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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL — MARCH 9, 2026 4 Councilmember Weber reiterated that he would like to call for a point of order. Mayor Grant explained that the Public Inquiries/Informational language states the City Council will generally not respond at the same meeting, but the language does not state the Council cannot respond at the same meeting. Councilmember Weber objected to the Mayor making a statement on behalf of the City Council and recommended a response only be made if carefully worded. Mayor Grant indicated he would give the public a carefully considered answer on behalf of himself. Councilmember Weber stated this speaks to the comment he made at the last City Council meeting. He explained the response that is given in response to public inquiries should be shared with the City Council for agreement. Councilmember Holden indicated it appears the Council does not want the Mayor to respond to the questions that were raised directly to the Mayor. She reported all committee and commission appointments are always placed on the Consent Agenda for approval, and the EDA appointments were no different. She suggested the Council move on with the agenda at this time. MOTION: Councilmember Monson moved and Councilmember Weber seconded a motion to add an item to the agenda to discuss and allow for the Council to individually respond to Public Inquires. A roll call vote was taken. The motion carried (5-0). DISCUSSION ITEM FOR THE COUNCIL TO INDIVIDUALLY RESPOND TO PUBLIC INQUIRIES Councilmember Holden reported there were statements that were made about the appointments that were made in 2023 for all of the committees, and she said policies were made. She explained she checked with the City Clerk and the City does not have any written or formalized policies or administrative procedures in place for committee appointments. She stated the liaison has always done the best job they can to make recommendations. She understood very qualified people in the past have applied for a committee that they were on prior and have been turned down, even though they have served in the past. She questioned where the transparency was with that process at the time. Councilmember Holden also noted that all committee and commission assignments are placed on the Consent Agenda for approval but can always be pulled for discussion. She indicated the Mayor did nothing sneaky or untoward by placing the EDA appointments on the Consent Agenda. She stated Councilmember Rousseau had recommended appointment of every member currently on the EDC and if these people were not worthy of serving on that Commission, they would never have been appointed. She reiterated that the pool of candidates for the EDA was recommended by Councilmember Rousseau, who serves as the liaison to the EDC. She discussed how she was unaware of which candidates were considered for other committee appointments and did not understand why there was a conflict regarding the EDA appointments. She spoke to how the public addressed the importance of the EDA but noted the Planning Commissioners were just as important