doing?

Thank y'all.

Hey, my name is Rod, uh and I'm street, and I just want to say that um uh Freud often say that right, the opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference.

So, St.

Paul Police Department, please listen.

Your indifference is violence.

Right?

So let's let's hold them accountable.

And also want to just say, Michelle Gross, Jelani, and many others have demanded that when that uh that federal review process that happened at MPD, they asked for a similar review of SPPD.

Right?

And it was denied at that time.

And it is about time that you all may put something in place that we are investigating the history of violence against our community.

And here are some data, right?

A study of 17 law enforcement agencies found that citizens review board, we have PCIR here, have sustained police brutality complaints at a higher rate than police themselves.

So let's stop depending on police to investigate themselves.

Let us bring in our police in our PCIR community that was we were able to investigate them and see how flawed that system was that started a couple of years ago under uh uh the the mayor Coleman, right?

At that time.

And then there is another process of independent monitor and auditors, and these are people that you can invite and appointed by the mayor, appointed by the city council, who will take it into consideration the policies and practices that they say that they are practicing, and then to see what they are actually doing out in the streets, right?

So we really need to be able to look at that policy and bring shed light into how that policy is implemented.

And then there is an independent investigator who can be hired, right?

To write, I mean, you have 40% of the min uh the the taxes for city taxes going to police department, stop it, y'all.

That's that's a lot of money.

Thank you very much.

Bring that money, and let's hire an independent investigator to go collect data and information from citizens who have been harmed.

Thank you.

Let's address the harm.

Let's transform pain.

Remember, pain not transformed will transfer.

Thank you very much.

Thank you for testimony.

All right.

Thank you all so much.

Um I'm gonna take a motion from Ms.

Yang to close the public hearing and then we'll make some comments.

Uh all in favor, say aye.

Aye.

All opposed?

Six in favor, non opposed.

The public hearing is closed.

Uh I would look to my colleagues for comments on the testimony that we just heard.

Ms.

Yang, and then vice president.

Thank you, Council President.

Well, I first want to say thank you to everybody here who testified.

Um, you've been here for so long.

Like it's already 7 30, it's been four hours.

And so thank you for your patience.

I want to say thank you for your love for our East Side community.

I know the incident that took place on the 20 on the 25th of November, that was in the East Side.

And um, the genuine love that you have for people for our humanity, it is deeply felt.

And so I want you to know that that is I see that, and um that I stand in solidarity with you too.

I'm just thinking back to the truth and taxation hearing that we had a few um many weeks ago, and uh I remember feeling deeply horrified by what we uh heard regarding the St.

Paul police department's activity and also um the actions that were taken by the ICE agents too.

And those are the same emotions that are starting up in me, even in the hearing today.

And uh I I do believe that our St.

Paul police officers um in our department overall made a huge mistake by thinking that they were out there policing the community when in fact we needed them to police ICE.

We need them to police to police HSI, these federal immigration operations that are happening where they are clearly violating our rights.

And uh to me, what is so concerning is that without them doing that, who actually is the one policing these federal agents in our communities.

I empathize with you all so much because I have been out in the streets so many times, you know, over the 10 years I've been doing community organizing, and I just think back to what school board member uh school board member Chantel Allen said when um she testified at the podium here, saying that it felt so wrong to have the police officers be facing us and not the ICE agents.

And it felt like we were the ones who were causing the problem, that we were the enemy, and uh it it truly hurts.

Um I it's I'm disturbed by it, and I never want to see anything like that happen again.

I uh share the urgency that you all have on our um for the council here to take action, and I do believe that the resolution, while it was it was really important, um, the one that we voted on last week, it just also is not enough, and it's also gonna take time for even us to get any sort of results.

And so um, because of uh that urgency that I do feel, and I want us as a council to be holding ourselves accountable because I know that we care about this.

We clearly do we've made statements about it, we passed the resolution unanimously.

What I um want to share with all of you, including my colleagues too, and some of you may be hearing about this for the first time is every single week.

I want to keep um, I'm gonna be entering a public hearing into our agenda so that people can come back and share about their grievances, about the ICE operations, and it could also include the St.

Paul Police Department's operating uh activity that they witnessed.

As you all know, we're still continuing to see people get detained um every single day.

Like I the first thing I do when I wake up is I look at my phone and I get texts from people that I know or people who got a hold of my phone numbers saying, hey, my family member got detained, what do I do?

I look scroll through my feed, and the first thing I see is this person got uh they just got detained, um, or ICE is at their house.

And like right now is the moment for us to truly take action.

Um I um I will keep I will um keep entering the public hearing into um onto our agenda and I uh want to be really clear that this isn't to burn out any of our community members or leaders and advocates that continue coming back here.

It's really to keep the space open for people to come and share about the grievances because it's very important for all of us here at the table to be hearing what is happening out in the community, and I know that so many of us have been putting our bodies on the line too.

I want to say thank you to um those of you who have been doing that.

Um I will keep doing it until at least like one of the following that I'm sharing here happens, and like this first one I truly want to see happen, which is to see our president Donald Trump get impeached.

That absolutely needs to happen.

The the second one is um, you know, yes, uh last Wednesday, I was very disturbed that there were community members who uh um whom we're not given the opportunity to speak, even though there were uh there were many pathways for us to actually open up open up a public hearing.

And because we were in deliberation for so long in the very back, and um there wasn't consensus to to you know open up a public hearing, then um it um uh it meant we took so long that the community members who wanted to speak, they already left.

And that was actually the only reason why we were able to come back and finish the meeting, and that is so wrong.

I never want us, uh never want us to be in that position again.

I was, you know, we were in a very similar situation like that during the ceasefire resolution, and uh, and so that's why to me, you know, if if we never want a repeat of that again, then we should be moving toward having an open public hearing section, and it could be at the end, it could be you know, wherever we choose for it to be um in our agenda, or you know, the very last um options that I want to put on the table is for this council to, in addition to the resolution that we passed last Wednesday, to take literally just one action to address the many issues that we've been hearing, and like I heard so many um at the list that I have just at the top of my top of my mind is safety, um ensuring there's safety for our press who are out there in the streets, they should not be getting heard at all.

And um uh there should be protocols, um, warnings given out um to everybody, including the press, too.

Uh, there we need to make sure that our police officers are disclosing their badge numbers, and we don't need to be discreet about that at all.

Um also for um for um our rec centers and library parking lots to not be used as a staging area at all.

I don't want it to be used as a staging area by our police officers.

I don't want it to be used by um you know uh from uh by ICE or HSI at all as a staging area.

And so, you know, these are just some of the many things on the list for us to take action on.

And I'm not saying, you know, do all of that and then I'll stop, you know, I won't open up the public hearing.

I'm just saying literally we just need to take at least one action.

And and I know that this is a council that can make that happen.

Um, I also um believe that um with mayor elect her coming in too, there's so much opportunity for us to really be passing even more um policies around this because that is uh a priority that she had in her platform coming in, like protecting our immigrant communities and our refugee communities.

And so um those are the things I wanted to share um to all of you, and I welcome you to keep coming back to uh City Hall here, or if you have you know people who want to share their grievances to the city council, um, please take up that space because this space truly belongs to the people.

And I do have a specific request, which is that for the public hearing to be the first item that we have when it comes to public hearings, because I don't want people to be waiting um until the very end to have to share their their grievances and their stories and experiences.

Uh, I know that today um it was a very hectic day with it being our last council day, and so there were so many things that um made it, you know, that that were just stacking on top of each other.

But it's really important for us to be hearing what the community has to say.

Like this is literally us uh us fighting fascism head on.

I I can't say that enough.

Um we uh we are in a spot where we we need to unite um and we uh need to be really clear about what it is that we want to win in the communities, and if we don't have clarity about that, then we're all gonna lose.

And I know we don't want that.

And so I want to say thank you to everybody for your persistence and your determination, and uh just continue to keep up the fight, and again, I am in solidarity with you.

Yeah, I really appreciate that.

I'm just gonna respond quickly.

I think, in addition to those, I'd love it for them to not show up in masks in our neighborhoods.

That should not be a thing that's happening.

Um, we also should look at no expenditure of any city resource should be going towards this.

So, like that means police shouldn't even be showing up, just full stop.

Um, my office has been in contact with other um cities and their legislators and council members.

Um, I my office has been in contact with our congressional office and our US Senate offices to bring forward and work on solutions that really matter, but we also can look to other cities, and so the thing that I don't want to hear personally from our city attorney's office is like, well, that's Chicago.

So garages, parking places, there are great ideas, and um, I'm staring at my colleague really intensely.

Sorry, Molly, um, council member colon.

But we're we're working on, we are working together, offices are working together on all the great ideas that we heard that come forward tonight.

I know that was absolutely council member Coleman's intention is to sit and listen and find legislative um solutions.

So again, I'm also very grateful for everyone to be here.

Um my scribblings are here, but just hang with me.

But St.

Paul police claims to be trained in de-escalation.

But the escalation was them showing up in riot gear.

St.

Paul police says that we can trust them, and we can ask them simple questions like who are you from and what your badge number is, except what we experienced is getting tear gassed and maced in the face.

SPPD claims to serve and protect our residents, but what we are hearing from our residents tonight is they are testifying to their violence.

Like many folks that you heard tonight, uh, we were there for hours.

I I also rolled up, I think just before 9 30.

And what I really want to emphasize to my colleagues is that across the board, I know I had the privilege of speaking to what happened, but across the board, everyone had the same experience.

Collective punishment of tear gas, mace, less lethal, so let's stop calling it.

Our residents were shot.

I was shot by our St.

Paul police department, shooting indiscriminately, regardless of who was in the crowd, and particularly at our press, who's falling very closely behind them and was very clearly identifiable.

We also witnessed them securing a boundary for ice.

That is the first time I was tear gassed, was because they were pushing um observers back.

And ultimately, what I know that we witnessed was an aiding in an in a legal arrest of our community member Jeffrey.

Um I had the honor to meet with Jeffrey's family, and I asked him and their family, what would you like me to share about who Jeffrey was?

And it was honestly very simple.

Jeffrey was a family member, a family person.

He showed up to work and he came home, and that was it.

He cared deeply about his relationships to his partner and his partner's family and their his partner's family.

Um he didn't go out, he didn't do honestly.

I think most things that a young person should be doing.

But Jeffrey was a homebody.

That's where he felt safe, and we ripped him from that safety.

I want to address also that um to the point that was made earlier about yeah, like we get to be on the record, and none of you did last time, and that um I know that's certainly not the intent, but that's the impact.

Um, but like you, like many of the people here, I've I've recognized your faces from that day.

There were so many people that I locked eyes with to be like, are we good?

I don't know if we are.

I looked over at my partner and I said, I'm really scared right now.

And it was the moment that we found ourselves surrounded by ice on one side and St.

Paul Police on the other.

So, like many of you, I sat in truth and taxation with my hair full of tear gas, my clothes still tained with pepper spray, and with still stinging my face.

And I can attest to most folks, if that's never happened to you, you know the impact, it lasts long.

Um it's days that you feel, and the laundry day is hard.

You're washing things out, you're hoping it gets better, and sometimes it doesn't.

So I I am also with you.

I hear um strong partnership with my colleague here as well.

But I just I really implore this council, which I know we are poised to do and have agreement on, but this is the collective experience of everyone that was there.

This is not singular to the people that wanted to be in the mix.

This is observers that showed up to do their job, and not only that, but ones that we are encouraging them to do for our community.

So I just I want to take just another second.

So I received a bunch of letters from a school, I'm not gonna name it for their safety from fourth graders, and they wrote me letters around the things that they care about most in the city.

They had lots of ideas like pollution of our lakes and rivers, homelessness and the welfare of animals, just to name a few.

But the class decided that the safety of immigrant families was the most pressing issue affecting our community.

And I'm just gonna read very quickly from a fourth grader.

If you can see the kick and scratch, dear council member Kim, I'm a fourth grade student.

I'm writing to you because I believe that the city of St.

Paul should protect the immigrant community from ice.

First, people are getting kidnapped by ice.

I think this is wrong, and it's too violent, and everyone should be welcome in St.

Paul.

Next, the community should feel safe.

I believe that people are scared to go to work to learn and have fun.

Families should be together.

In conclusion, please make a plan to stop ice from separating families.

Thank you for your attention, a fourth grade student.

Thank you, Vice President.

Yep.

Um, Ms.

Joe.

Um, thank you, Council President.

Thank you.

Uh thank you to all my colleagues for for their um for for their statements.

And thank you to everyone that showed up here today for a very long meeting, and there have been folks that have been showing up to our TRIPS youth and taxation.

There have been folks that have been reaching out to my office.

Uh, I just want to make it very clear that um this is this is an issue that I take very seriously and that I I care a lot about um and also that uh our council is putting a significant amount of effort in.

And I do want to say too that this is there is a long list of tasks that we have before us.

Um, and it's gonna require every council member to be all hands on deck to be working on on these specific items.

And so what I would like our council to do is to uh I have a lit the list of items I'm hearing and from our resolution is that we are looking into our separation ordinance.

We are looking into um the use of force and investigation by our post board.

We are looking into can we um ban uh ice from staging in our public spaces like our library parking lots, our parks parking lots, like they did at Newell Park several weeks ago.

We are looking into a financial audit of OF OF with OFS of SPPD costs.

We could also look into having our audit committee explore, it's not a financial audit, but an audit of operations.

That's an option I think that we have.

Um, and the other thing that our council, the majority of our council's power that we do actually have, because there are powers, we only have powers to do so many things, but our budget authority is one of the biggest powers that we have.

And so that's something that um I brought shared concerns about that every year that I've been here on the council is the transparency around the police's budget, their overtime, and many other things, and that was before something like this happened, but it's especially important now.

And the last thing that I want to say is that it's my understanding, um, the post board, in order to be able to do their investigations now around use of force, have to have a complaint about a specific officer about a specific incident.

And I know that they've we've received several complaints, but those complaints have to come through for them to be able to do their investigation.

We can't just have them investigate something that doesn't have a complaint assigned to it.

So I just want to make sure that um people know that they can reach out to our offices or if they have questions about this process.

But those are several of the steps in front of us, and so I really want folks to know that we we do have a lot of we we we share the urgency around this issue.

We are working every day on this issue, and we are working as quickly as we can.

Um, and I know that it won't seem like it's enough.

It won't seem like we're working fast enough, but I just want folks to know that um just for me personally, like we're doing the best that we can and we will continue to work on those items.

And if community members and folks that came today have other things that they would like for us to look at, please reach out to our offices.

I do appreciate the public hearing and being able to listen to people, but I also want to be able to connect with people directly to work on these things together.

So thank you so much to everyone for staying late for this meeting and uh just appreciate all the work we've done so far.

Thanks.

Thanks, Ms.

Joe.

Thank you.

Are there any other comments for my colleagues, any other discussion?

Ms.

Bowie.

Thank you.

And um, I I just wanted to say I do appreciate everything that you know uh my colleagues have shared.

I really just been sitting quiet and listening.

Um, I think this is a very pivotal and serious moment um that we're in.

I also want to just like recognize and share that when I'm on my phone, I'm literally typing notes.

Like I'm literally preserving all of this.

I know it's recorded, but as someone who takes this moment very seriously and process in a very different way.

Um I just want to just make sure that you know I'm recognizing and we're all recognizing that in spite of the limitations, um, in spite of the barriers, in spite of the existing structures of the city of St.

Paul and even our existing structure of the city of council, that it is so important that your voice is heard.

And I'm so thankful, and I want to recognize that you all had to sacrifice some level of your day, some level of what your role is, whether it's to your families, whether it's to your jobs, or whether it's to your community to be here.

And I want to acknowledge not only that deep resiliency, but I also want to acknowledge a deep courage.

Many of you all, I have stood in solidarity long before I was in this role as city council, and I'm just so thankful that you're utilizing your voice and you're utilizing your platform, and you are also, in spite of the relationships that you all have, and understand the commitments that I have made, particularly in um in response to holding the police accountable, that you're still actively holding us accountable.

So I want to just thank you for that.

Um, one of the things that I have heard, I just want to just um just be very transparent.

Um, it was heartbreaking um to hear it was said that you can't, we can't legislate freedom.

Right.

Like, I just want like there's a belief that we can't legislate freedom when we know that this country has legislated slavery.

This country has successfully legislated wars.

This country has successfully legislated surveillance, mass deportation, and bans on people, and we also have acknowledged where our policies and our practices, particularly in the city of St.

Paul has failed short in all of the tremendous work that had took place to get our police department into the 21st century of policing.

But that is still not enough.

I was remembering a time when like body cameras was like the most like radical thing that we can do to ensure transparency.

But here we are right now, and we're even having seen we're seeing terror happen on cameras.

What is the degree in the action that we need to take and work together particularly to make sure that we're not just um um having a means to an end to transparency, but we're actually working to make sure people truly feel the protection not only from law enforcement alone, but the protection from our actions through policy and through our investments.

Also, I want to just share um that I'm committed and I and I I stand very confident, particularly amongst my colleagues, that we are all committed to creating policies and practices and making sure that our budget is transformative.

Um, I do I want to just say, particularly from my experience, being in this role, city council, there is a lot of forces that tells you to not be transformative.

There's a lot of reasons, a lot of advice, a lot of counsel that tells you to just not do anything differently.

So I'm calling on you not all to be allies, but for to put accountability for us to be co-conspirators around transforming this system because we cannot do it alone.

And I know everybody is committed to it, but it does come a time in history where we have to move beyond rhetoric and we really have to con we have to collaborate.

And we can't use immigrants, we can't use ice raids, we can't use these as political theater theatrics, we can't use these incidents as political isolated situations.

This is all part of what not only this regime that this this um very racist um administration on the federal administration is is that we're dealing with right now.

I also want to just say it's important for us to call a spade a spade.

We're living right now in real life, uh uh current day of a Trump administration that has waged political warfare against cities that believe in the humanity and freedom of everyone.

This is a and I I want to also commend the executive director um Jelani, who were saying that this isn't about uh uh real this isn't a real law enforcement process or um implementation of law enforcement.

This is like political agencies.

This is like a political stunt of trying to put fear into cities that are standing up and supporting and protecting and saying that we are a city that welcomes immigrants.

We have gone through time and time again as a council uh supporting not only lawsuits, but um I'm supporting litigation to a Trump administration that has not just only like supported ICE raids in our city, but has actually um um have withdraw major funding sources to our cities to be able to provide housing, who has um penalized us, particularly and took funding away from our ability to be able to fund our law enforcement, who has literally punished us and is trying to literally destabilize our cities.

This is this ice agent, these ice raids, as we're seeing, is not it's more than just a human rights violation.

This is a literal attempt to destabilize our cities.

So we need to govern accordingly, and we need to ensure that we have a budget and how we legislate and how we actually advocate.

Is that is all connected here?

And we need to move swiftly to change our systems to make sure that the people who vote us in and the people who support us and the people who live here are heard.

And I'm committed to that.

I um I I'm here to be a colleague.

I'm here to make sure that we're governing with humanity.

When I came into the office, I saw that bust of the first African American city council member Bill Wilson, and it under it says govern with humility.

And I think about what was that council member's experience to where for him to make a difference, he had to govern with so much humility.

Think about what our residents and our immigrants had to face and deal with pure humiliation.

But they didn't just stop there with humiliation and just say, hey, St.

Paul's no longer a safe place for me.

I'm going to flee and look for somewhere else.

They're coming here and saying council is time to do something.

That I don't even know, like that's the greatest type of love.

And I think that's the greatest type of value that we have.

So I think as we are going into next year and understanding that we um are going into a new administration.

I think it's really important that council, you know, has the opportunity to demonstrate what it looks like to legislate with love.

How can we legislate freedom for everyone?

How do we legislate with our values at every single incident?

Not just because this is an item that's on the agenda, but every other item that's on the agenda that's connected to when it comes to our communities and our immigrant families.

And I'll just close with this.

Um I um as someone who is a former uh commissioner for the PC Arc, um, I actually got my interest in um in being a policymaker from my time serving on uh on on the commission.

I also want to just highlight um that's when my first time I met you, Councilmember Kim, where you were at LA.

And uh I am committed, particularly as the chair of the public safety and community wellness committee to reviewing our PCA PC Arc um not only ordinance, but looking at ways that we can adopt certain policies from the state, um, particularly around whether we want to move from a recommendation body to a facts and finding body.

I think it's really important that the authority and the powers that our PC art are all civilian um uh review commission, you know, has because it's important that in this moment we need civilians to be in power to make the right decisions.

And we for so long have seen government structure itself to put the decisions in other people's hands.

And we have seen uh uh we have seen a culture of political leaders playing hot potatoes when it comes when things get when things get dicey.

And I'm tired of it.

It's exhausting.

It's really exhausting.

I'm not saying I know the answers, and I'm not saying any of us have to know the magic wand, but we can't continue to continue tossing around the problem, and we have a beautiful opportunity with people who are change agents who were been in this in this fight for decades.

Decades.

I remember 10 years ago, I was here with Tashera.

She was literally like many of you all know advocating for the same thing, police accountability, and as we go into 2026, it's gonna be a hard time.

And all we all of us understand, especially as women and women of color who have been in a state where there has been a real assassination against a woman who like on the on the on the spectrum of things, we wouldn't call her radical.

What does that mean for someone who actually is standing up for justice?

So I always want to say I commend everyone who is here.