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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION – JANUARY 31, 2026 13 our communities. She understands we are looking for legal accountability. We want documentation for things to help us now and in the future to get an understanding of what has happened here. There is fear for our students and our vulnerable populations. One of the concerns she has is, as we look to build some ordinances or City policy, how do we avoid creating a false sense of safety. Do we go forward and communicate appropriately that there isn’t the level of safety people are hoping for? There will need to be some discussion around how the community feels regarding safety. She has looked at other cities who are ahead of us with this information. She saw some great work that has been performed. Some of the considerations include making sure that any law enforcement, regardless of who they are, has a body worn camera on them. She saw prohibition of law enforcement using face coverings unless it is needed for a medical emergency. She has seen requirements for identification upon request, including but not limited to the officers last name, badge number or some similar identifier, when requested by a member of the public. She’s also seen use of City owned properties is prohibited. She is interested in having similar conversations and discussions about what we can do in the future about notification of activities when law enforcement is in our city. She doesn’t know how enforcement would look. She thinks it’s important to discuss the detention centers. She doesn’t know if our current ordinances restrict that or if that is something we need to put a moratorium on. She has heard comments in the past regarding making Rice Creek Commons into a gravel mining pit. That isn’t the flavor we want for Arden Hills and we certainly don’t want to be know as the detention center for ICE. She would like to have those conversations. She heard tonight that we need greater transparency around the RCSO and the activities they are seeing and how they will support our community. She heard comments and would like to consider at a future meeting if we should remove Spring Hills Suites as one of the City’s representatives with the Gateway Visitors Bureau. There is a clear separation ordinance that defines what Staff’s role is. That is appealing to have a conversation around. She heard creating a working group related to equity and humanitarian work. She said someone also requested specific communication from the mayor, stating a message of support. She said those are the things she heard tonight. She said she would like discussion at the February 9 meeting about scheduling a work session at the end of February to continue building on the conversations that happened today. Councilmember Weber said he hadn’t realized there would be an opportunity for Councilmembers to speak during this meeting when he spoke earlier. He thanked everyone for tonight’s discussion. He thought a lot of people did phenomenal research. He received a lot of emails instructing Council to look at other ordinances. His take is, if another city is doing it, we should be doing it, too. He didn’t hear anything that he didn’t support tonight. There were things brought up that he hadn’t considered. Knowing we have federal property near Rice Creek Commons, we can’t prevent them from doing that. However, it is historically the federal government’s policy to reach out to the city for permits. To the point of ICE purchasing land to create detention centers, he thinks we treat it the way we approached data centers. It’s a flat no. With the exception of RCSO who is headquartered here, there is no reason for Arden Hills to allow any type of detention center. He said a commenter talked about the City of Shoreview’s Human Rights Commission. He reached out to a Councilmember in Shoreview to ask if they are going to put something through. It happened so fast. He had hoped to participate in that process so he could speak to their Human Rights Commission. He thinks putting it through that whole process and giving it the commitment it deserves. Given these times, it is worth exploring if Arden Hills residents are interested in a similar commission. It would require council discussions and may take a little work, but he is willing to look into doing something like that. Over the past months we’ve seen how Hennepin County and the City of Minneapolis have responded. He thinks their actions didn’t match up with their words. He understands the position they are in. Their