**Transcript:** **[00:00] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Good evening everyone and welcome. It is 5:30 and I will call our regular city council work session to order. It's always wonderful to see everybody here and welcome. Our work sessions are very informal and um we go directly to our u agenda. >> So thank you for being present. >> Okay, I steal one of those. >> The first item on the agenda is our legislative agenda. And um let's see. Um and we have Chief um BJ Jungman is going to lead up the discussion. And so Chief, this floor is yours. And welcome to our legislators. Thank you for being here, Senator Port and um Representative uh Berg. Thank you for being here. **[00:00] Fire Chief B.J. Jungmann:** Madam Mayor, members of the council, thanks for uh being here and giving us time tonight to cover the legislative agenda with our state legislators. Um appreciate Senator Port and Representative Berg being here with us. Um uh Representative Ryerson's regret she was unable to make it had a conflict. Um I'd also like to point out we have our Lockidge team over there. Um and Alex and Kate. Um so appreciate their support as well. So, uh, everybody should have a copy of the legislative agenda in front of them. And I'm happy to walk through that. And, uh, again, thanks thanks to our our state delegation for their support. Uh, we've had many successes over the years due to their support and championing, uh, many initiatives that that benefit uh, Burnsville. So, uh, starting at the top of our agenda here, uh, we have three kind of bigger initiatives. uh really uh working with partnership with other other organizations to uh modernize EMS regulations uh emergency medical services uh that allow communities to adjust based on evolving needs. Uh currently whoever was the license holder in basically the early 70s is the license holder today and many communities have changed over time not allowing local uh municipalities to decide who their license provider is. And so we would like to see that and that becomes important to us with our mutual aid partners and the support that we can rely on back and forth. So um we've worked with the League of Cities on this. We've worked with um the fire chiefs and others to to work on moving the the dial on this and it's a big one. So uh little by little we continue to work on that. The second one is is a bit broader but it's about local control. We want to have uh make sure that we have legislation to uh allow the city to make um decisions that fit our local needs. Each municipality is a bit different and has its own needs. So whether that's local option sales tax, the franchise fees, um zoning, uh revenue tools, things like that. Each city approaches all of these a little bit differently and we feel it's important that the locals have the ability, the local elected officials have the ability to make those decisions um as each community approaches it differently. Uh the third of these is the construction sales tax exemption. Uh as everybody that's here in person knows, you walked uh by an awesome construction site going on and uh we're putting an addition and remodeling city hall and the police department. Uh public safety buildings are already sales tax exempt, but city facilities are not. So half the project is sales tax exempt, the other half isn't. So we would like to round that project out and ensure that uh the city hall portion also becomes sales tax exempt. So that's our major initiatives. I'll pause there, see if anybody's got any questions. **[00:00] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Representative Berg, I think there we haven't changed much from last year. It's about the same priorities that we continue to work on. And my hope is that one of those days it gets off the list. So we continue to work on them. Sometimes they they're longer longer term projects and that's okay. Especially our EMS services. That's been on the list for such a long time and and this is something that's so important to all of the communities to really understand how that happens. So **[00:00] Senator Lindsay Port:** Madame mayor, I have a question about that. the EMS services chief. Uh is there the bill existing from last year continuing to move forward or is there new legislation this year? **[00:00] Fire Chief B.J. Jungmann:** Uh members of council and Senator Port, the bill still exists from last year. Um and we'll continue to work through that. There was some modifications that kind of watered it down, but we continue to work on that transparency piece and move that forward. So, we look forward to keep working on that and I know there'll be other initiatives introduced this session as well. **[00:00] Senator Lindsay Port:** Great. **[00:00] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** My question, Senator Port and um Representative Berg, when these items come before you, are there do you see some of these sticking points that um we could work on on any of the on on this particular one because it's been on our agenda for such a long time. **[00:00] Senator Lindsay Port:** Um, you know, I will say that EMS services has been very uh present, a very present conversation at the legislature for the last few years. Um, I think it is becoming more clear to both legislators and the public that sort of the system that exists now in the way that it exists now across the state is just not sustainable. Um, so I do feel like in the last couple of years that that conversation has moved forward. Um, there are powerful entities that be that really like things the way they are or want them a specific way. Um, but I do think that legislators are beginning to understand that it's just not tenable. Um, and we need to make the changes. uh it's it's being felt by the people in our communities and that's just not an acceptable uh cost to keep things the way they are. So, so I do have hope that that conversation is opening up a little bit at the legislature. **[00:00] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Thank you. because we're moving forward and I think there are more and more cities that are adding their voice to this conversation and that helps also because chief you can correct me if I'm wrong. Uh sometimes there are some cities that are silent and are okay with just a few of the chiefs to uh carry that water. But I think now there are more and more cities who are now opting in because it hasn't they're seeing and the effects of this that is not sustainable to your point, Senator. **[00:00] Fire Chief B.J. Jungmann:** Madame Mayor, that's correct. Yeah. **[00:00] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** All right. And I'd like to welcome Representative Hansen. Thanks for coming. Good to see you. Welcome, Representative Hansen. Welcome. **[00:00] Fire Chief B.J. Jungmann:** So, moving on to state funding requests. Like like the the top initiatives, these are probably very familiar to all of you. Um again, uh two funding requests. One is the water treatment plant uh $ 8.55 million uh funding requests um through bonding. And as we know, the world of water treatment is continuing to evolve. Um Burnsville has a unique water treatment plant that treats both surface and groundwater. Uh which is great from a redundancy standpoint, uh but creates challenges with water treatment, particularly with things like PAS and that coming. And our our water treatment facility is uh built in 1976 and needs some significant improvements and it is it supplies water beyond the borders of Burnsville. It supplies the majority of Savage's water and potentially beyond. So it is super important to the to the area that that um that water treatment plant gets renovated to meet the growing needs. So uh and changing needs I should say. The second one is the highway 13 and Nicollet mobility program. That is not a bonding request. That is more about using um uh highway funds for that and we've been working closely with Mindot. We've had a great meeting with them and it sounds like that project's on track. uh we maxed out the bonding dollars, but just keeping that support and making sure it stays the front of of mind to Mandot and our legislators that we know how important that that interchange is there for uh not only motor vehicle safety but pedestrian safety. Um unfortunately we've had some tragedies over the years and we want to prevent those from the future uh tragedies. And then moving to the back uh we have a handful of of supporting positions as well. Uh again, many of these will probably sound familiar to you, but the freeway landfill and dump remediation um again making sure that that we protect the the drinking water down there um and that gets remediated um if anything happens in that area. So, we just want to make sure that that stays protected and that the online area is accounted for and and future water projections if um the quarry were to stop operating. Uh the second one is the host community economic development grant. You know that you know or one of a handful or two facilities that that host uh um waste facilities um with the the dump down there and making sure that that continues to be a viable grant program for us. Um and we know that that has been uh looked at and diverted at times and we appreciate your support of maintaining that to the host facilities, host communities. Uh the second one is just something to monitor is the school resource officer legislation implementation. As you remember two years ago there was there was some uh modifications to that language and then there was some discussion about how it was going to be implemented. So far that's worked well. Uh but we want to keep that on the forefront to make sure that it continues to because the agency could could interpret some of those things a little differently. Uh the last one on the lefth hand column is the statutory plan B administrative purchasing. Uh statutory plan A um cities uh which are the majority of cities by count uh have the ability to purchase administratively at a much higher uh cost at like 75,000 and statuto plan B is capped at 20,000 and that's been in that way for many many years and what you can buy for 20,000 is much different than it was decades ago. Um, we would just like to have parity of those two so that the handful of statutory plan B agencies have the ability to adopt a policy that would allow admin administrative purchasing. That would still leave it up to the policy uh decision of the council what that threshold would be to not exceed uh but it wouldn't be any higher than that 75,000. Uh on the right hand column, the aggregate mining fee. We host a a quarry here and uh continuing to have that uh fee and um have that again similar to the dump fee, the host community fee for that. And then the last one on the right is the franchise fees, making sure that we maintain that. Um uh our our council has made a a wise investment of using those funds to to fund city facilities and we believe it's very important to maintain that that model moving forward. and we want to make sure that that's not taken away from our local decisions. So, so in in uh short summary, that's our our legislative agenda for 2026. Uh as always, we appreciate your support and continuing to work with us and and our legislative team and and accomplishing great things for Barnesville. So, with that, I'll stand for any questions. **[00:00] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Okay. Any questions for Chief Jungmann? **[00:00] Senator Lindsay Port:** Um for the statutory plan B administrative purchasing, is there a bill for that? Um, **[00:00] Fire Chief B.J. Jungmann:** Madame Mayor, members of council, Senator Port, I believe there is from last year. I would have to look it up. I don't have it at my fingertips, but I am pretty certain there was one in last year's session. **[00:00] Senator Lindsay Port:** Okay. I'll follow up with you offline. **[00:00] Fire Chief B.J. Jungmann:** Yeah, we can find it and get it to you. Absolutely. Senator Port Council, we'll get it to you. **[00:00] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Thank you. And I want to thank uh Representative Berg um because you carried the bill for the water treatment plant last time and we testified before. Yeah. Um the House and also at the Senate. So, thank you so much. And I I believe you're going to be carrying this bill as well. So, thank you so much for your your help with all of that and um I don't know, Senator Port, is this something that uh you're carrying, Miss Senate? **[00:00] Senator Lindsay Port:** It is. **[00:00] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Thank you both so very much. I know that it was a higher number when we began with and then we were asked to lower it down and so we were we're now at 8.5 and hopefully that we can move it forward but I know there's a lot of need and um but hopefully that we can uh can get it over the finish line this time. It's been three years since we started this process. I think so. Yeah. Yeah. and I can't thank you both enough for all of your support and for thing the things that you carry for our shared constituencies here in Burnsville. It really is um I'm really grateful for all of that work. Yeah. **[00:00] Representative Kaela Berg:** Thank you. I do have a quick question about the Highway 13 and Nicollet Avenue project. Have we secured any additional federal funding for that? I think if I recall, Angie Craig had gotten some money for us, but I'm not sure if we've ever revisited federal funding sources. **[00:00] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Yeah, we have. We've grant tried to go for grant money and I three times, four times. I think it was four. The fourth time was a safer streets for all which got 521 cities benefited from safer streets for all but we we didn't make that pile um in the recent award but it sounds like Mindot has shifted funds and is considering it fully funded as far as that intersection goes. Okay. We had a very good meeting with Mindot and um and so we understand that this year there will they're going out for RFP and then we're going for design build. Okay. So at least that's my understanding as of this time. Chief, is that correct? **[00:00] Fire Chief B.J. Jungmann:** Yeah, madam mayor, members of the council and Representative that that's correct. We we have applied for the safe streets for all as well as congressionally directed spending. So, we've we've tried to maximize the the both state, federal, and local shares of this as much as we can. Um, and yeah, the last we heard is is Mindot is considering this funded and planning on a design build starting later this year. **[00:00] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** So, we would have appreciated a $25 million award from Safer Streets for All, but you know, that's competitive. Grants are competitive right? There's winners and losers each round. But thank you because it took all of us to work together to get to this point. So, and it's been a long journey, but you've been there and I really appreciate that. **[00:00] Senator Lindsay Port:** And Madame Mayor, if I can share an update as well um on the local control piece and the zoning and land use reform bills that have been working their way through the legislature over the last threeish years, I think. Um so we have spent uh the interim in conversation with individual cities as well as with the league and MLC. Um we have toured a bunch of cities and visited with a a number of planners really trying to get to um to answer the questions about like actual feasibility of what how cities make their decisions, how planners work, um how all of that happens. And um you've probably seen the language. We sent it to the league um over a month ago. uh the final sort of uh beginning language um of a new bill that we will move this year that is significantly paired back from the bills that we have brought in the past and is focused much more on flexibility for cities. Um there are a few base requirements in them but they allow cities to pick where those requirements go. um so they fit with the growth of the city and the planning that the city has already done. And then there's a menu for cities to pick from to choose which additional ways we can lower costs of housing and create more of the housing that folks are looking for, starter homes, affordable housing, things like that. Um that that aren't being built across Minnesota for the most part right now. Um, and cities can choose which of those they think fit best. Um, we really listened last year when cities said, "We need choice. We need something that can fit our cities." Um, and so came back with this approach that really creates a ton of flexibility for each city to choose. Obviously, this is in the very early starts of negotiation through another session. Um, so I'm certain things will shift and change. Um, but would love, you know, as always, my door is open and I'm happy to take feedback. We're meeting consistently with the League of Minnesota Cities um to get their feedback and they're meeting with all of their member cities as well. Um the door is wide open, but really our goal going into session this year is to bring a bill to committee and to the floor where the league and MLC are at the very minimum neutral on the bill, if not supportive. Um so it really we understand that there's no path to making this change if we don't have something that cities can work with. And so that has been really our goal over the last year. **[00:00] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Appreciate um the effort that you continue to put into this and to listening and to hearing um what we have been saying what it works for us and how we work here uh on the municipal level. So, I really appreciate all of that and I look forward to reading the bill and uh and seeing u the flexibility that has been put into it and I don't know if you've seen it, Chief. **[00:00] Fire Chief B.J. Jungmann:** Madame Mayor, I have not. **[00:00] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** So, I think that'll be something that um our deputy city manager and economic uh our community development director would also be interested in looking at it. And but thank you and I appreciate you're saying your door is wide open. So, as we read the bill and we can but thank you so much for I know you have listened and I know that you have taken to heart the things that you have heard and I appreciate that a lot to hear you talk about um what you have done with that particular item and continuing to move it forward and um giving the flexibility to cities to have local control on land use and zoning and uh and ordinances. Thank you so much. Really appreciate that. **[00:00] Senator Lindsay Port:** You're welcome. Um I I appreciate all of your conversations on it over the year. Um, and I will say, um, to change the subject a little bit, uh, it feels a bit jarring, um, to be here tonight talking about next session and legislation and, um, these proposals, which I think all of us, uh, are supportive of and want to continue doing the work with you. Um, but I will be really honest. In the last probably four or five months, uh, I've gotten not a single email from constituents about these sorts of things. Um, there are different, uh, concerns, fear in our community that is has risen to the top for people. Um, we have community members who are afraid to go to work, who are being abducted from their homes, um, who are afraid to send their kids to school. Uh, and I I wonder if we could just take a few minutes to hear from Representative Hansen, who has done a a very significant amount of work with community um, over the last particularly the last month as we have seen this massive surge of uh, ICE agents in our community and what that has meant for the people of our city. **[00:00] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Thank you, Representative Hansen. **[00:00] Representative Jessica Hansen:** Thank you, Madam Mayor. Um, I appreciate you taking time and thank you for No, it's fine. Put me on the spot. It's okay. Um, I appreciate you talking about this and for bringing it up because it is it is really important. I've spent the last 30 days talking to families who've had their loved ones ripped out of their arms, who's had their car windows smashed by masked people that didn't have identification on them, that were terrified, that have had guns pulled on them, um, that don't know if they're safe to go to work. people being abducted from the grocery store, the gas station daycares um parks, the side of the road, the highway, run off the road by unmarked cars. They don't know who these people are. We can assume they're ICE based on the federal landscape, of course. Um but that doesn't change the trauma that people are feeling right now. We have people who are not eating because they are too afraid to go to the grocery store, to leave their house. We have people who children who are not going to school because their families are too afraid. I today some an ICE agent tried to snatch a child. We watched a child get off a bus to run to his dad at like the end of the day like all the kids do and his dad was taken as the child screamed for him. And these are experiences that people in our community are seeing and that will never change if we don't do something about it. We do have the power to, if nothing else, we can't stop the federal government from doing what they'll do. But we don't have to let them operate in the dead and night. We can at least speak up about it. We can also make sure that we are standing with the families and and holding them. I'll never unfeel the heaving of our community members chests against mine as we hugged because they were pretty sure they would never see one of their loved ones again who is a contributing and taxpaying member of society. I'll never unfeel the moisture and the wetness of on my sleeves of the tears of people of this city and I'm never going to unhear the sound of children screaming for their parents. um and looking at us and saying, "Will I see my dad or my mom again?" And that's a real thing happening here. On top of that, we have folks who can't afford rent, who can't afford like the affordability crisis is there, too. So, I think, you know, the compounding trauma is happening in our community. It won't matter if we have a water treatment plant that works if it if we don't have people who need it, right? This can't be a monolithic city. Our city is beautiful. We are one of the most successful cities um of immigrants in the state. Uh and we're proud of that. And I know I moved here over a decade ago to raise my kids in this community on purpose. And a lot of other people did too. And so I just would hope that folks know that this is happening, know that, you know, their concerns deserve to be heard, but they'll never come into this room to share them with you because they are too afraid. And so I'm here to try to speak up for them that as we think about legislative actions, it's not just about what the city needs to continue to function. It's about what the people of the city are counting on the city to do to have their back against an unprecedented hundred billion dollar machine um that they're up against with whistles. Right after Renee Good was murdered, uh her wife said, uh they brought guns and we had whistles. And that's the reality. And I hope that more people are out talking to our business owners. Um, stop at any market, any store that's um, business in the community that's owned by an immigrant. It looks different. Many of our businesses are not open right now. They're closing early. And I don't know how many folks are aware of that. Unless you go to get tacos somewhere and all of a sudden it's just not open. Then folks notice. But I want to make sure that as we think about what changes we need to make and what changes we can help support, that some of it isn't just in legislation. It's just in us being brave enough to say what needs to be said and to stand alongside folks that are going through something awful. So, thank you. **[00:00] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Thank you. Um, is there anything else? And I understand everything that you're reporting because I have been meeting with the businesses who have been affected and residents who have been affected that I have come to know about. So it is heartbreaking and that's what we're experiencing. But it's not just Burnsville, it's all over the metro. And so tomorrow there's a big meeting of mayors that are being called for mayors and city managers and police chief that we're going to attend. So we're all trying to do our best together. Yes, Representative Berg. **[00:00] Representative Kaela Berg:** Thank you, Madame Mayor. If I could ask the uh elected city council members and the other public servants of our community, what are you planning to do? Because if the three of us know how bad this is because we're actually out in the streets doing the patrolling, doing the observing, where where do you all plug in in this scenario? Because it's going to take all of us. And it's not just our business members, although the disruption of commerce is concerning, but these are the people that take care of our elders that teach our children that are deeply woven in the fabric of our community. And yes, I intentionally moved here too to raise my kids here. Um, we are one of the most diverse cities in the south metro and proudly so. So you that are in charge of the city in various ways, what are your next actions to ensure the safety um of our community members that they can continue to go to work so that they can provide for their family so the children can continue to go to school so that they can grow up and thrive. What is your response, responsibility, and action you're going to take to ensure our community remains safe because we are a targeted community? **[00:00] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** We know that you ask a very difficult question for all of us. You know that the federal government operates under a different set of rules. it doesn't follow the law that we're all that we all abide by. So if you're asking what am I doing or each of the elected officials that are on the city council, I think that's something that someone can answer to you personally if they so wish. But I can tell you when I am made aware, I have been to a daycare center when I was called to let me know what was going down. And when I got there, I was told the story and the teacher that was lured out, apprehended, and taken away. And then by the time I got there, she was brought back. I had the chance to talk with her, hold her in my arms, and cried with her. There is nothing I or our police department can do to ICE. You've seen what went what happened in Minneapolis. So when you ask that question, it is a difficult question. We're all struggling with and you've heard the information that comes out of the administration. So if a city like Minneapolis and the state is now putting together a lawsuit, the 87 pages So there is a unit of government that is addressing that to help all of us. It's a difficult time that we're in. And we're all doing the best that we can, but we need to work together rather than saying, "What are you doing?" We're all doing something together. Maybe it's not the same as what you're doing, but there is something that we're all doing. And that I know that there are times when I talk to my city manager and I says, "I need to recharge. I need to go home and recharge for the next day." And I see not only the families but the economic impact in our in our community. So please know that it's not lost to us what we're experiencing. We we know what we're experiencing. But it's not just us. It's all around. And this is why mayors have come together and called a meeting with our city managers and police chiefs so that we can all talk about the experiences. But what can we do? There are a lot of attorneys that we're we're talking to immigration attorneys. **[00:00] Senator Lindsay Port:** If I may, Madame Mayor, I um I don't think Representative Berg uh meant that question as uh an attack, but rather **[00:00] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** I didn't take it as an attack, but it's it's a what I'm saying is that it's a difficult question. **[00:00] Senator Lindsay Port:** Of course, it is. We're in completely unprecedented times. Uh, and I think, you know, acknowledging that, um, hoping that our community hears us and understands that we understand, um, that this is an incredibly difficult time. There's not an easy answer for Chief Schwartz. I would, frankly, I'm very glad I'm not in your shoes. Like, I think police chiefs across the state have an impossible job at the moment. Um, I think we are in a dangerous situation with a volatile federal leader um that could explode at any moment. And I appreciate the work that um our public safety officers across the state are doing to try to um assist community in ways that they can. And I think it is important for us as legislators. This is how I've been thinking about it anyway as legislators and public officials that you know I have official like job duties, right? I have to carry these bills and I have to go to committee and move things through the floor. But we have a federal government that right now is not obeying laws. So, it feels sort of like a joke um to do my job some days uh when I turn around and watch lawlessness in our street by federal agents. And that is really what has reminded me that we have significant power outside of the halls where we make legislation, where we pass ordinances. Um, we have a platform and I think we should use every moment on every platform we have like here tonight to remind the community how we show up for them. Um, I know many of you are out doing work with community. You're working with your uh faith communities. You're working with food shelves. You're some of you are out patrolling. Like all of those things are important pieces. There are a million ways to plug into this work and there's far too much work to be done. Um, and I think, you know, my I guess request to you is I would love to see that work um on your Facebook pages on like publicly shared to remind community that we are all here for you. Um because you're right, there aren't official levers that we can pull at this moment. Um my worst nightmare is hearing that Burnsville PD is in a standoff with ICE. Like that is a terrifying prospect. Um I don't want that to come. But I think it is critical that we continue to show up in small ways, in ways that we're not used to showing up because there's not a bill to pass, there's not a law to make. um there's not a lot to enforce um safely and uh but I think like the more that we can take moments like this to let community know we have an incredible council, we have an incredible mayor, we have incredible city staff and I think um it's so easy for people to forget that they have a city that cares about them. And so I just encourage you all whether it's privately on your own social media or however you share it or through the city to let the community know that you all have their backs, that you are thinking about them, that you are doing whatever quiet um or loud work for the good of the community. Um because I I think so many too many people feel alone. **[00:00] Representative Kaela Berg:** Yeah, it was not an attack. It was we have various levels of government and other public servant responsibilities in this room and how do we innovate at each level what we can do in response to this because we have an administration that does not abide by the law. So, of course, our attorney general is filing lawsuits. And if we had an administration that valued the rule of law and responded to it, it would be an effective tool. We can't count on that happening. So, it's up to us. It's up to us on the city level, the state level, the county level, all the way up to, you know, Congress. I mean, it's even school boards, like all of us that have somewhat of a presence in the community or an elected office uh that they hold. We all have a chance to be creative in how we can keep our community members safe um and how we can ensure that people can buy groceries and provide for their family and run their businesses. Um, it's all a piece of of of the the puzzle here and because we don't want a standoff in the streets between two law enforcement agencies um that doesn't keep anyone safe. But if our residents are in fear, are there ways that we can respond um in each of our own different ways, in capacities for the position we hold that is seen as a cooperation and as a support um in these dark times because none of us have the answer. So no, it's not an attack. It's a question on how are we all thinking about what we can do and if there is a way to have a united front at each level of government with each different uh position that that we have visible in the community. Um, and also what Lindsay was saying is like for people to be able to see on your own personal pages in any way that feels right and comfortable for you to sort of um send out that message that that we see you um because nobody is doubting that we aren't doing anything and everything that we can think of. But agreed people are tired. There's a lot of community members out doing big things and they are tired and we're always searching for more people to get involved. So, what if any innovation or creativity? How can we all plug in to each other in all of our roles to come together to be able to ensure our community is safe? Because these are the people we love. These are the people we serve intentionally. Each one of you intentionally serves this community. So, I apologize if it seemed like an attack. I'm tired and I'm angry and I'm frustrated that our neighbors are suffering and like how do we come together and do this? That would have been a better framing. **[00:00] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Thank you. And we hear you and see you. **[00:00] Council Member Dan Kealey:** Yes. Um I hear what you're asking us. Um, I think the the issue for us, for me personally, we actually operate within the law. And so we're constrained by the rule of law in in our city, in our state, our county. And yeah, we can go out and we can patrol and we can report and we can do all those things and and we can talk to our residents. We can talk to our businesses to try to make let them know that we we have their backs. But the bottom line is we're dealing with an organization that does not operate within the law and we are still trying to operate that way. And I don't know how effective that's going to be and I don't know if they're laws that can be changed at the state level or if Congress needs to get their head out of their ass and actually do their job. Uh that would be a good good start to end on a lot of this stuff. So we'll try to send Representative Berg there to to help them. I mean, seriously it's because because we do honor our laws here and and try and operate that. It's very frustrating. It's very frustrating for a lot of people. And I've been out there and I've seen I've seen some of these things happening and I've seen what they do and it's not good. I mean, I I wish our police department could arrest them, but on the other hand, I don't want to see 10,000 troops in our city tomorrow morning either. And which I believe would happen. So, where do we find that? You know, the best thing that can happen is a a grassroots support from all of our citizens to just stand up and say enough is enough. **[00:00] Senator Lindsay Port:** I can let you take all of us to do it. There is a list of uh a number of bills uh that are being worked on and proposed um by legislators for next session based on what we have seen over the last year. But the reality is those won't save us. Um therefore the next administration, the next iteration of you know making sure that we have rules and and laws and norms that will be followed. Um but we know that that's simply not the case with this administration. Um, so we're, you know, I don't have any, uh, I have I have a bill that bans, uh, masks. Yeah. For law enforcement, uh, except for particular situations where it's for their safety and things like that. **[00:00] Council Member Dan Gustafson:** Iowa did that yesterday, put it into a bill. **[00:00] Senator Lindsay Port:** Like I have, if that bill passed tomorrow, I have no illusion that the federal agents currently in our state would suddenly take their masks off like this. it's just not going to happen. Um, so it is about managing expectations, isn't it? Also, you can put a law in place, but is it going to be abided by? So, it's managing people's expectations as well. Yeah, absolutely. And then also finding ways outside of the normal ways that we do business um to support our communities. understanding that the the biggest power I have to, you know, try to pass a law is probably not going to help anyone right now um is a really sobering fact, but it's meant that I've had to find other ways to show up and support my community. **[00:00] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Yeah. Jess, do you want to **[00:00] Representative Jessica Hansen:** Well, I just want to say like the some of our community members who are taken have been taken to detention centers where they don't eat for they're only fed every three days. They're allowed to shower once a week. There's detention centers where people can't find their families for months. And I talk to these families and try to help them find on some piece of paper in their home a number that's going to help them find their families. You know, it's it's always lawful to observe. It's always lawful to care. it's always lawful to take an extra couple minutes and stand with somebody. Um, when these things happen, it's the worst moments of their lives for some of them. Um, and you know, I want to just make sure we're really clear that this is not just happening to folks who are not here lawfully. We have citizens who are being taken every single day and then released later like you shared with the story of the our teacher friend, right? Um, and those folks deserve justice. Maybe it's not justice in the form of holding the federal government accountable, but maybe it's justice in the form of having an officer that shows up and sits with them for a few minutes and talks to them about what happened and helps them understand why they're limited. Maybe it's justice in the form of, you know, bringing the council to them to have a meeting rather than asking them to come out. Some people have asked me for that, right? Maybe there's just it's a matter of just understanding, you know, that some people can't do some of the things, but some people can do other things and that those strengths complement each other. And I know I'm a pain in your butt, mayor. I get it. But I want to make sure that you know what's happening. That's why I send you every time something's happening because if I were mayor, I'd be really upset if someone didn't tell me what was happening in my city. So, I think, you know, keeping those lines of communication open, not doing performative politics. Um, I'm interested to see how the proposal next week will go because even if we do say that they can't stand in the parks, what are they going to do? What are the police going to do even if we do say that, right? Because they can't interfere. I get that. So, does that mean they can evict them off of the city prop? I mean, I hope that conversation comes up next week. Um, but really to have meaningful actions that we can take at the city level. For example, I heard that there's a number of cars that have been abandoned around the city, found abandoned. More than likely, these are cars of folks who have been taken. We don't know for sure, right? But nobody can look up those plates except for law enforcement. I can't look. Nobody can look up who this family is. And maybe a phone call and just say, is there any chance that this is, you know, can we help those families in that way? There are other things we can do to help support them. Um, escorting people to work. We have had ICE go through the apartments. almost every apartment in this city knocking on people's doors into buildings that they're not welcomed in where there are signs that says they're not welcomed in. Um but when there's a presence of observers or presence of law enforcement, they don't usually do it as much, right? And having community presence in places matters a lot. And I know there's limits to what folks can do. And again, not asking for anyone to, you know, stop what they're doing, but to be there with our community while it's happening. that presence matters and it does reduce the traumas that can happen. Um, and so I just really want us to think hard and dig deep and remember that like yesterday a father of three who was widowed three months ago has three young kids. He's a citizen and he was taken and now we have to his car window got broken and they came back and they robbed his car afterwards. They took things out of his car after the fact. We have video evidence of it, but like what can we do for to help people who've been through something atrocious? I do think there's things we can do that aren't about defeating the federal government or, you know, having some pie in the sky expectations. I think we can just be people to each other and think, what would I want in that situation? Um, or maybe just do what folks are asking, right? Help them out. These are tough times. Whatever we can do for them. **[00:00] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Thank you. Thank you for sharing those thoughts with us this evening. And um absolutely it takes all of us our faith community the people who are observers who are standing witness and there's many of them every day that are and then there are those who are driving to deliver foods uh from churches from grocery stores and so forth and then there's our businesses. So, there's a lot that we're all working together to do and um we'll get through all of this together. It's a hard road, but it's going to be something that I'm I think about in terms of not just today, but the long term and its effects on our community. So, thank you for sharing your thoughts with us this evening and thank you for working with us uh at this coming legislative session. We appreciate the work that you do uh to help uh our community with some of the issues that we're working on together and also working together during this dark time that we're all experiencing together. Thank you. **[00:00] Senator Lindsay Port:** Thank you. **[00:00] Representative Kaela Berg:** Thank you. **[00:00] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Um, Chief, is there anything else that you wanted to close with? **[00:00] Fire Chief B.J. Jungmann:** I'm good. Thanks, Madam Mayor. **[00:00] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Okay. Thank you so much. Okay. So the next item on the agenda is the resiliency briefing and Chief BJ and um um Mike Tracy our HR director and Paul Oat are presenting this particular item. And maybe before we start that, let's just take a minute, a couple of minutes before we get to that. Just say Okay. Um, let me just um, Chief BJ, Chief Jungmann, you're on. **[00:00] Fire Chief B.J. Jungmann:** I'm up again. Madame Mayor, members of the council, again, thanks for uh, having some time tonight to talk resiliency briefing. Uh we have a cross functional team across the city of all the departments that participate or many departments that participate in this regular meeting uh really to focus on resiliency and that the the concept of resiliency um is about not necessarily the emergency itself. We know that things happen and we have uh very competent and professional emergency responders that that handle and we have systems in place to handle that initial crisis. The resiliency team is about what do we do once the crisis is managed and how do we bring ourselves back to normal? How do we and and how quickly can we do that and how do we work together to be prepared? And that that's a multi-department um meeting or uh effort we need when when disasters happen, when major incidents happen. Um that's not just a police and fire response to be resilient. How do we get back to normal? How do we make sure we have a continuity of operations across the organization and and how do we bring normalcy back to an organization, a city, a community? And how do we do that? And so again, that's been a multi-department effort and trying to be prepared on that, try to focus on well-being, try to focus on on preparing ourselves for those things. Um and and Paul and Mike are going to talk in more depth about that and particularly some of our communication strategies and and how do we how do we do that and and get close to the folks that are most affected. So, um I'm proud of what this team's done and how we work together to be prepared uh when unfortunate things happen so that we aren't trying to make it up as we go. And you know, we don't necessarily know what's going to happen in the future, but we're better prepared when we talk about it. So, with that, I'll turn over to uh Mike, our HR and communications director. **[00:00] Mike Tracy:** Yes. Thank you, Mayor and Council. Um, we've done a lot of work over the last year, year and a half or so, um, kind of revisiting our crisis communication plan, uh, to make sure that we are prepared, uh, when things, uh, bad things happen. Um, we know we can't prepare for, you know, you can't think of every scenario, but what we what we've really been working on when it comes to our crisis communication plan is, um, putting together a basically a playbook that will allow us in a moment of crisis, um, to communicate clearly and effectively um, with our community members. Um so we've been working quite regularly with with Paul Om, our crisis communication uh consultant along with our resiliency team um and others around the organization to develop those um those scenarios. Um beginning to tabletop some of those scenarios and kind of walk through um uh how we might play those out if in a real world situation. Um with that also kind of developing a unified public information officer structure. So talking about our um you know who's communicating with the media and uh how do we get reliable trustworthy um information out to the out to the community and to the public in a moment of crisis. So um that's working with our police and fire teams um who have great staff uh who who can do that um as well as our communications team and and obviously Paul our consultant uh to help us during those times. Um and then we're also strengthening our intergovernmental um connections. So we've we've reached out to our neighboring um cities along with other uh partner uh organizations, school district, MVTA, etc. um to bring local communicators together so we can be working um alongside them um building relationships and talking about how we might work well together if something were to happen um and we need support or draw support from other uh from other organizations. uh we're prepared. We have those relationships and we're talking about those scenarios u before they happen. And with that, I'm going to pass it over to Paul Om, our crisis communications consultant to talk a little bit more about our strategy. **[00:00] Paul Om:** Very good. Madame Mayor, council members, city staff, and guests. Uh Paul Omat with Oman Associates Critical Communications. I've had the privilege of working with you guys for the past couple years on communications. Uh, one of the things that I do on a regular basis in my professional life so I can better assist my clients, many who are municipalities, is provide training and strategies on how to communicate better. And I also do independent research on things that affect municipalities, how do we make municipalities, what are the strategies that work better based on like research we can do? And that's what I want to go through with you guys this evening if that's okay. So, a little bit of a lecture at the front end and then we can discuss some points after that. But really, I gave this presentation to the League of Minnesota Cities Conference last year. I know a couple council members were there for it and they asked to bring it forward to this group. So, you could kind of see the thinking behind it and the reason why we make some of the choices we do in terms of communications. A lot of that is grounded in the concept of resiliency as well. And part of this you'll see as we'll look at some slides about how we have to ground ourselves in the in the ongoing mindset and not get stuck in an old mindset. So if we could do if I can go through this with you guys, it's really about the power of what you can do with local government communications, not just from the communication staff side, but also what elected officials can do to layer into that effectively as well. So again, we kind of start with the questions of does a city communicate well? Do you communicate well as an individual? Are you and the city seen as the same? And I mean that by our elected officials and the city seen as the same. That's an important question for people to understand the difference between that and then are there strategies that might work better than others and that's what I want to kind of run through today with you guys. So let's just kind of start with the definition of what is communications. Communications is imparting a two-way stream of information back and forth between two bodies right between two people. It involves a sender transmitting something and receiver understanding that message. And again, that's the basic of it that we tend to forget that a lot of times we're not actually communicating people to people. We're just throwing words at them and we're not doing it in an effective way. We have to understand that communication is built on the understanding of the message and making sure that we keep it in in words and phrases and image and symbols that people can understand and that becomes important in the things that we do as communicators. What this all relies on and part of the big part of this presentation discussion is it it all relies on trust between the sender and the receiver. When we trust each other, we can communicate better. And trust is kind of some of the definition that I won't read through the whole thing, but it's the ability to say that I can count on that person or that other person to do what they say. And that becomes super important as to what people's expectations are and we meet those expectations because we have a track record built on trust that we do what we say and they can count on that and vice versa. Here's the problem is that we are kind of in a post-truth and post-trust world. And again, I'm going to walk through some of the slides of how we got there. But that idea that everybody trusts each other and that government trusts each other that people work in it all have the same level of trust is something we need to look back and say okay that may not be the case. So we might need different strategies or we may need to build stronger strategies at the base to make that work better. So Adelman's an international PR firm and they do a trust barometer every year. they have since the the 70s and they look back and say where's the trust in the world go and it it ebbs and flows and I want to show you some of that and you can if you go back in time I just decided to go back 25 years because it was a round number here but what was happening in the start of the century right we all kind of lived through the crash of n you know 1999 we're all going to be here the next year right everybody was kind of in that mindset and the zeitgeist changed as to who do we trust it trust from peer to people that are like me as opposed to because everybody got like oh fake right you know the computers didn't all crash when we turned to the year 2000 but that whole thing of people saying oh you told me to trust technology and then I should it changed to something where I get my information from so the trust connection starts to erode there so a trust goes to the person like me right young people start to trust business more right older people start to trust business less and Again, you'll see this change through time. Business and government 10 years later regain trust and the fall of government starts. And this is where people start to have less ability to see what government does as good. And again, things like that happen. We have to be ready to have that resiliency mindset in communications too to make sure where we anchor ourselves to. What happens is that most people anchor themselves in a certain point in time time period whether it's when they went to high school or college or got married whatever those important moments are they anchor their mindset in those things and if we don't move through that we can't be resilient to today and that's kind of the training that we have to understand. So we see this trust start eroding through early 2016 2017. Trust tries to come back. Truth tries to make a comeback. But we also got this concept of fake news started to come in and people start to have that not trusting the message delivery system. Where we are right now is we are this portion of the crisis of grievance is where we're living in terms of society here in the world. people are really into grieving against each other and I think we see that on a daily basis really it becomes more the norm and again put this through the lens of resiliency how does that mean we have to respond differently than we might have if we're anchored someplace else but if grievance is the default that teaches us something and here's what Adelman will tell us is that 70% nearly 70% of people believe that the government lies to them around the world that's a universal thing and that should kind of scare us a little bit that what we say isn't always believed, right? Um, you also have this thing where most people believe no matter who they are, where they are around the world, they're being discriminated against. So again, that's that's a majority of people that feel that way. And the last statistic I'll share with you right down at the bottom there is that young people believe that activism is a way to change it. And so that's why you start to see things differently in terms of how the youth respond. You know, back if you were in a different mindset, it was, you know, kids should be seen and not heard. Now it's a much different type of equation, right? Where kids want to be something to make something happen. So again, that's what the data is telling us. So that's kind of where we base this off of. And when I work with clients, I'm telling them consistently or kind of on an ongoing basis, let's make sure we're addressing the world as it is today, not the way we think we see it. And so again, things change. The strategies we use, the techniques we use change over time. And so here's where it gets interesting because everything kind of exists on a polarity. It might be strong over here and weak over here. It's like squeezing a balloon and goes different places. For elected officials, there's a certain power. And for local government communicators, there's a certain power that we can find in this because people are more trusting of local government than than big government. The smaller we get, the better. So, let me give you three things I think we should consider. The first thing I tell my clients is to get small now, which means get closer to the people that you serve. And local government can do that. People know it if their streets are plowed on time. That service component. people know what their government is doing for them. And so the best delivery systems are things that we can control. So city communications needs to ramp up. And we've made some changes in communications the last couple years to make sure we're more effective, more different ways to communicate with people different ways, including if you think about the the van that the city has that goes out to events, that is actually a communication that works better. That is getting small and local with people. So that person-to-person component is something that we can deliver on in a consistent basis and we saw that and we've been using this strategy of getting small in terms of what's happening with ICE here lately. We've had community groups or our community van go out and talk to people. So Mike, I think we've made 70-some contacts with people, person-to-person contacts out in the community. And again, that's what people are looking for is that high touch. I'm a human being. I want the government to interface with me in that way. So the first step I tell people is let's get small. Let's get close to people. The second thing is is this concept of being more human and more compassionate. Uh people are looking for that from government and we can deliver that in many ways but the only way we can really deliver that is through people showing up right. So I say make the people who matter feel like they matter. And it's selling that feeling that we can do as local elected officials and local city officials as well. I care enough to show up to this meeting. I care enough to do something else for you. And then finally we look at this about this is something you know there was a discussion about what we can do in terms of government. If we run our government really really well at the local level, people can count on us. That's where trust gets built. My streets get plowed, right? things happen that are supposed to happen. I understand what my government is doing, that's where the trust anchors differently than with the national government. So the better we serve the public and I'm talking all departments within the city, the better off we all become. And that means we deliver results. So those three steps are the things that we've been trying to work on in terms of communication strategies and resiliency strategies to make sure residents feel what we are delivering to them and there's a purpose to it. One of the things that I mentioned really quickly was the ability to go out in vans and things like that. We use this after February 18th was proximal communications which meant that we actually assign people to talk to the the families to do that those types of things. It wasn't an email that we sent. It was person-to-person communications. Proximal communication says that those the people most affected by something should have the most personal type of communication come to them. And so we see that time and time again that this is the most effective way. It's also the most time intensive and the hardest to do right. But again, we're using that here with recent things by sending our van out, talking to people, making phone calls to them, making sure that they feel that they have a connection with city hall. So one of the other things I did in terms of research is that I looked at the local trust barometer. Again, I did a poll with my friends at ResearchCape. So, we looked at towns of a certain size to say, "How can we inform other cities as to how to do this, right?" And here's what we found. Um, most people, most adults are trustful of local government. Again, that's different than the statistics I showed you before for global trust and global trust in government. When you look at local government, 87% of adults trust local municipal information. We should use that as a point of strength for us that people can trust what they see from us. Which means that our job, what local elected officials can do, they can point to it. They can amplify it and they can personalize the information because it's trusted. Which means that you can go on social media and take something and say, "Hey, here's what I see about this. Here's what the city's doing about this." If we anchor it in the city's trust, we then extend it with the trust that the residents have in you because they elected you. So that means that there is a role for local officials that works fairly well. The other thing that we also see is that in terms of trust of what communications vehicles they want to use, hyper local media works the best. And again, think about that. Things that you might think, "Oh my goodness, who watches this or who reads this or who whatever?" But your Sun Sailor, your Limitless, your hyper local websites, Facebook pages are the things that people are going to because it does go through a filter that's not the government saying it, it's someone else looking at it. And you see it's always be the highest end of it. Um, social media is up there high and then the city website at more than 50%. So people are going to go for information and these are trusted sources. And again, we lean into that with a communication and resilience approach that we take. So I I tell elected officials, I want to see you guys in those top three sources on a regular basis because that trust that you engener by electing you gets picked up that way too because there's a role for that. We also find this and again I've seen this actually this strategy play out here recently during some of the ICE activity. Um, the most trusted communications among police and fire is fire. And again, I I've told the chiefs this before, so it's not a surprise to them, but more people trust a fire chief than a police chief. And again, **[00:00] Council Member Dan Gustafson:** I don't know, BJ looks kind of shady. **[00:00] Paul Om:** I'm not going to say that. Um, but what that means is that both badges work in terms of imparting information and value to people. But what we've seen with some of the ice raids in some cities when when protesters are getting out of hand, they're not having the police captains go out there and address the crowds. They're having the fire captains do it because people... there you go. Sorry, BJ. **[00:00] Fire Chief B.J. Jungmann:** Why don't you tell me that now? **[00:00] Police Chief Tanya Schwartz:** Tanya's like, "Yes." **[00:00] Paul Om:** but what they're finding is that people are more understanding because then the pitch becomes, hey, I want to keep you all safe because I run the ambulance service. how to make sure that you can go home at night. They take it better from the fire service than they do the police service. They see the same message in a different light and a different dynamic and that plays out in polling. And again, sorry to tell you that BJ, but just add it to the list of things that you have to do. Um, but that is really what the data shows and again it's backed up and we're seeing other cities start to implement that again with the recent activity here in the Twin Cities. So again, this is about the better we can make government work for people locally, the more we can build a person-to-person connection with them, the better off we will be, not just for when the incident happens, but after we rebuild ourselves. I do think, you know, there will be a time after ICE is done here and there'll be kind of a rebuilding time that needs to come in that we need to rebuild what people see and that cycle, a different cycle is going to play out and we have to be ready for that with communication strategies and people strategies that will work for our residents really and that's kind of what the data shows us. Um, I think are we doing the rest of this Greg? Are we doing the whole thing or Yeah. Okay. So, there's a couple of things in the secondary poll I did here more recently. So, I did that first poll and I wanted to see where local views are of police and fire department. So, I'll start with police. You look at kind of the way this is built out like and so I wanted to go dive deeper into this and say, okay, what do people think about local police? And you can kind of what I say is look at the favorables and the unfavorables, right? And look about, you know, your favorable versus your unfavorable ranking, right? And so most police here like actually have fairly decent numbers, right? That's that that number that we see reflected there. Then you see the difference between fire coming up here more extremely favorable, right? And less negative, right? So it comes more into the middle, right? There's not the extremes that you expect to see. Okay. What that tells us again is that there's a strategy to be used in terms of resiliency building and response mechanisms and effective outgoing communications as well because where the trust lives right is where our strongest points are. And again, the more we do really good service, the better off we are. I I try to tell clients like in the resiliency cycle because everything kind of cycles back and it starts a new cycle just like we've seen trust cycles rise and fall. We want to go back to these times that might not exist again, right? We want to keep going back to those things. And I think what we need to focus on is um the new normal and how we build that and what we want in it and how we can reflect that. Um there's good signs in here. I was telling Greg this earlier today. You know, we had a an incident at a park a summer ago, right, in Red Oak Park, right? and local residents didn't want to play ball and and give information to the police in some cases, right? And that's kind of a a trust issue, right? But we recently had the thing over the Christmas New Year's period where someone was attacked in the park and the detectives went out and people responded to them, right? Again, they're seeing the value of the police and the approach of the police and they put together an incredible case and they arrested someone I think in four days, chief. Right. That's built on trust. I mean, that is the work of residents and the police department together because they trust each other with the information, the ability to share that information. And so, we've got to hold that close to us and make sure that that is something that we say, okay, we we still have some of that. We need to build that up ongoing because that is kind of the resiliency right there. We didn't have that a year ago, right? Different incident, different circumstances, but we didn't have it. And again, we need to say, okay, what made that work? And I think it's the approach of the detectives and the officers that were out there that day right away showing that they cared for the person that was attacked and putting a case together where people helped them do it. And that is a trust factor. The good the bad news about that was is that we were going to do some media on that and some social media and stuff that involved other people and it was the day of something else that happened and it completely shut down all the media that wanted to come and talk about the arrest and everything else. It's just really horrible timing. But we would have amplified that. we would have used those strategies right away to say look what happens when we work together and it worked together at a very local level and it just unfortunate timing on that we had TV stations lined up we had social media stuff ready to go and it just couldn't fall all into place at the same time but I do think we need to keep hopeful that we can do these types of things if we work on it and keep building that trust person to person at the local level and that is part of the work of the resiliency team as well and with that I'll stop and uh madame mayor council if you want to do questions or Greg whatever he feels appropriate I'm happy to **[00:00] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** any questions for BJ Mike or Paul? Well thank you so much. **[00:00] Fire Chief B.J. Jungmann:** thank you. **[00:00] Council Member Vince Workman:** thank you for the information. **[00:00] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** and the direction of compassion. **[00:00] Council Member Vince Workman:** thanks Vince. Caring for people and compassion is the right message. **[00:00] Council Member Dan Gustafson:** quickly. So Paul, when I when I watched this presentation, are you kind of telling us to get back to our grassroots and just get out amongst the public and talk to people? **[00:00] Paul Om:** Yeah. Just be out there. It's the most it is the most effective things and do our jobs really well. And what I mean by that is every department in the city, you know, not elected officials, you know, you look at all the departments within the city. I'm talking police department, fire department, parks department. The better we do our jobs locally and the more we celebrate that, the better off we are because otherwise people become cynical about government and we don't attach to big government. We won't attach to small government that we can control and that again that comes with being out there and listening to people and and making sure we're we're meeting their needs. **[00:00] Council Member Dan Gustafson:** Well, trust is always based on personal relationships and how you treat one another on a consistent basis. **[00:00] Paul Om:** Exactly. Correct. **[00:00] Council Member Dan Gustafson:** Not just because something happened, but how you do it every day. Okay. Thank you so much. **[00:00] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Thank you. Okay. So, the next item then is round table and members of the council and in front of you. Um when we had when we went through the last community builders application forms, I uh I was concerned about two areas. One was uh having a person who lives in Burnsville but works in a different city and um she was a police officer and everything that was in that application had to do with her work in the as a police officer in the city of uh I think South St. Paul and then the other was business. So, if you look at um the community builders policy, I'm hoping that we could talk about amending it because the whole purpose of this was building within our community the people who step up to build the community that say we're all in this together and building a viable community that uh is welcoming to all. So we have uh the first bullet gives an example of a community builder and what all of that is. So my hope is that we could look at the third bullet that uh has elected officials or um school board members, state, county or all of that. But we also don't allow staff. They're exempt. So it's I mean so they're not eligible. And I would like for us to, you know, that's your job. It's like the police officer um that works in South St. Paul. All of that was about her job in South St. Paul. She wasn't building community in Burnsville. She lives in Burnsville, but she but she's a police officer in South St. Paul there. And like I said, there are a lot of our police officers that I would would say, oh, there they should be eligible for uh building community because of the things that they do, all of the people who do engagement work in Burnsville and what they do, but they're not eligible. And so I'm thinking that we should amend it that if they are staff members doing their job, they're not eligible. This is about people uh in our community who are stepping forward. And then I'm thinking that for businesses, there should be a separate category and we should look and say, what is it that a business needs to do to build community? Is it just giving us money? I don't think that's enough. I think it should be more than that. um you know are they are their employees part of engaging in building our community? There are a lot of businesses that do that but they haven't been nominated. So my ask to you tonight is to do two things to put in the um the people who are not eligible or staff members. Doesn't matter where they, you know, whether they're our staff, school staff um county staff, staff for police or fire in other cities. This is about people, our people stepping forward and saying we're here to build community. And then the other ask is that let's look at a separate um award for businesses and then look at what are the criterias that would make uh a business a um eligible business to be recognized as a business that is helping build community. So those are the two asks that I have for you this evening. Vince, **[00:00] Council Member Vince Workman:** I agree with the sentiment just based on how this last round went. The only thing I would want to be careful of is if there was somebody in town who just happened to be employed for a different government agency, but the work that they're being awarded for was not pertinent to that work. I would hate to take that person off the table. So, if there's a way to wordsmith that to say, you know, uh, **[00:00] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** but they're doing the work in Burnsville. **[00:00] Council Member Vince Workman:** Well, okay. So, like before Erica was hired here, she worked for a different city. Let's, and I'm going to use her as an example. Let's say she did a really good job volunteering in Minnesota in Burnsville that had nothing to do with her job at that city. Yeah. Okay. Do we Yeah. and and I think would she be excluded from consideration purely because she was employed... **[00:00] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** included because she's doing all of her work here in Burnsville and she's stepping up as a member of the community. Yes. Yes. **[00:00] Council Member Vince Workman:** I just want to make sure that that employment piece isn't a disqualifier if somebody is doing good in Burnsville. **[00:00] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** I get it. I get it. Yes, Michelle... Macheal. **[00:00] Macheal Collins (City Clerk):** Madam Mayor, I think that um to clarify this where we make the exception for commissioners that do work outside of the commission would be the same for staff if they're doing work outside of their staff work. **[00:00] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Yeah. If the work is not as long as it's not their job. Yes. Then totally as long as it's not their job. Can that be delineated? Can that be delineated in the policy? So, **[00:00] City Manager Gregg Lindberg:** madame mayor, members of the council first. Council member Kealey, I apologize for cutting you off there. Um, uh, Michelle makes a good point. I I was looking at the the final bullet under section one. if the um if the will of the council would be uh to to make a similar statement um that would be outside the work of outside the work of paid city staff. We can we can work language, but generally the spirit of outside of the scope of of that paid city staff work. **[00:00] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** And then we would just strike business. **[00:00] Council Member Dan Kealey:** Nope. Go for it. **[00:00] Council Member Cara Schulz:** But I just wanted to clarify. And then we would just strike any businesses or business owners from receiving the award. **[00:00] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Yeah. And then have a different category because I think there's more to that than just you know but have a different category for business if we want to do that and then what are what are all of the criteria that would make a business eligible. **[00:00] Council Member Cara Schulz:** So keep in mind when you are saying a business that includes not-for-profit businesses. So that pushes them out of the running as well. No, when you talk about a business, there's for-profit businesses and not-for-profit businesses. Not for-profit is a business. They just have a different tax structure. Yeah, exactly. So you're pushing them out as well. I I think we can clean this up without making it a separate award or a separate category if we do it in a similar way to how we are phrasing commissions and staff for saying that it has to be something that they are doing for the community that is outside of normal business operations. Yeah. Because you you know 360 does so much. Yeah. I don't want I don't want to I don't want to boot them out of things like this. **[00:00] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Yeah. But the thing is that's their business. Their business is to is to serve the community. That's why I thought that a separate category looks at that differently than because you know I look at a business like Ames that gives so much more than just money. They they do art. They give us art. They do they have their employees uh participate in in things that make our community great. They create events for the community to come together. But you know we don't and I don't I don't have a problem with having them come up for a community builder award because that is like things like that are outside of the scope of their normal business operations and mission. So like I don't have a problem like if someone wants to nominate Ames for like the amazing stuff that they're that they're doing, you know like bring it just throughout this year. It's like throughout the you know what they do throughout the the time that they... **[00:00] Council Member Dan Kealey:** I would agree and I think there's two different types of affecting positive change. For those that can't write a check, they volunteer their time and they uh go out of their way even as a city employee to donate an enormous amount of time that makes a very positive impact on the community. Companies sometimes will do that or they will in the case of Ames show their way of giving back by using their financial strength to do things that enhance the positive right give back to community. I think we have to recognize it's not just all based on volunteering per se that it it can be another way of giving um depending on the business. Um any business that is in the business of profit or nonprofit of doing things for the community like uh you know a nonprofit agency that um like 360s, right? Do we recognize 360s with a community builder board because that's the whole mission of their agency is to do what they do. Uh, I think it would almost have to be a person within that organization who steps out of that standard daily business mission and does something else, right, separate from that that donates a significant amount of their time and effort and brings other people together and affects change in a positive way that is outside of the lane that they're in under their 360. I'm using that as example because it's the biggest one I could think of. **[00:00] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Yeah. Because there's the other thing is that there are faith communities that do so much and give back to the community, you know, whether it's food, it's clothing or other things. So that's what I'm looking at. And I look at faith community as a business. It is a business. It's a very big business, you know, but it's it's the faith community. um they have a service that they provide. And so there's a lot in looking at business. There are many different types of business from nonprofit to profit to faith and um you know you you can look at the YMCA too but the YMCA there was a time that they do a did a lot of partnerships with us. Yeah. And then things change and management change and all of that. And so there wasn't that much engagement in the community except their programs. But I understand why they had to get back to making sure that their business uh is resilient and continues to thrive. **[00:00] Council Member Cara Schulz:** COVID was very hard on the YMCA. **[00:00] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Yeah. So, what I'm hearing is that um we can take a look at amending the piece about the people that we look at. I still don't know if we can do a separate category or a separate bullet under this same policy for businesses. I have to agree that for a business it has to be more than just they wrote a check last year so they're a business award winner. It's I think it needs to be even if a business is writing checks it should be that they've been doing that for a long time or something and not just the last couple years and before they get any kind of award like that. You know it's so many businesses that have gotten awards actually provide services to the city. They provide services to our citizens and a lot of times pro-bono type services to our citizens and so they give their they give they give their time which is changes a lot. So do we have a another bullet that addresses business the business category? **[00:00] Council Member Vince Workman:** I think that's easiest. **[00:00] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Okay. Instead of a a separate policy for business because I think here's the thing. I think if we do a category then people always feel like they have to fill a category. We don't need to fill a category. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Yeah. I I get that. So, yeah. So, a different bullet that addresses um the qualifications for business and what makes them eligible for community builder. **[00:00] Council Member Vince Workman:** And that I think that's just further clarification of what we probably think in the spirit of this, but we need to put it in words for future councils and staff to understand what the guardrails are for this program. **[00:00] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** So Greg... **[00:00] City Manager Gregg Lindberg:** Madame Mayor, members of the council, um, if I'm counting correctly, I I I believe I'm hearing a majority of the city council is interested in adding a bullet under uh policy number one, uh, that would uh clarify, much like the current fifth or fourth, fifth, I can't count tonight. I apologize. Uh bullet that that's worded um to address outside of the scope of of paid city staff work. We can we can work language, but generally the spirit of outside of the scope of of that paid city staff work. And then also uh an additional bullet uh that would clarify outside the scope of normal business operations. I I think what I heard at least a majority of the council say is those two um maybe two bullets to clarify the council's position. **[00:00] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Okay. So I'm seeing I'm seeing head nods. So all all four. Yeah, I see thumbs up. Okay. So that Okay. And so you'll bring back... **[00:00] City Manager Gregg Lindberg:** Yeah. With that, Madame Mayor, members of the council, I would suggest for your consideration if it if the council is unanimously supportive that we we draft that and bring it back on the consent agenda for your consideration. We certainly could bring it to work session, I will take your direction, whatever you prefer. **[00:00] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Bring it back to for a consent agenda. Yeah. And then if Yeah. And because we see it before and if you want to amend it, we can do some of that. **[00:00] City Manager Gregg Lindberg:** And madam mayor, members of the council, I can certainly share a draft version in my weekly communication with you there. That that's a that's a great way. Perfect. Okay, that's what we'll do. Well, thank you so much. I think it just needed a little fine-tuning and this was exactly what it needed. Thank you so much uh council for all of that. Okay, so then um and then uh with that um agenda reports. Um **[00:00] Council Member Vince Workman:** I got nothing. **[00:00] Council Member Cara Schulz:** Our next experience burns meeting is next week. Yeah, we're at the beginning of the year, so I got nothing. **[00:00] Council Member Dan Kealey:** got a couple things. Thanks, Sergeant Mer. For hanging with us tonight. Uh just uh on MBTA. I'm wrapping up uh my two years as chair and passing the gavel later this month to current vice chair Jay Whiting from Shakopee City Council. I35 solutions. I got volunteered to accept uh a nomination as chair from uh the outgoing chair, Commissioner Liz Workman at our January meeting last week. Um Dan Gustafson has some history on the I35 and knows what a great group it is and really good collaboration with all the cities between Elko New Market and Minneapolis on the I35 corridor and adjoining east west corridors. The new vice chair is Sean Hayford Oleary from the Richfield City Council. Uh from National League of Cities news, the executive committee retreat is Friday through Sunday, January 29th through February 1st. I believe those are the days immediately following the mayor's conference in DC. Um and we're meeting at the it's a retreat, but we're meeting at the headquarters in National League of Cities headquarters in DC. And ironically, in the same building, the National Association of or I think it's the National Association of Counties maybe or whatever they is in the same building. **[00:00] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Does US Conference of Mayors have their office in the same building? **[00:00] Council Member Dan Kealey:** No, we have our offices in a different building on I Street. And then the last item, Burnsville Public Policy Committee met Friday morning and I provided a city update. We hadn't met in a couple months. and uh Jeff Thompson was there. It was great to have you. And the chamber presented their chamber federation priorities for 2026 and asked for some feedback. **[00:00] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Okay. Um the Savage Burnsville collaborate joint council committee that's coming up on Thursday. That's when we meet. Yes. And um nothing's happening in Metro Cities. Um our um community foundation meeting is this coming Thursday. It was supposed to be last Thursday, but there were some issues with the quorum. So it was uh delayed for this coming Thursday. So I don't have anything to report there. And that's all. Um anything from you, Greg? **[00:00] City Manager Gregg Lindberg:** Uh madam mayor, members of the council, might be two quick things. Uh first would be mayor, you mentioned a meeting that the city of Eden Prairie, the mayor of the city of Eden Prairie had called for mayors and city managers uh this week to discuss um immigration, federal immigration enforcement action and city roles. Uh mayor, I believe that we've accepted and we'll attend that. I'll provide a summary to the council in my weekly update to you on Friday following that meeting. Um, also I just take the opportunity to express my uh my gratitude for uh Dr. Daniels at the school district 191. Uh Jennifer Harmon, the president of the chamber and Amy Burrell, the president of Experience Burnsville. Uh we've all the four of us have invested quite a bit of time together over the course of the past um several months. We're we're meeting on a quarterly basis starting to talk about uh how we can uh best unify and support each other. Um, and I hope to bring that conversation to the council and and I believe that we hope to bring those conversations to our boards uh as well uh as we continue to strengthen partnerships. So, just wanted to express my appreciation to them and let you know that you'll hear more from me about our conversations as we look at our strategic partnerships across the city. **[00:00] Mayor Elizabeth Kautz:** Yeah. Wonderful. Thank you. And uh I I enjoy reading your partnership communication so that it informs us also on uh the activities that you and the partners are doing along those lines. So thank you for so much for that. Okay. And um with that uh we stand adjourn by acclamation and then we will take just a short break and then reconvene for the budget work session. Okay. Um 10 What?