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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-31-2026 SWS City of Arden Hills ▪1245 West Highway 96 ▪ Arden Hills Minnesota 55112 Phone 651.792.7800 ▪ Fax 651.634.5137 ▪ www.cityofardenhills.org Request for Special City Council Work Session A special meeting may be called by the Mayor or by any two Councilmembers. Reason for meeting: To discuss concerns about federal immigration enforcement in the community. 1 APPROVAL OF AGENDA 2. PUBLIC COMMENT ON FEDERAL IMMIGRATION IN THE COMMUNITY 3. COUNCIL DISCUSSION REGARDING CONCERNS RAISED BY THE PUBLIC 4. ADJOURNMENT Requested Date: 01/31/2026 Requested time: 5:00 PM Open meeting X Closed meeting Signature of person(s) making request: 01/28/2026 Mayor or Council Member Date 01/28/2026 Council Member Date -This section to be completed by City staff- Date received: 01/28/2026 Date meeting to be held: 01/31/2026 Time of meeting: 5:00 PM Location: City Hall All necessary posting and notices have been completed. 01/28/2026 Signature of City Clerk Date 'It ,-ARQEN HILLS Approved: March 9, 2026 CITY OF ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION JANUARY 31, 2026 5:30 P.M. - ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, Mayor Pro Tem Monson called to order the Special City Council Work Session at 5:30 p.m. Present: Mayor Pro Tem Tena Monson; Councilmembers Brenda Holden, Emily Rousseau and Kurt Weber Absent: None Also present: City Administrator Jessica Jagoe and City Attorney Kori Land 1. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Mayor Pro Tem Monson read the following statement: This the opportunity for citizens to respectfully bring to the Council's attention thoughts, comments and questions that are relevant to the City on Federal Immigration in the community. In addressing the Council, you will come forward to the microphone and state your name and the city you live in. Comments will be limited to three minutes or less. Written documents or other materials, that you would like to have handed out to the Council, can be handed to City Administrator Jagoe and she will distribute it. Tonight we intend to speak and respond to your comments but we may refer an issue to Staff for further research and possible report or action at a future Council meeting. Mayor Pro Tem Monson stated this is a highly emotional topic with differing views and intensities. The City Council asks that you do your best to remain respectful. She noted there are numbered pages on the back table. She noted that it is assumed that those with numbers wish to make a comment. She said if a resident thinks their comments or thoughts have been shared by another community member, they are still welcome to come up and use their three minutes. She said it is also okay if someone's number is called and that resident has decided not to speak anymore. 2. PUBLIC COMMENT ON FEDERAL IMMIGRATION IN THE COMMUNITY Mayor Pro Tem Monson opened the meeting to Public Comment. ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — JANUARY 31, 2026 2 Jean Day, Arden Hills — She said nearly every president has had an immigration pickup policy. The current is picking up less than previous ones. None of us saw disruption or terror in the past presidents' immigration. It needs to be done differently. If someone is looking for what should or could be done, Roseville, Burnsville and Edina have put out official statements. Most of them state how children are being terrorized by this. People are so scared, they aren't showing up to work. This is putting financial stress and causing starvation because people are afraid to go out to shop or no longer have the money to afford food. The cities who have released statements have restricted ICE from using their public property for staging, nor do they want them going into the schools. She has two nieces that are psychologists and this is causing long term issues with young children. Their parents are writing phone numbers on their kids' arms in case the parents are gone when the kids get home. She believes ICE is not targeting criminals, they are looking at names or skin color as reason to pick these people up. She believes they are bounty hunters who are being paid, as such. Tascha Just, Arden Hills — She is a resident and the parent of a public school student. She is nationally certified school psychologist but isn't speaking in any official capacity. She appreciates this public comment time. She thinks this is part of how communities stay healthy. Arden Hills was once a village. It can still be one where neighbors feel safe to live, gather and belong. Right now kids are trading stories about agents near apartments and trailer parks where their peers live. Even if the details aren't confirmed, the fear is very real. Fear changes a city. Safety isn't political; it's infrastructure. When fear moves in, community participation moves out. Our City Vision Statement talks about our longstanding tradition as a desirable city in which to live, work and play. She wants that to continue. The City should not be a soft target for unlawful behavior by anyone. Her first request is that the City pass a resolution stating that access to non-public City spaces requires a judicial warrant and that the City will not assist civil immigration enforcement, unless legally required. Her second request is to adopt a Staff protocol; who to call, what to ask for and how to document. Third, she would like to see the City publish a privacy protecting log of outside agency requests so the public can see patterns without exposing individuals. If cooperation is needed, it is important to bring the right paperwork. Fletcher Coblentz, Arden Hills — He is a high school senior. What Arden Hills and Minnesota is dealing with right now is the worst of the worst. We have pathetic state actors emboldened by the federal government, packed to the brim with moral corruption and controlled by the nations oligarchy, invading our beautiful city and state. They are intruding on our sanctuary. Members of our community are facing eviction because they can't go to work, businesses are facing the risk of closure because customers can't shop onsite and families are afraid to send their kids to school because they are scared they may be kidnapped. The reign of terror needs to end. Arden Hills must make it known that ICE has no place in our public spaces. These signs may not do what we had hoped to deter blatant violations of our laws, regulations and court orders that ICE perpetrates on a regular basis, but it will put Arden Hills closer to the side of history that said a resounding no to the criminals in this administration and the soulless fiends in Washington that comply and enable them. There were more than 96 court order violations just this month, according to Chief US District Judge Schiltz. The government may not see these violations, but we do. The federal government's behavior has resulted in overwhelming efforts to organize, fundraise, volunteer and protect our communities. The message has been and will continue to be that we will not stand by as our people are battered, stolen and killed. Despite their superior fire power, their lack of principles and suppression of the media they will not defeat us under any circumstance. To any paid state killers who believe the masks will protect them; if the Epstein list isn't safe, do you ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — JANUARY 31, 2026 3 think the ICE list will be? In the government's own words, we will find you. He is a firm believer in karma. He doesn't believe he's allowed to swear, but his hate for ICE is very, very real. Airika Coblentz, Arden Hills — She is a proud parent and a resident of Arden Hills. She wanted to thank Councilmembers Holden and Weber. Their immediate responses to emails with proactive engagement with the community on this matter are seen and appreciated. She said there are Arden Hills residents in the Roseville School District. While operations in Arden Hills are minimal, we are also directly impacted by federal immigration enforcement in Roseville. The website states the City Council continues to be active in community conversations to ensure everyone feels safe. She assumes everyone is aware of the harm from the presence of ICE in Minnesota so she won't restate those. She wants to share ideas that have already been enacted by other suburban cities in the metro area so we don't have to reinvent the wheel. First, City parking lot signs, as reviewed in the last meeting, the City can't prohibit anyone from using our parks, but in several cities, including Roseville and Richfield, they have placed signs with the following verbiage: Unauthorized use including but not limited to staging for civil immigration enforcement activities is prohibited. Another option is: Parking for facility users only, parking lot use is limited to active facility use while on premises. Staging, storage or other activities are not permitted without a permit. She has heard from one Councilmember that after ordinances like this are passed, that we see ICE targeting those communities more aggressively and start to stage in the community in direct response to it. Some say it can make it worse for our residents. Her response to that is that Arden Hills should not limit how it protects it citizens based on the illegal actions of ICE and that signage making residents aware of what is illegal in our City lots, allows them to document illegal activity and notify the appropriate law enforcement and/or submit to the Attorney General's online reporting form for Minnesotans to share impacts of federal actions. Second, call on Governor Walz to pass and eviction and foreclosure moratorium through an executive order. This was done in Roseville last week. Third, join the ten other suburban cities in support of the lawsuit filed by the Minnesota Attorney General and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, asking the US District Court to issue a temporary injunction against the unlawful ICE activity that is impacting school children from attending school safely, local businesses from thriving economically and reducing access to courts and public services due to the fear and apprehension caused ICE tactics. It argues that ICE operations be limited to acceptable constitutional operations. Bloomington was the most recent to join the lawsuit. The list also includes Brooklyn Center, Edina, Falcon Heights, Golden Valley, Lauderdale, Minnetonka, Mounds View, Richfield and St. Louis Park. She requests that Council strengthens the letter from August of 2025. We live in a different world now. Finally, there is nothing controversial about saying that immigrants are welcome here. It is legal and it's true. She hopes our elected officials will work proactively to make that loud and clear. Eddie Coblentz, Arden Hills — He is a proud parent and resident. He wants to speak to specific changes he would like to see to the website. He would like to see a main page flag for positioning. Shoreview, Roseville and Richfield all have prominent banners or pop -ups currently displayed. The website has federal legislators contact information. It should also have contact information for our state legislators. Kelly Moller has been active in Arden Hills. He requests that we add more resources right now. Arden Hills has links to the Ralph Reeder Food Shelf and a parental authority form. There are many more mutual aid resources. Stand With Minnesota (.org). has a categorized list for donating but can also be looked at by those who are need. He requests specific information about rights be added regarding entering homes and the difference between a judicial and administrative warrant. Mounds View has links to other cities' rights resources. So it can be as simple as mirroring what Mounds View has done. He would like us to make it clear that ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — JANUARY 31, 2026 4 Ramsey County Sheriffs Office (RCSO) is responsible to respond to all residents who call 911, regardless of immigration status. This can be found on the New Brighton website. He would like the Minnesota Attorney General's online reporting form added. This is where Minnesotans can share impacts of federal actions. He would like to see contact information on the immigration resource page, in addition to the sub -page where it is also available. He requests the resource page state what RCSO will do, but it should also clearly state what it will not do. Ramey County is a sanctuary county and as such, they do not enforce civil, federal immigration law. Their presence dose not equal collaboration with ICE. He said, on a personal note, if there was ever a time for us to step up and assist our neighbors who don't feel comfortable or safe, this is it. Mayor Pro Tern Monson asked Mr. Coblentz to provide a list of his requests to Staff. Polly Richards, Arden Hills — She is here because she cannot march with her family due to her 93 years of age and she wants to voice her opinion. She would like to see the City Council, the Mayor, along with others in Arden Hills in supporting Governor Walz and Mayor Frey in their stance on immigration. We need to support those persons who have had derogatory words spoken against them. They are false. There are many false things being said about Minnesota, too. This is a great place. Karen Kuehn, Arden Hills — She appreciates and agrees with what all the former speakers have stated. She asked if there is a way for residents to learn what data requests the federal government has made related to this surge. Kari Johnson, Arden Hills — She is here because our community is under attack by a federal government that has lost its moral compass. ICE is here in our community. They make their presence known. They are staging every morning at local hotels in Arden Hills. That includes Spring Hill Suites and Quality Inn and Suites. When immigration enforcement from this administration operates out of our community, specifically our local hotels, our community becomes the launching pad for raids that separate families and traumatize our neighbors. This isn't who Arden Hills is. We believe in safety. We believe in dignity. We believe in treating people as human beings and not as targets. When federal agents base themselves out of our hotels, it brings tension, panic and harm to our neighbors. Families become afraid to leave their homes and trust is broken. It isn't just what happens during the raids, we're seeing vehicles leaving these sites driving dangerously, running red lights, making illegal lane changes, switching lanes without signaling and cutting through traffic with no regard for the people around them. They drive erratically. They ignore traffic laws and make our streets unsafe. No one is above the law. We can all do something. Today she is asking Council for two things. First, she is asking to close all hotels in Arden Hills until this surge ends so our community will not be a staging point. Our city should not be a base for actions that harm and destabilize our neighbors. Second, she wants RCSO, who work for us, need to actively enforce traffic laws around these sites. She understands that hotels are private property, but once the vehicles leave they can ticket the vehicles for missing plates, illegal window tint, reckless driving and other violations just as they would for anyone else. There should be no special treatment and they should be accountable. They leave every morning and come back every night. We know where they are. Public safety cannot be selective. The law can't be optional and our streets should never become collateral damage. Our city should not be used as a base for fear and intimidation. She is asking City Council to stand with the people who live here to choose compassion, accountability and fairness. Let Arden Hills be known for protecting people and not for helping to endanger them. ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — JANUARY 31, 2026 5 Anne Hall, Arden Hills — She is disappointed that the Mayor couldn't be here but she is thankful to the City Council for convening this meeting. She thinks it's important to bring community members together to talk about serious issues. She wishes City Council would offer more opportunities for this type of thing. She said she can accept processes, laws and enforcement around immigration in our country but it should be generous, humane and fair. That is not what is happening right now. She strongly feels immigrants are essential to our country and they contribute to making Arden Hills, our state and country great. She has been horrified and enraged over the past few months with what is happening in our community with ICE. She is very concerned. She has some questions and some asks. What actions is City Council taking to ensure that US Citizens and law abiding immigrants aren't kidnapped from Arden Hills street corners, bus stops and schools? In what ways is the City Council coordinating with the Mayors and leadership of nearby cities? How is the City coordinating with RCSO? She thinks it is important for the City to have better and more rapid communications. The newsletter is once a month and there are a few things on the website. Our communication is quite poor. When emergencies happen, or when something good happens, residents should be informed. She doesn't think tonight's meeting was advertised in any way. She knew about it because she talked to a City Councilmember. She made the effort to post about it on Facebook groups. She thinks a lot of people would have liked to be here but simply didn't know it was happening. She encouraged Council to modernize and improve the City communications. She would like to request the City provide more meeting spaces that facilitate community getting together, particularly in challenging times or when rapid responses are needed in a community. There's no community center and there are very few meeting spaces, particularly in the evenings. If community members wanted to help our neighbors, there's no where to go. She would also ask that ICE not be allowed to utilize our community spaces, parks and land for their operation. She would like a system where community members can keep the City informed about when ICE actions are happening in our City. If we don't have ways to track it, it's as if it didn't happen. We have the ability to report when a lawn grows over 10 inches and about misplaced election signs so we should be able to report this to the City. Marian Tyler, Arden Hills — She is in full support of everything she has heard tonight. She thanked Council for having the meeting. Allison, Arden Hills — She came today because she wasn't sure what she would find. This wasn't advertised. She saw a Facebook post. She thinks what was found here has been incredible, heartwarming and wonderful. She feels better now, than she did arriving tonight. She lived in the Whittier neighborhood in Minneapolis for 15 year of her life. She has never been more proud of that neighborhood. Whittier is showing up for their neighbors. If she were there, she would be out on the streets, too. She drives around with her whistle, not knowing what she'll see, not knowing if her 3-year old will be in the car but she knows she is going to do something. She is unsure what City Council can do. She knows there isn't a lot of power to go against the federal government. People have had some wonderful and brilliant ideas and she supports them all. She thinks we need to get signs out there, at a minimum. A resolution, a better website. She is so grateful to be a part of this community. She is proud to be here and thanked everyone for showing up on a Saturday night. Lynn Diaz, Arden Hills — She agrees with everything that has been said. We know this is a horrific time with the way our government is treating us. Her comments are related to what she thinks the City Council should do and some questions for the attorney and the sheriff. She thinks we should put a ban or moratorium on putting any detention centers in Arden Hills. ICE is buying ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — JANUARY 31, 2026 6 up properties to put detainees in inhumane conditions. We don't want that here. We have TCAAP, we have an empty grocery store, we have a number of places that they may try to access and purchase with the intention of a detention center. The City needs to draft or strengthen a separation agreement. We should post signage about using City property for staging. We should have an ordinance that any agents or law enforcement must be unmasked, be required to show a badge with a badge number, and they must be required to show a photo ID to identify themselves. We don't even know who is kidnapping our people. The City should be doing everything possible to educate residents and businesses. There should be more information on the website, maybe a newsflash with a link. She wasn't sure what the ordinance is for signs. She looked it up, it says you can have campaign signs in an election year and certain residential signs. She thinks residents should be allowed to display any sign in our yards, such as ICE Out. If a business has a sign that guns aren't permitted on the premises, can ICE still enter? The Arden Hills website says the Sheriff will get involved only when there is a threat to public safety. This isn't specific. Does this mean they won't protect families in their homes or businesses or kids in schools. It says we have the right to refuse a search of our car, home or place of business but will the sheriff enforce that? What can we legally do? More importantly, what will they do? ICE drives cars with no license plates and dark windows. Can't RCSO stop them to request license and insurance and give them a ticket? They maybe won't pay the ticket, but if they continue using the vehicle, we can have them towed. If a business posts there are areas for employees only, will the Sheriff help enforce that so they can't kidnap employees. She would like the City to show what is a judicial warrant, on the website. She said it's supposedly illegal for ICE to retaliate against protesters with tear gas and rubber bullets. Will the Sheriff protect people who are on the sidelines, documenting with their phones? Will they protects us from ICE using chemical irritants against peaceful observers. Mary Henry, Arden Hills — She said from personal experience, she has been standing on the street on the East side of St. Paul for three and a half weeks. They will move wherever they have new opportunity. If they run out of opportunity with ethnic or minority owned businesses, they will move into our community. There is no stopping how these people will behave. If we think we can avoid what is happening in other municipalities, we are being naive. She has watched a pregnant black woman be detained in front of her 3 children. It was horrific to see that family torn apart the way they were. She was heartened that she was able to contact a rapid response team that was able to respond in ten minutes. They were able to work with the family and she believes it was a good outcome. We aren't immune. Arden Mannor is vulnerable. Businesses are vulnerable. She would like to see specific statements on the website and in our published materials to say it is our expectation that ICE and CBP act in constitutional and legal manners. They will respect temporary restraining orders and habeas corpus petitions, rather than moving people out to Texas in the blink of an eye. Families are struggling. She also thinks it's important to say to businesses and residents do not open the door unless there is a judicial warrant. They may barrel in, anyway, but businesses and residents can make those statements. Molly Hoffman, Arden Hills — She thanked Council for calling the special meeting and allowing the community to speak. The people of Arden Hills deserve a community that is built on trust and safety. She works at the international office of a local university. Three weeks ago she talked to a staff member who was detained while putting groceries in his car in a parking lot. He was approached, at random, purely because of the color of his skin. He was held for six hours at the local federal detention building before he was released. He is a PhD researcher living completely legally in the United States with a spouse and very young child. What he described horrified her. Sadly his is only one story out of hundreds or thousands of similar stories and his is far from the worst. The City provides immigration resources on its website and a statement that says Arden ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — JANUARY 31, 2026 7 Hills is a welcoming city. A community that fosters respect and safety for all, regardless of immigration status. She understands that message was approved last August and she is grateful that the City made the statement and is providing these resources. With the significant increase in enforcement activities since then, she believes the City should reiterate that message and be bold in proclaiming it frequently and loudly. We need to back this up with meaningful action. She is asking the City Council to take some concrete steps. 1) Adopt a clear separation ordinance that states that the City Staff don't participate in federal immigration law enforcement activities, unless required by law. 2) Prohibit law enforcement from honoring ICE detainers without a judicial warrant. 3) Prohibit city resources from being used to support federal immigration enforcement, unless required by law and bar federal agencies from using city -owned parking lots or spaces as staging areas and post signage that clearly communicates restrictions. 4) Commit to seeking out other ways the City of Arden Hills can support its most vulnerable community members. She urged everyone to be creative and think outside the box. We can use our neighboring communities as an example. She said immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility she rejects the notion that there isn't anything a city can do. We can choose policies that protect public safety while also strengthening trust between residents and local government. Other cities have taken concrete steps and Arden Hills can join them. We can lead with compassion and a commitment to our Minnesota values, that have become very visible and widely admired across the nation and across the world. Rebecca Shrom, Arden Hills — She has nothing new to add. All of her comments have been stated. Jodi Vanderbelt, Arden Hills — She completely agrees with everything that was stated before her. She won't repeat all of the steps. As a resident who has put her children through schools in the city and as an educator in this city she brings the perspective of our children. It is very difficult to observe the stress our children are going through. It is affecting them in so many different ways both physically and psychologically. We need to do everything we can to be proactive and keep our kids safe. ICE is following our school busses. They are going into apartments. They are parked near schools and are circling schools. This shouldn't be tolerated. We need to be proactive, not reactive. Chris Hughes, Arden Hills — He thanked Council for calling this meeting. He agrees with everything that has been said. He couldn't be more proud. Without repeating anything that has already been brought up, he would like to offer one idea: a guiding principle. They have been given a lot of recommendations and lists tonight on things that can be done. For him, the guiding principle is when facing any of the items on this list we need to ask ourselves how we can make Arden Hills residents safe by acting on this. If there is a state, county or federal law that prohibits us from doing what we want to make us safe, don't stop and say the law won't let us. What can we do? He challenges City Council to keep that guiding principle in front of them to continue acting in all or our best interests. Liz Baumson, Arden Hills — She asks what we are doing for outreach to those who can't be here tonight. She said Columbia Heights started this conversation over a year ago. If we haven't thought about it, have we reached out to other communities who had the foresight to do this work. She would also like to encourage everyone in the room to sign up for constitutional observation training and connect with mutual aid groups that already exist. This protects us and our vulnerable neighbors. We should all be reaching out to our neighbors on our blocks to let them know we have the ability to help them. ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — JANUARY 31, 2026 8 Salem, Arden Hills (Shoreview and St. Peter) — He agrees with everything people have already said. He wanted to share there are reports from parents in St. Peter that the surge has spread all over Minnesota. ICE agents are questioning their children at the playground. They ask them if they know where people from other countries live. That idea sickens him. At the very least, signage and more robust measures should be in place to prevent them from being in the parking lots of the playgrounds. Patrick Burlingame, Arden Hills — He thanked Council for the conversation. He's tired. Everyone he talks to seems tired. People are worn down, on edge and stressed in a way that feels different than usual. Whether or not everyone experiences this in the same way, the fatigue and anxiety are very real in the community right now. Over the past few weeks, he has spoken with neighbors, parents, business owners and community members across the city. What he keeps hearing isn't anger or ideology. It's uncertainty. People don't know what to expect, who is responsible for what or whether calling 911 will make a situation safer or more complicated. He understands the instinct to say that if people just follow the rules there won't be any more problems. That sounds reassuring on paper but public safety systems don't work on theory. They work on trust and predictability. When people can't reliably tell what will happen after they call for help, fear becomes a rational response. From his conversation with Staff, he understands the City realized a high level policy framework tied to the Ramsey County Sheriffs Office. The statement posted on the city's website explains that federal agencies operate independently and the sheriff's office gets involved when there is an immediate or emerging threat to public safety. He understands this language is intentionally broad for legal and operational reasons. There is currently no formal communication or coordination channel between the local law enforcement and federal immigration agencies. Just this week, senior leadership confirmed, there is not routine communication from the sheriffs office to the City regarding ICE related calls. An ICE related call appeared for the first time in the high level daily call summary only recently. Even with very limited detail, that tells him that these situations are occurring while visibility for residents and elected officials remains minimal. Ramsey County has introduced new guidance directing local law enforcement to accept and investigate alleged criminal conduct by federal agents. That underscores how important clarity and accountability are when enforcement activity intersects with community safety and public trust. The combination of broad policy and limited coordination are real consequences. He is hearing from residents, including long time homeowners, parents, business owners and particularly residents of color who are hesitant to leave their homes, hesitant to send their kids to school and hesitant to call 911 when something feels wrong because they don't know what will happen next. That uncertainty is already ripping outward. Schools are seeing attendance disruptions, teachers are carrying extra strain, businesses are struggling to staff shifts or keep doors open. These aren't abstract concerns. They are showing up in our daily life. He isn't here to debate federal immigration policy. He is here because local public safety only works when people trust it under stress. Our first responders exist to protect residents. When people are unsure about what will happen after they call 911, trust erodes and the system stops functioning the way it's supposed to. He doesn't expect instant fixes and he understands there are legal limits but leadership still matters. Acknowledging the uncertainty, clearly explaining what residents can expect when they call for help and committing to review if current guidance is sufficient will go a long way towards restoring trust. People need to know that asking for help won't put them at greater risk. Restoring trust isn't optional it's essential to safety, stability and cohesion of this community. Sarah Curtis, Arden Hills — She echoes many of the comments made. Many of the things she was hoping to bring forward as suggestions for action have been expressed. She would like to add ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — JANUARY 31, 2026 9 something that hasn't been specifically raised. She has three big hearted children whose friends and teammates are feeling threatened going to school, threatened about their parents' safety, threatened about if they can attend practice and participate in daily life. She has heard about people who are naturalized citizens having to carry their passport around. There are people who were born here who are worried about if they will be nabbed. The idea that people need to walk around with a phone number of who to call if someone doesn't come home at night. There is stress just in existing. Her kids come home every day sharing these stories. She wanted to speak up for her kids and all of the people in our community who are here, contributing. They are immigrant neighbors. They have businesses. They are in our schools. They are in our doctor offices. They are in our places of worship. They are everywhere. It is important to her to share that she thinks it's important for us to let these members of our community know that they are wanted, valued and welcomed. Making the actions that were brought up today public and giving the members of our community opportunities to get behind this and to demonstrate that we love our neighbors, is very important. It's part of who we are as a community. She hopes Council will consider and take as many actions as possible. Ben Lindau, Arden Hills — He thanked Councilmembers Holden and Weber for bringing this up at the last Council meeting and for having this conversation today. He concurs that if he looks at a class photo from his kids' classes, half of the people look like they could be from another country. There is fear going through the community and the classrooms. When he thinks about a healthy family unit, whatever we can do to get the fear out of the rooms will help these kids and families. From the City, he would like to see a letter from the Mayor sent to representatives to the president that states we need to keep public safety in the forefront. Immigration and customs enforcement, like any other law organization needs to have levels of accountability; including no masks, badges ID and body cameras. Public safety depends on holding the officers accountable, like any other law enforcement. That is a reasonable request. He thinks a letter from the Mayor as the leader of a city that has public safety forefront, is reasonable and it should be done. Aisha Elmquist, Arden Hills — She thanked the Councilmembers for holding this meeting. We have families in our community who are being ripped apart. We have students who are afraid to go to school. We have basic constitutional rights being violated throughout our state. She echoes many of the things that have already been said. One additional recommendation. Shoreview has a Human Rights Commission. New Brighton has an Equity Commission. New Brighton also has a full time staff member who does fantastic equity work in the city. How can we create a sustainable framework within Arden Hills to do more work to show we're a welcoming community and that we have strong relationships throughout out community. A group like that can make recommendations to City Council on how we can do better in terms of human rights and equity in our city. Stephanie Harms, Arden Hills — She said we have a moral imperative to live our city's vision and value statements. This is support strong neighborhoods, fiscal soundness and support businesses. With what is going on right now, staying silent and not taking affirmative resolution is against those values and our vision statement the city has adopted. She thinks the constitution that we all live under protects separation of powers and Arden Hills needs to remain independent and speak independently. Allowing ICE to use our parks, our property and our parking lots is a negative drain on our resources. It's an unconstitutional overreach and it blurs accountability. Even if we ignored the moral imperative, think about the legal risks that we are under if Arden Hills allows staging in our parking lots, parks and communities. Imagine these unlawful, masked, unbadged individuals pointing firearms at innocent residents. Being fiscal stewards of our ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — JANUARY 31, 2026 10 taxpayer dollars requires us to not be silent on this. Arden Hills is home to international businesses. They have diverse work forces and they like living here and walk to work. We need to be affirmatively against these ICE actions if we want those businesses to continue to invest and grow here. Growth will happen in the communities that are actually taking a affirmative statements. She said we have beautiful communities that are being eroded and the fabric is disappearing. Our parks aren't being used as much. It's not the cold weather. It is because people are afraid. If residents want to donate or provide any kind of mutual aid, they are going to other communities to do it because we aren't organized here. She said in 75 years when this chapter of history is written, there will be newspapers, websites and history books that list which cities did and did not make statements affirmatively countering ICE's use of our property. It would be a shame to know that any of us was here and Arden Hills isn't on that list. Regina Newton, Arden Hills — She thinks we are here because we have educated ourselves. There are a lot of people that haven't educated themselves and will deny a lot of the things spoken today. The part that she wants to stress is transparency. She heard things tonight that she wasn't aware of. She knows there are people who have no desire to know more. It's hard to know where to go, to know more. Many people, including her, aren't on social media. People aren't hearing what they need to hear. We've talked about immigrants and people of different colors. There were three natives detained in Minnesota, a week after Renee Good died. People don't even know that. They don't understand where operations are or the severity of the infractions. Many of us know because we're paying attention. There is no mechanism to reach out to those who don't have a way to know. She's asking for transparency. If we can find a way to work with one of the other cities and look at ways to create greater transparency about the activity and also what's actually happening to the citizens. How many people have been unlawfully detained? She doesn't know what that looks like because we have taken an objective stance. She is proud of everyone who is here. She is also scared for people. People in her own family just refuse to pay attention. She is saying this from the perspective of a grandma who is an immigrant from Panama who wouldn't come tonight. Her grandparents met and fell in love at Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis. Her grandmother worked in the Sears building, where she works now, that's a part of the Midtown Global Market. Many of those businesses won't survive. Everything said tonight is 100% on. How do we help other people to understand the situation? Part of what we're tired about is the polarization. She's tired of having to explain what a fact is. People are asking what can ICE do and what are they not allowed to do. That is great place to start. Giving information about that, in an easy objective way. People may not understand they can't use tear gas. People don't know what they don't know. We hear riot and protest used to describe the same activities. She said we need help reaching across the aisle because at our hearts. She thinks we would all be appalled but if people know what's actually happening. Kurt Weber, Arden Hills — He is speaking as a member of the public. These are his comments. They are not Council comments. He wants to speak to the difference between normal law enforcement activity and what we're seeing now. This is an invasive and aggressive operation. The distinction matters. Immigration enforcement is a civil process. Agents conducting civil immigration enforcement are not peace officers and don't have general police powers. Civil authority does not allow random traffic stops, broad street encounters or detaining people simply to check papers. When those tactics occur, they raise serious constitutional concerns and we can't allow this behavior to become normalized. What concerns him are the large scale, civil immigration operations that go far beyond normal practice. An operation that resembles drag net policing creates fear and confusion and then seeks to criminalize dissent or resistance by local governments and residents. The operation undermines public trust and makes communities less ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — JANUARY 31, 2026 11 safe. It makes many of those marginalized in our communities, even those with legal status, afraid to go to work, school, shopping or just go about living their life, as normal. Obviously, Arden Hills cannot control what the federal government does. We can control how our own city resources, land use authority and permitting process are used. We can decide if we will quietly facilitate or normalize this intrusion into our community or if we will draw clear boundaries around what happens in our city. This isn't about defying federal law. It's about exercising local authority responsibly, protecting constitutional rights and making clear that Arden Hills will not be a staging ground for non -routine civil immigration enforcement. Mayor Pro Tem Monson closed the public comment period at 6:10 pm. 3. COUNCIL DISCUSSION REGARDING CONCERNS RAISED BY THE PUBLIC Mayor Pro Tem Monson said the next agenda item is Council's discussion in response to concerns raised by the public. She said there is typically only one meeting in January, February and March. The rest of the year there are typically two meetings per month. The first meeting in 2026 was January 12 and the next meeting will be February 9. A lot has happened during that time. There have been a lot of conversations. Staff has been working hard to coordinate information. Every day is different. Every day something new comes up. She wanted to address the timing of this meeting. She and Councilmember Weber called the special meeting. Three days' notice is required. We did our best to get the word out. It was clear this couldn't be wrapped in with a normal meeting. This discussion needed to be focused and narrow. We wanted to have this meeting before the February 9 meeting, which already has a packed agenda. She asked City Administrator Jagoe to provide the City's response. City Administrator Jagoe thanked everyone for their comments and attendance. She will try her best to capture all of the items but understands she may not touch on every single comment shared. She appreciates everyone's feedback and the suggested additions to our immigration resources page on the website. She hears the desire for partnering with other communities. Staff and council are having some of those conversations and will ensure those discussions continue. She said when the original statement was approved and adopted by the Council, there were three links on our website. Today there is contact information for our federal representatives, the ICE online locator system, Ramsey County Attorney's office and the Attorney General's office, legal support and more. There are 19 links today. She said links will continue to be added. Staff is looking at New Brighton, Shoreview and Little Canada for improving resources. That has become an hourly challenge because the topic is so fluid. She continues to look for more resources and that landing page will continue to be built out and will change daily. This week an email was sent out to all of the licensed and registered businesses that shared how to reach federal representatives, information regarding the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, know your rights from the Minnesota Attorney General's office helping businesses understand what rights they have if federal agents come to their property. She has been in contact with the Mounds View School District and talked to the principal on how we can support families in the community. Their greatest message to staff is to share the information for Ralph Reeder Food Shelf. She shared that Arden Hills City Hall is a drop off location where people can donate nonperishable goods. We make sure any donations are promptly delivered to Ralph Reeder. Ralph Reeder is taking food donations as well as monetary donations. The link to donate is on our website. We will continue to build those opportunities into our resources page and will share on social media. She is having regular conversations with the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office. Their official statement is on the website. The RCSO said they will investigate and prosecute enforcements that ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — JANUARY 31, 2026 12 happen in Ramsey County. We will continue to share their messaging and their direction is to tell people to call 911. They have confirmed they will investigate alleged crimes in the community which includes traffic enforcement. Community conversations with the contract group, which includes other City Managers and City Administrators, regarding reporting are occurring. That is messaging that all of the cities in the contract group have requested. She thinks the reporting is being improved on and there should be information to share, providing the community with transparency regarding activity related to federal immigration. Those conversations are ongoing and she will keep pursuing those answers. She said in response to the use of City buildings or access to government buildings, the City has never assisted ICE in its civil immigration enforcement. There is no direction now, to do so. She has shared messaging with City Staff that if a federal agent comes into the building, employees are not to grant access into non-public spaces of the building. They would need to contact her and she will have the conversation with federal agents to ensure they have proper judicial orders to enter any non-public space. People spoke tonight about use of public spaces. We are reviewing ordinances with the City Attorney to make sure we have regulations in place, or if we need to look at adding language or ordinances that may get into those staging type of activities. Those activities may be regulated with a permit and that overall review of our ordinances is taking place. If it is determined we need a discussion , that may be a topic for a future Council discussion. She also heard a comment regarding public data. If federal agents were to request data that is public from the city, they would be entitled to receive that information. There is a request for public data process. Federal agents would need to follow that same process. If they requested any non-public data, they would need a warrant or judicial court order authorizing us to release that data. To her knowledge, there hasn't been a request of this type and she is confident if the City Clerk receives such a request, she would let the City Administrator know. She thanked everyone for speaking and she will look for direction from the council after this discussion. She welcomes the sharing of resources and the immigration resources page will continue to be updated as more information and resources become available. She said that Ramsey County has said they are not sharing FLOCK data with federal agents. Mayor Pro Tem Monson said her thought is to start with each Councilmember having up to 10 minutes to provide a statement of their own or a response to a comment/question heard tonight. She said after the personal statements, she will open it up for council discussion on next steps. Councilmember Rousseau thanked everyone for coming. She said we need the support of residents. She hopes there will be a work session in February where we can continue these discussions. She doesn't think this will all be sorted out by the next meeting on February 9. She wanted to acknowledge the concerns over safety and fear in the community. She sees it, too. There are residents who are afraid to leave their homes. People are sheltering in place. Our community is changing. There used to be neighborhoods with open doors and the kids could run back and forth. Those doors are being locked now. This is changing very traditional pieces of safety in our community. She doesn't like it. She understands there is a high risk to the children in our community. She is worried that the first targets in our community are the underserved communities. She has heard that ICE agents go to those underserved. She said they started there first but it is her feeling that they will go into other neighborhoods next. She is concerned that large businesses have used language to their employees that states not to come to Minnesota unless it is absolutely necessary. This is similar language used to warn about visiting war torn countries. We will see a lot happening with our economy over the next year between our silent work force being taken and those larger businesses maybe wanting space from doing business in 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 ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — JANUARY 31, 2026 13 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 responsibility is public safety and that's more than just responding to calls; but ensuring safety especially in the face of an aggressive bad actor. He and Councilmember Monson met with the ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — JANUARY 31, 2026 14 Sheriffs office yesterday and he was very heartened by what he heard at the meeting. It was a really good meeting and he heard a lot of things he was hoping to hear. The sheriff, along with the County Attorney had basically done a full 180 on their position on how they will approach ICE. There will still be limitations on how they can respond to calls that involve ICE. One of the biggest things we've seen is the federal government preventing local agencies from investigating those incidents. What he was told by the undersheriff, who manages Arden Hills' contract, is if there is a felony, a serious crime, that is going to involve investigation and it is believed that local authorities will be pushed out, RCSO will swarm the situation, take control and get as much information as they can. This is a County Sheriff up against the federal government. It's a change from what we've heard and seen in the past month. There was discussion about coding calls so we can learn how many of those calls are coming in and assess what's happening in Arden Hills a lot better. He thanked everyone for speaking out today. Councilmember Holden said she doesn't think there is anyone on the Council or in the city that isn't sickened by what is happening in Minnesota. She said during the last conversation she used the word gestapo. She doesn't know if people are on leave because of the shootings or if they just moved to a different city. There's no transparency, at all, coming from the federal government. It puts a bind on our public safety officers. No one in the Sheriff's department agrees with what is going on. No one believes car windows should be smashed out or that people should be dragged out of cars. It is the same for the National Guard officers. They are out there trying to do their job. She is upset when she's watching the news and sees protesters go after those guys. This should be taken out on ICE. Ramsey County Sheriff and our National Guard guys are on our side. They don't believe in any of this. They have rules to follow. They want ICE to follow the rules. She asked that everyone remain kind to our local law enforcement officers and the National Guard. We don't want anyone turning on them. This is the federal government and ICE, that is where we need to take our direction to. We have talked about vulnerable areas of our City. She has walked the Arden Manor Trailer Park many times in the cold weather. RCSO has several officers who speak Spanish. They have been going door to door and letting people know what's going on and telling them what their rights are. They know more about what's going on and what their resources are than she could even begin to know. There is a rapid response app for Arden Hills. You can get that app and be notified if ICE is coming into our community and where they're at. Within a minute you can have your whistles ready, get there and protect the businesses and residents, as long as everyone follows the rules. That is an important thing that we have done right. Minnesotans have followed the rules so we don't look like we're becoming ICE people. She represents 10,000 people in this city. Unfortunately, there are people who agree with what ICE is doing but they don't agree with how they are accomplishing it. One of the things that worries her the most is letting kids go remote. We've talked to the school district. There is nothing that is going to take away our fear. She knows ICE has driven down her street. She knows they go through the trailer park. Arden Manor is very well aware. The message goes out to everyone in the area so they know it's happening. The townhouse association hasn't done as much. There aren't as many vulnerable community members there. ICE has been very limited on who they're going after focusing on Hispanics, Latin Americans and next will be Somalians. She said if people report incidents to the City, she asked if that is public information. She would like an answer to that question. We need to protect the identities of the residents who are trying to help. She said food shortages aren't a huge issue here, thanks to Ralph Reeder and delivering the food. Where we need help is for people who aren't working. She has donated to siding companies and roofing companies. Those people haven't worked since December. They don't have any money. They can get food but they can't pay their electricity bill. Local churches are collecting money so people can stay in their homes. It is important that we have an anti -eviction notification to Walz. ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — JANUARY 31, 2026 15 She hopes that happens. Right now food isn't the issue it's being able to buy a tube of toothpaste or toilet paper. Some haven't worked for months and months and they can't get unemployment. She echoes everything the other Councilmembers said. Mayor Pro Tem Monson thanked everyone for the discussion. She supports everything that the public and the other Councilmembers said this evening. She said the additional ideas are great. She wants to acknowledge the fear and the pain. She doesn't tend to dwell on emotions, but this has been an extraordinary moment in time that created a place that many of us have never been, in terms of emotional stress and the level of helplessness. It's terrifying that we are truly seeing what the federal government could do. Not just in this forum. We feel very limited, as a City, about what we can do that will actually be impactful and stop these activities. We can have a show of force, in some way, but to actually stop staging would be very difficult. This level of helplessness makes it incredibly terrifying. She feels this helplessness. It ripples wide and this isn't easy for anyone. She loved all of the ideas that were presented that Council can discuss and implement. She heard residents telling us tonight that we need to up our game. She noted Roseville has a lot more resources on their website. We will continue to push and up our game by showing support and affirmative statements. The government can't take our community. She's been reading articles about how ICE had no idea what they were up against. This community banded together and said no, in the most peaceful manner. It is nearly impossible for anyone to say it was disorderly or disrespectful. It has been amazing. She was moved to tears when she read about some chants during Boston protests that said Minneapolis taught them to be brave. We will provide as many resources as possible. She wanted to specifically highlight the Northeast Youth and Family Services (NYFS) organization. They are headquartered in Shoreview. The City of Arden Hills provides funding for them and Councilmember Rousseau sits on the board. This is an amazing organization. They provide mental health resources and therapy, particularly for youth and families. They go into the schools and their rates are on a sliding scale, based on income. They can help everyone. This is a legitimate resource and an amazing organization. Mayor Pro Tem Monson asked Council how they would like to proceed with Council discussion. She is open. Councilmember Holden would like to discuss the low hanging fruit and get the easier ones done. She means items like sending the letter for eviction notices, talking about signage in the parks and signs in the yards. Mayor Pro Tem Monson said the eviction notice item is requesting Council send a letter to Governor Walz. A resident provided a copy of Roseville's ordinance regarding that. She supports sending a letter to the governor.' All Councilmembers in attendance are in support of that. Mayor Pro Tem Monson asked City Administrator Jagoe if the letter would come from the full Council with all Councilmembers signing. City Administrator Jagoe said Staff is looking for direction from the Council. If there is anything that requires a motion or approval, it would have to be at a Council meeting. She said she can prepare a draft letter for the February 9 meeting so Council can make a formal action. She heard someone state that the City of Roseville implemented an ordinance so she would like to look at the process they did. Staff can work on that and have something ready for the February 9 ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — JANUARY 31, 2026 16 meeting. She will also put something on the agenda about scheduling another meeting in February. Councilmember Holden wondered if the evection item would include Arden Manor, being that it is privately owned. City Administrator Jagoe said that is a question she would want to flesh out. She will make sure to get an answer to that question before the meeting. Mayor Pro Tem Monson would like to discuss the moratorium on detention centers. She would love to take action on that, as soon as we can. Councilmember Rousseau said for the detention centers she would be interested in Staff going through the list of website resources that a resident provided us, as well as, beefing up the website and that information in there. There were other folks who brought some good ideas. In the interim it is more of an administrative process. She would love Staff to prioritize that. She would like to see removing Spring Hills Suites from being our representative for the Gateway Visitor Bureau as a priority. Mayor Pro Tem Monson supports all of those efforts Councilmember Weber said he supports those, as well. He has a question on the moratorium. He asked if it will be a resolution or if it will have to be heard by the Planning Commission. City Administrator Jagoe said she doesn't believe it needs to be reviewed by the Planning Commission but it is a city ordinance not zoning. We will need to look at our timeline for adoption of an ordinance. We wouldn't be able to meet the noticing requirements prior to the February 9 meeting. She said she heard Council say they want a work session scheduled to discuss the Twin Cities Gateway appointment. She asked if Council is wanting a work session discussion or do they want it to be on the regular meeting, for a motion. Councilmember Rousseau would like to see it on consent for the regular meeting. Councilmember Weber thought we could invite them to come to the meeting and try to justify their position. Mayor Pro Tem Monson suspects they probably have a legal bind where they can't deny service to a certain group of people, based solely on the group they are in. It would be great to hear from them on that. She said there is also the risk of retaliation from the federal government. Councilmember Weber said the representative has to be from a tourist hotel industry related business. He said it is a fair point that if they can't say no to them being there, is it fair to punish them. A member from the public asked if the hotel can be shut down until the surge is over. Mayor Pro Tem Monson reminded that public comments are typically not taken during Council discussion. She said this would be a portion of the work session discussion. ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — JANUARY 31, 2026 17 Councilmember Holden doesn't think we can legally shut down a business Discussion ensued regarding it not being necessary for them to come in and discuss their stance. Council agreed the item to revoke the position on the Gateway Visitor Bureau board held by the Spring Hills Suites employee should be a consent item at the next regular Council Meeting. Councilmember Holden asked if we can stop them from staging in the hotel parking lot. City Attorney Land said we cannot prevent them from doing any activities inside or outside the building. It's private property. We can't shut down a business because the City would be liable for all of the revenue they would lose during that time. Councilmember Holden said we have also heard there is poor driving. Can we have a Ramsey County Sheriff monitor that situation in the morning? City Administrator Jagoe will pass that question on to the Sheriff. Mayor Pro Tem Monson said Councilmember Weber shared this thoughts on the meeting they had with RCSO. She, too, was comforted by the meeting. Their stance is to not help or hinder federal activities. It gets complicated when you start talking about what is interference? What is hinderance? She does not envy local law enforcement. They are trying to ensure that they are not on the wrong side or are not doing the wrong thing. We are very clear about public safety. She asked directly, if ICE busts into a school, will the Sheriff come. They said yes. That is a public safety emergency. They will come to the school. There were a couple of scenarios that she presented that they stated they wouldn't respond to. That's complicated; however, they are doing the best to manage a very complex and ever moving situation. They stated there have only been 11 ICE -related phone calls in the last 10 days, from all of the seven contract cities combined. We know there were more than 11 incidents in these seven cities in the past 10 days. The dispatchers are now tracking calls when they are related to immigration. We will finally have a record of how many reports come in. That is an incredibly important piece of information for us. Someone spoke earlier about how history will remember this. Our history needs to show that our community observed what ICE was doing and we reported it. It's also important for us to understand how much activity increases, over time. The increase in calls is a functional piece of information we need to have because we pay the RCSO for their services. They will use their judgement and policies to determine if a call warrants a sheriff's response. Residents should definitely call to report what they are seeing, to produce that record. If we're considering joining the lawsuit that Governor Walz and some of the cities are participating in, we need to have legal standing. Mayor Pro Tem Monson said her call to action is to get these incidents on record. She said it is important to understand the law and how it works. If there is a body cam and an incident happens involving a resident, their home or their business, that entity can request the body cam footage. The City cannot, if we weren't part of what was happening. Once an investigation is triggered, the information is locked down and no longer available, except to investigators. Noting the immigration calls is an important move for RCSO so they can try to have control over their data It's important that residents keep the videos they have recorded. If we want to access more, investigations can really limit it. Councilmember Rousseau said we are looking at discussing some of the low hanging fruit at the next meeting. We will also schedule another meeting where we can discuss creating a working ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — JANUARY 31, 2026 18 group related to equity and inclusion, creating a clear separation ordinance from the City, having discussion about prohibiting use of public City property, notification of activity, portable recording system requirements, prohibiting facial coverings and identification upon request. Mayor Pro Tem Monson is happy with that list Councilmember Weber said despite the fact that Administrator Jagoe called them out as protocol, he thinks we should have an official City policy regarding not sharing data that is not public. He understands some of that is already policy but things like immediately reporting any interactions, or notifications of activity involving ICE to City Staff and City Council should be written down. We should create policy on things that aren't policy already. Mayor Pro Tem Monson said she liked the idea of having a community room in this space. That will have to be a work session discussion. The community space in the basement is publicly available, meaning it's also available to federal agents. There are some questions to answer but she does like the idea. City Administrator Jagoe wanted to summarize what she has heard and discuss next steps. She said the February 9 Regular Council Meeting will include consent items regarding removing Spring Hill Suites from the Twin City Gateway board appointment, a resolution regarding the eviction letter to Governor Walz which includes confirming if it includes Arden Manor. She said Staff will also include scheduling a special work session in February. Staff will go through some of the items determined to be low hanging fruit and say what things can be brought back for discussion based on her review with the City Attorney and based on next steps and Staff capacity. That memo will outline some actionable and deliverable timelines. We will also look at scheduling an ordinance for a moratorium on detention centers. Councilmember Holden said when we are doing the policies, the statement from the City Attorney said she advised a course of action that is consistent with the League of Minnesota Cities. That information will need to be provided to us. She has sent several emails already stating that we are following what our City Attorney and the League of Minnesota Cities says. She said yesterday the League of Minnesota Cities came out with a whole bunch of changes to what their thought ,process is. It's ever -changing. She wants to make sure we don't put the City in any jeopardy. Mayor Pro Tem Monson agrees with that. Councilmember Rousseau said Staff will also look at the website and look at recommendations during the time period, too. City Administrator Jagoe confirmed we will continue to build the immigration resources page. She said residents can expect that to be a fluid effort and could change daily as we borrow content from surrounding cities. Councilmember Rousseau said she doesn't think there is information about ICE in the newsletter. She thinks we should include a QR code to point people to those resources and maybe some of the other areas where we are seeking clarification about what's happening in the City. ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — JANUARY 31, 2026 19 City Administrator Jagoe said we are assembling the March newsletter and she will have Staff look into including an article and QR code. Councilmember Weber asked if the low hanging fruit includes strengthening the language in our City's statement. He said that is a precedence item for him. It should be done as soon as possible. We aren't going to discuss this until February 9. If it's on the work session, we will need a second meeting in February to approve that statement. We're in a situation right now where the meeting is cancelled because nothing has come up, so be it. We aren't in that situation right now. City Administrator Jagoe confirmed. We would have to have a motion during the February 9 meeting to schedule that meeting date. Mayor Pro Tem Monson reminded the public that tonight's meeting is a work session. We don't take actions at work sessions. We can give Staff direction to bring something forth, when there is a consensus, but we can't bring a motion or take any official action during a work session. Councilmember Holden asked the City Attorney if restricting masks on immigration agents is an enforceable issue. City Attorney Land said the mask mandate is not something we can direct at a federal agency. We can't control how they do their operations. Councilmember Holden asked if prohibiting them from following school buses is an enforceable issue. City Attorney Land said it's a federal agency and we can't control their operations. Councilmember Holden said we need to remember to think about that when we are discussing some of these issues. City Administrator Jagoe added that doesn't pertain to how the RCSO responds to traffic enforcement. They apply the traffic laws to ICE the same way they would to the general public. Councilmember Weber said we know if ICE is around, through the rapid response groups. He waits for his daughter to get off the bus every day. He said if they're following a bus, that has to be communicated. He imagines pandemonium in these situations. He asked that anyone involved in those rapid response groups put the word out. We need to be mindful of what ICE is doing, but also be aware that there are kids present and their safety has to be the primary concern. Councilmember Holden said ICE vehicles don't always have license plates and they have dark windows, both are illegal in Minnesota. We don't want to inundate 911 with random calls on a vehicle with no plate. That will raise our costs. She asked what it is the sheriff will enforce. Can shaded windows be considered as part of how the federal government operates and violations are unenforceable? City Attorney Land said tinted windows is a tricky question. There is a level of tinting that may seem too dark to someone observing the vehicle, but it's legal. There's a test and they can tell if the windows are too dark. She doesn't know if the windows are too dark, or not. She doesn't know if it's considered part of their operations, or not. If the window tint is too dark for ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — JANUARY 31, 2026 20 Minnesota law, they can be pulled over for it. If any vehicle doesn't have a license plate, they can be pulled over for it. If a car is not adhering to what is required in Minnesota traffic laws, they can be pulled over. ' Councilmember Holden said we need to know what the sheriff is willing to pull vehicles over for. City Administrator Jagoe said RCSO has stated that they will enforce traffic regulations. Their deputies are aware of that. If individuals see someone speeding or there is an infraction, public should call and make the sheriff aware of that. They have stated they will enforce that. Councilmember Holden said there is a difference between traffic violations and whether someone has both license plates on their vehicle. Mayor Pro Tem Monson asked if there was anything else. City Administrator Jagoe asked if Council is directing her to schedule a special Council meeting and a special work session. Councilmember Rousseau asked if we can schedule both and cancel if it is determined that it isn't needed. Councilmember Holden thinks it should be a Council meeting because we may want to vote on something. Discussion ensued and Council confirmed it should be both a Special Work Session and a Special City Council meeting. Further discussion ensued about the items to be brought forth. Staff will bring any actionable items to the February 9 regular meeting. If it's an ordinance, we need to follow noticing guidelines and allow Staff time to research. There isn't enough time before February 9 to take action on an ordinance. City Administrator Jagoe asked if Council wanted to schedule the strengthening of the City's immigration statement as a New Business Item on February 9. She can provide examples from other cities and the discussion would happen at the dais. Mayor Pro Tem Monson said Staff should send the examples to Council and we can make a game time decision. Councilmember Holden asked if we are having a work session and a meeting. Everything is so fluid she would be worried if we didn't have a work session prior to the meeting in case we change our mind on something. City Administrator Jagoe said she will work on a draft statement and get it scheduled for February 9. She has good direction on the items that can be turned around in the next few days, to include on February 9. She will look at the list of items provided this evening and will follow up and provide some deliverables. Councilmember Holden asked if the information provided on the website can be provided in Spanish. ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — JANUARY 31, 2026 21 Mayor Pro Tem Monson said she has had this discussion with Staff and we would need a translator and services we would have to pay for. City Administrator Jagoe confirmed. She said there are some logistics with that. She will work with our Senior Communication Coordinator on that. She doesn't have an answer tonight. That is something that is in our action plan for next week. Councilmember Holden said the State of Minnesota has this. Maybe we can connect with them about their contract and get their pricing. City Administrator Jagoe said she will discuss it with the Senior Communication Coordinator. 4. ADJOURN Mayor Pro Tern Monson adjourned the Special City Council Work Session at 7:15 pm. TAnaonson Mayor Pro Tern