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Regular City Council Meeting <br /> Monday, September 23, 2019 <br /> Page 16 <br /> saying, how would it be any different on the back end? If the city was doing its <br /> diligence and finding people coming forward, the language that is in the EDA <br /> agreement, he thinks it hamstrings the city with the ability to do what it needs to <br /> do. When he first talked to the City Attorney, she had not been spoken to by city <br /> staff telling her she should have a conversation with the Carpenters Union so at <br /> that point, there was no ability to alter what eventually transpired in the recom- <br /> mendation that came before the EDA. He thought instead of focusing on what the <br /> city should have known or could have known or that the Carpenters Union should <br /> have informed the city prior, we should be focusing on what those workers went <br /> through and how can the city make sure that never happens again. <br /> Ms. Kim Nelson, CarpentersUnion, 700 Olive Street, St. Paul <br /> Ms. Nelson explained her duty last Monday was to make sure the workers were <br /> safe and protected, felt that those workers could come to the Council and speak, <br /> and that the lives of not only themselves but of their families were not in jeopardy <br /> at the time. She was not aware of the story either until directly right before the <br /> hearing in which case her sole duties at that point were to protect the workers. <br /> First and foremost is that she needs to protect the evidence of any potential future <br /> criminal case. As a political director, she is used to not releasing anything with- <br /> out legal say that it will be okay because she does not want to jeopardize a crimi- <br /> nal case. She noted the EDA decided to believe the developer over two folks who <br /> sat before them testifying to the EDA what their experiences were like with the <br /> subcontractors and alleged labor brokers and the developer that was worked with <br /> in the past. She wondered what more the Council needed and asked how much <br /> evidence is enough. <br /> Ms. Gloria Anderson, 2982 Farrington Street <br /> Ms. Anderson indicated she has lived in Roseville for many years, is a member of <br /> Lutheran Church of the Resurrection, and became a sanctuary designation which <br /> means the church welcomes immigrants into its community and opposes exploita- <br /> tion because of their immigration status. She was disappointed that the City of <br /> Roseville took action to subsidize a private developer that has a history of exploit- <br /> ing immigrant workers. She heard many of the discussions and knew many of the <br /> Council believed that was true too, which she was thankful for. She believed that <br /> the community should stand up for immigrants like Eric who gave his testimony <br /> at Roseville's EDA meeting last Monday. When immigrants come forward to tell <br /> their stories of exploitation, we need to believe and support them. She supports <br /> State Representative Jamie Becker-Finn's request that the Council make a motion <br /> to reconsider the taxpayer subsidy to developer Reuter Walton. She stated our <br /> community needs to stand up for immigrants and stand up to developers who have <br /> profited from immigrant exploitation. Her congregation is working with other <br /> ELCA congregations in the Roseville area to live as a sanctuary denomination. <br /> Councilmember Etten thanked everyone for coming in and speaking on this issue. <br /> He indicated he did not want to talk about some of these things, but for someone <br />