06-29-2020-SWS - Laserfiche WebLink

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ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — JUNE 29, 2020 9 Mayor Grant stated the situation with George Floyd was tragic and wrong and the wrong four individuals got involved in the situation. He felt the Council understands the need for policing but it will be important for Ramsey County to interact with the community to regain trust, especially with minorities. He encouraged them to find other avenues for proactive policing. He asked if they had met with other cities in Ramsey County regarding these issues. Undersheriff Ramacher replied that the Sheriff has regular contact with the St. Paul Police Chief, he personally belongs to the Ramsey County Chiefs of Police Association and this will be a major topic of discussion. They met with Shoreview a couple of weeks ago and have requests from other cities to meet with them and there will likely be a larger community forum type meeting in the future. Mayor Grant thanked Undersheriff Ramacher and Commander Baebenroth for taking the time to educate the Council on their policies. City Administrator Perrault noted that a subsequent meeting will be held with some of the people that helped organize the march between Shoreview and Arden Hills and said they are looking at a time frame for that in mid -late July. There will also potentially be a community meeting with the Ramsey County Sheriff's office. Mayor Grant explained the organizers of the march would like some time to address the Council at a work session, and Administrator Perrault is working to set that up. His understanding is that they want to express their feelings as minority members of the public and the challenges they see themselves facing so the Council can have that point of reference as they make decisions. He didn't get the impression they wanted to ask questions regarding particular policing matters. Rather than approaching the Council at a regular meeting as part of public comments they would like to discuss their issues at a work session. Councilmember Holmes wondered if there would be a meeting for residents to discuss policing questions. Mayor Grant responded that perhaps staff should draft a response back to the residents that have emailed with questions regarding the Sheriff s Department. Councilmember Holden noted that she had requested that the City Administrator contact the people that had emailed to let them know this was a topic at tonight's meeting. City Administrator Perrault replied that he had notified everyone that had sent a question or made a comment to the City about the meeting, along with how to dial in to listen. Mayor Grant said he thought it would be appropriate to send a written summary to those same people in case they weren't able to attend, staff was directed to do so. Councilmember McClung said this is an important topic and there is broader interest than just those that have emailed. He felt in the longer term it would be important to have community involvement in a meeting down the road.