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Regular City Council Meeting <br />Monday, September 15, 2008 <br />Page 2 <br />garding the incident, and advising Mr. Abeler of the process available to him, and <br />still available. <br />Mr. Abeler acknowledged that City Manager Malinen had also e-mailed him the <br />form via an electronic PDF file. <br />City Manager Malinen concurred with Mr. Abeler's statement. <br />Mr. Abeler opined that he found it awkward to file a report with the department <br />who was subject to his complaint; and expressed his preference that the City <br />Manager would have provided a copy of his report to the Police Department; spe- <br />cifically providing an explanation why the three or four officers didn't take lead- <br />ership and exhibit more professional behavior to Mr. Abeler as a Roseville citi- <br />zen. <br />Mayor Klausing advised that it was his understanding that when Mr. Abeler had <br />expressed concern about police conduct, a complaint form had been made avail- <br />able to him. Mayor Klausing advised Mr. Abeler that he could make arrange- <br />ments to meet with him individually; however, Mayor Klausing questioned <br />whether Mr. Abeler's request to meet with City Manager Malinen, Police Chief <br />Sletner, and a representative of the Human Rights Commission was appropriate. <br />Mayor Klausing noted that the Police Chief ultimately reported to the City Coun- <br />cil through the City Manager; and that the City Council was not permitted statuto- <br />rily to discipline employees. Mayor Klausing advised that, while further discus- <br />sion could be pursued regarding Police officer conduct, this was not the forum for <br />pursuing a particular grievance outside of the process previously made available <br />to Mr. Abeler. <br />Mr. Abeler opined that, in City government, there should be a de facto system for <br />accountability; and opined that this was not an isolated incident, with other com- <br />plaints having been filed against the Police Department, with at least one other <br />complaint sustained. Mr. Abeler further opined that, if the City Manager was di- <br />rectly involved in handling personnel issues, and if unable to find relief from <br />those who'd "violated his constitutional rights, there seemed to be no option be- <br />yond the court system." Mr. Abeler further opined that the City Council should <br />research the complaint, and take responsibility for its employees. <br />Mr. Abeler, directing his comments specifically to Councilmember Willmus, ad- <br />vised that he would be willing to tell Councilmember Willmus the other side that <br />he didn't hear; and opined that he hoped this item would be of high enough prior- <br />ity to warrant an evaluation. <br />Mayor Klausing requested that Mr. Abeler not prejudge the complaint process in <br />place, or determine that it didn't work, prior to giving it a try. <br />