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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL – JANUARY 9, 2023 13 reported she was angry about the materials that were put in her mailbox illegally. She noted she fact checked the inaccuracies on the materials. She did not believe that the new Councilmembers had the full facts about the former Councilmembers. She explained the comments from the public showed that the TCAAP project was not held up by the City Council, but rather this was because Ramsey County did not show up. She did not understand why the new Councilmembers believed it was necessary to remove the Mayor from the JDA, when he has the most knowledge and experience to serve. She stated she was so disappointed by the new Councilmembers that they would choose to go along with this kind of coup against the Mayor. She indicated she has lived in Arden Hills for the past 22 years and she was so disappointed to think the new Council has a mandate to overthrow an elected official and the power they were granted by the voters. She stated the Mayor has the power to act as Mayor and if he wants to be on the JDA, he should. She explained Councilmember Holden stepped down from the JDA to give the new Councilmembers an opportunity. She questioned why the new Councilmembers would begin their service in this manner. She indicated she was downright angry at the new Councilmembers behavior and she did not want her community behaving in this manner. She reported there were over 180 responses from her post from the community asking for the election to be recalled and how the public did not vote for this behavior. She anticipated a vast majority of residents voted for a mix in order to ensure there were checks and balances in place. She believed voters would not have voted in this manner if they knew this type of letter would be brought forward. She encouraged the new Councilmembers to wake up and listen to the residents of Arden Hills. She reported they were not put in position to perform some mandate to overthrow the Mayor. Brenda Goldman, 1146 Waldon Place, stated she has lived in Arden Hills for the past 30 years. She said she voted clean slate and noted the new Councilmembers had a lot to prove. She encouraged the Council to work together and to work for what was the best for the City. She asked that the Council get some work done. Chris Ashbach, 3308 Katie Lane, reported his children were fifth generation residents of Arden Hills. He indicated he has had a love-hate relationship with the community over the years but he has never seen anything like this. He did not understand what was wrong with Councilmembers being Councilmembers and letting the Mayor be the Mayor. He questioned why Councilmember Fabel believed he had the right to assign the Acting Mayor. He reported the new Councilmembers were assigned to a Council seat and weren’t assigned to act as Mayor. He questioned what the qualifications were for a recall of the election. Mayor Grant stated there was one other person trying to speak via Zoom (Chrissy), but her version of Zoom was not functioning at this time. He encouraged Chrissy to submit her question via email to City staff or the Council for discussion at another time. Mayor Grant thanked the public for attending this meeting and for voicing their comments and concerns. 3. RESPONSE TO PUBLIC INQUIRIES None. 5. STAFF COMMENTS