So, as long as we have fewer than 10, we're okay as far 4 6 * 3 is 18. Okay. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. So, we're making sure that we can get
Council Member Christian live before we start. So, we'll get started in a moment here. Thank you for your patience. Get this figured out briefly. Here we go.
That looks promising. This is progress. Super close. Okay, so we're set. All right. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I'm calling to order this meeting of the Richfield City Council. It's February 24th at 7 PM. If you're
able, please rise and join us for the Pledge of Allegiance. United States and justice for all. >> Thank you. Our first order of business is approval of the agenda. >> I move approval of the agenda.
>> Second. It's been moved and seconded to approve the agenda. Is there any discussion? >> All right. City clerk Friedrich, could you please call the role? >> Yes. Thank you, Mayor Seel. Council member Burke. >> Hi. >> Council member Hayford Olirri. >> Hi. >> Council member Christensen.
>> Hi. >> And council member uh Coleman Woods. >> I. >> And Mayor Suppo. >> I. >> Thank you. >> Okay. We have approved the agenda. Next, we have consideration of the approval of the minutes of city council work session for February 10th, 2026 and the regular
city council meeting from February 10th, 2026. >> I'll move to approve. >> Second. >> It's been moved by council member Burke to approve and seconded by council member Hayford. Is there any discussion?
All right, city clerk Friedri, would you please call the role? Thank you. Yes. Council member Burke. >> Hi. >> Council member Hayford Olirri. >> Hi. >> Council member Christensen. >> Hi. >> Council member Coleman Woods. >> I. >> And Mayor Supple. >> I. >> Thank you.
>> The minutes have been approved. Thank you. Next, we will move on to open forum. There are a number of people wishing to speak tonight. So, we'll strictly follow the threeminut time limit. I'll hold up a yellow card when you have 30 seconds
left and a red card when your time is expired. And I'd like you to please remind you to please listen respectfully and quietly to all even those you disagree with. When you approach the podium, state your name and your city of residence and then I'll start the timer.
Please keep in mind that anything you share becomes part of the public record. All right. Thank you. So, our first person is Bergot Johnson and on deck is Jake Jacob Poppy.
Bear Johnson Richfield. There's one story my father told me when I was young that I keep thinking of. My father was born in 1919 in Germany. Is now called Sketskin and is today part
of Poland. The land taken from us for collective punishment. When my father was a teenager during the Third Reich under Hitler's reign, he lived in an apartment building with his family. The family above them was a couple with a
son who had Down syndrome. One day, uniformed men appeared and tore the child out of the apartment above with the parents clinging to the child and the unformed men. The scene continued into the hallway,
down the stairs, and to the outside. At that time, a person with Down syndrome was considered not worth living by the standards of the third Reich. When asked what my father did, he said
he could not believe it. This is where we are today for many. I am not against immigration enforcement. I am against how it is accomplished these days. I went through immigration
at another time. I did not encounter immigration agents in military attire, heavily armed and masked. We are told that after people's outrage, the appro approach has changed, but the contempt from above toward the people
continues. Responsibility seems to be the victim's part. The party currently in power is not accountable. Those in power and the people acting for them must also be able to face
consequences. A civilized society obeys norms and rules that seem to have abandoned in the US. England is giving us the example with the former Prince Andrew. When
there is the belief that we are not part of the rest of the world but apart, we are lying to ourselves. In fact, the United States was built on ideals, not homogenity. Isolation is not a way to prosperity or
salvation. There have been experiments in closing societies. Think of the former East Germany which shunned innovation and in case of the former East Germany became a gray
and depressed reality. Inensit incentives were taken away. As we have seen, you don't grow an economy by shrinking it with the deportation of immigrants. A society is not made better by cruelty.
Change will come. Fear will not stop it. Thank you. Next we have Jacob Jacob Poppy and on deck is Erica Klein. >> Good evening. My name is Jacob Poppy from Richfield, Minnesota. I wanted to voice my concerns this evening on the
use of automated license plate readers in our community. ALPRs are a serious risk to our privacy and civil liberties. These systems continuously record our movements without a warrant, probable cause, or even reasonable suspicion. These systems are marketed as
indispensable tools to fight crime, but they ignore the powerful tools police already have to track criminals, such as cell phone location data, creating a loophole that doesn't require a warrant. I again ask that the city council seriously consider removing the flock cameras that they have already been
installed in Richfield to end the contract with Flock and bar future ALPRs from our community. Thank you for your time and consideration. >> Thank you. >> Okay, next we have Erica Klene and on deck is Nick um Trotner.
Thank you for what you've already done to help residents impacted by federal immigration enforcement. I have another idea. Today I was talking to a Richfield resident who's helping a family that has been impacted by enforcement. That
family can't go back to their home. They're afraid to go to their home and consequently they weren't able to move their car and their car was towed and it cost them $1,000 ultimately to get their car back. Would it be possible to have a
towing moratorum so that this wouldn't happen to families who are because of immigration enforcement afraid to go to where their car is and unable to move their car? I know that enforcement is sporadic as it
is. I think we have some tolerance for cars being on the street. My next door neighbor's car has been on the street through every snow emergency this year. And I'm not turning him in because I know I know he's struggling. He's not he's it has nothing to do with
immigration enforcement, but it would be a struggle for him to deal with that car right now. So, I know we have some tolerance for that. And I think this is another opportunity when we think what can government do? I think we can ease up on towing during a time when families
are unable because of fear of immigration enforcement actions to uh move their cars. Thank you. Thank you. Next we have Nick um Troutner and then on deck is Scott Dalquist.
Nick Troutner, city of Richfield. A system of laws only function if the people governed by it have faith in it. You cannot hold a society together through brute force. It does not matter how much tear gas, flashbangs, LRADs, SWAT vehicles, riot shields, drones, and
tasers you have. If the government uses force to keep a populace in check, anytime there is a shift in power, there are gaps in control. Leaders and potential leaders who are fighting each other to wield the weapons of the state and of destroying each other and the state in the process. The law only
functions if the people governed by it have faith in it. The people believe the laws being made were voted for by them or their representatives on their behalf for their benefit. This is where the authority to enforce the law comes from. The will of the people, not the
implements of enforcement. The law that govern society only functions if the govern also have faith those laws apply to everyone, civilian and law enforcement alike. Without that, there is no accountability. To the police of Richfield, you have a
conscience. You have free will. That badge and that uniform are not some talisman that robs you of your reasoning. People keep saying that Operation Metro Surge put police into an impossible position. This is not the case. There was a decision and it was made. The state and local police as well
as the National Guard decided that the suffering of their communities at the hands of ICE was not worthy of their intervention nor their protection. businesses closing, property damaged, kidnappings, murders, intimidation, and the racist behavior of ICE was not
reason enough for the people who protect and serve to actually do it. Our community is angry with you. We now have to take steps to protect our families from the federal government. And I know that if ICE breaks into my house with an administrative warrant because they've
labeled me a domestic terrorist for following them with a whistle and a phone, the police will not protect my family. I wonder if they care. Are the police a part of this community or are they simply here to make sure that some people are required to follow the law
while others people with badges don't? Why are they here? What is their purpose? Because I'm running out of answers to that question. If I have to patrol my own neighborhood and arm myself to keep the people that I care about safe. If the people call for the defunding of the police, don't they shouldn't be offended. It's a direct
response to what we all saw. We have been fighting ICE alone with nothing but phones and whistles. They couldn't even be bothered to slow ICE down with simple citations for their many transgressions and even ones provided by the city for that purpose. The considerable arsenal of the police apparently only exists to
suppress the people if we become lawless and is not used to protect the people when ICE is lawless. The reality is during Operation Metro Surge, the people were placed in an impossible position, not the police. They abandoned our
community to ISIS savagery after swearing an oath to protect it. Shame on you, Richfield Police Department. If you choose not to be our protectors, then you are only our jailers. Thank you. Next we have Scott Dulquist.
And on deck is Jenny Morren. My name is Scott Dulquist. I am an Army veteran, a retired police officer, and a 34year resident of Richfield. The storm of ICE activity may have abated, but the damage done, material and emotional, things seen and unseen,
remains. During my life, I have watched as local governments debated how to respond to those whose status among us was described as illegal or undocumented. Motivated by an ancient religious maximum to love your neighbor as yourself, and that the federal government lacked the resources and the
will to locate, detain, and ultimately deport all in status. policies were enacted do not require proof of legal status unless specifically required by an activity such as voting in an election or issuing a US passport. I must however reluctantly conceded the
words of someone quoted in a recent Minnesota Star Tribune article that said this practice provided a false promise. Local governments may choose not to inquire or assist the federal government in this matter, but it is the federal government that has the power to make and administer the law in this sphere
and to deport those in violation of it, no matter how benign or even positive their presidents may have been among us. Our current president promised in his campaign to deport all in this country here in violation of these laws, no matter the cost, financial or otherwise.
He has described this group as composed largely and at times exclusively of violent and dangerous criminals, an assertion not supported by statistics or our own lived experience. He sent a large contingent of militarized federal agents to our cities to enforce his will and who have
conducted their operations in a harsh and remorseless manner, bearing little resemblance to many law enforcement operations I have been part of. Many of various statuses have been swept up in these operations, detained in a federal facility not far from here
that was not designed for the volume or length of current attentions, resulting in unsanitary and unsafe conditions for all involved. Two citizen observers have died in encounters with these agents, and the videos I have seen of them, I can see no clear justification for the deadly force
used against them. There are legal pathways to enter the United States, but the laws and system to administer these are cumbersome, understaffed, and underfunded, serving neither our economic interests or our more nobler humanitarian impulses.
The best long-term solution is to advocate at a federal level for allowing more persons in legally and provide a broader pathway to citizenship for those who wish to be part of this ongoing experiment, American experiment in self-governance. Our country was founded nearly two and a
half centuries ago with self-evident assertion bold for its time that all men a term which has become more inclusive in the fullness of time are created equal that they are endowed by their creator with certain unaliberable rights that among these are life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I hope all of
us can keep this in mind as we strive individually and collectively to build a more perfect union so that the words of President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg address, the government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth.
>> Thank you. >> All right. And now we have Jenny MREN. Good evening, Jenny Mo, Richfield President, and I am here to ask the council to um stop funding
um what's termed as the economic impact of the ICE operations. Uh mostly, and I think about things like businesses that closed in the ice out days and things like that. It's an act
of civil disobedience and with that there are consequences. You choose to close, you know, you're going to forego that. And if you want the city to step up and and pay for the money that you lost as a
result of that, that's not civil disobedience. That's entitlement. It's the perfect opportunity for people that feel like I want to give to those businesses that have done that charitable giving all day. Do it. That's
perfectly fine. But for the government, we can't afford that. Richfield residents can't afford that. Our taxes are already crazy high. And to be putting money um into
actions that really are are a result of people's actions have consequences. Even people who maybe they didn't go to work because they were here illegally. They're worried about getting caught up. Well, you made a decision to come here illegally.
There are consequences to those actions. Maybe you're called to be held accountable to them. Maybe you're not. I don't say this because I don't love people, but I say it because actions have consequences. And by way of example, going to change the name to
protect the guilty. Um, last spring, young Jay was coming home from school and he got pulled over for speeding. And we talked about it and I was like, "What's going on?" And he said, "Well, the car in front of him was driving
erratically. It made him nervous. He didn't like being on the road with it. He just wanted to get around and get away from that guy as quickly as possible." So, he did. caught. Now, he wasn't speeding because
he just felt like going out and speeding. He felt like he was not in a good position to do that. He also knew that there were laws against that. He knew what the con that if he got pulled over, those were consequences.
And $200 later to a young kid with minimal income, there were consequences to that. those people may have come here for the right reasons and that's fine, but
that's a choice you make and a chance you take. If you're here illegally and you're called to account for that, then so you are. Thank you.
Is there anyone else who wishes to speak? Hi, Ava Mcnite, Richfield resident. I'm gonna stay on topic. Um, lighting. I am going to talk about lighting. Lighting has been increasing
a lot around Richfield. Um, I no longer walk down at Vets Park because the lights are so bright around the ice arena, around the community gardens, and now at the end of my block um at 11th
and uh 66th, there's a huge light on a small building that is some kind of public works building um probably water and it's attached facing outward. So, I go to a stop sign and I'm entirely
blinded to be able to see right or left and it's not it's um so go back I'm going to back up to the general in general lighting one um is
not good for public health. So for um it disrupts sleep and these lights are facing apartments right across the street and that light is trespassing across a street. Um it's also not good
for me um because I have uh I had eye cancer and so it's really hard to see and and having lights come at me that are blinding. Um, and that includes the new lighting that's on streets. Okay.
And then, um, it's also a park. And so the environment, light, lights affect migrating birds, affects bugs, it affects all kinds of things that are in the environment. And um, so why are we
lighting up our parks? Thank you. >> Thank you. Can I have your sheet as well, >> sir? Anyone else who wishes to speak? Thank you to all of our speakers and I invite you to stick around for the rest of the meeting including the city
manager's report and the council discussion at the end. Thank you. So, we'll move on from open forum. Next, we have the proclamations and presentation. And I'm going to invite um Human Rights Commissioner
Michael Zazera to join me up in at the podium for a proclamation of the city of Richfield celebrating Black History Month. This is a proclamation of the city of Richfield. Whereas each February during Black History Month, the United States
honors the contributions and sacrifices of African-Americans who have helped shape the nation. And whereas the city of Richfield, Minnesota, takes pride in recognizing February 2026 as Black History Month, honoring the many notable contributions
that people of African descent have made to the United States, including our community, including our community, and celebrate the rich cultural heritage, triumphs, and adversity adverse, excuse me, and adversities that are an indelible part
of our country's history. And whereas the city of Richfield celebrates the diversity of black people in Richfield, the state of Minnesota, our nation, and the black diaspora, whether they identify as African, African-American,
Afro Latino, AfroCaribbean, or black. And whereas Americans of African descent are responsible for more than 50,000 inventions with the US patent office that are used every day that improve the daily lives of Americans such as home
security systems, traffic lights, refrigerator trucks, and color monitors. And whereas black or African-American residents contribute to our Richfield community in a variety of roles such as teachers, public safety officers, business owners, and neighbors. And
whereas the city of Richfield, its city council and staff identify diversity and equity as core values, recognizing that our diverse culture is one of our greatest strengths and assets, striving to promote an environment of equity and inclusion. And whereas Rory Coleman
Woods is the first black council member for the city of Richfield. And whereas the Richfield Human Rights Commission supported this proclam proclamation at its February 5th, 2026 meeting and recommended the Richfield City Council do the same. Now therefore, I, Mary
Supple, mayor of Richfield, on behalf of the Richfield City Council, do hereby proclaim the month of February 2026 as Black History Month in the city of Richfield and call on the people of Richfield to continue to honor the contributions of Black Americans
throughout the entire year with appropriate programs, activities, and celebrations. Proclaim this 24th day of February, 2026. >> Thank you. Did you wish to say anything? All right. Thank you, mayor and city
council members. Excuse me. I'm accepting this proclamation on behalf of the human rights commission for the city of Richfield. And I would hesitate to speak on behalf of others and their lived experiences. Um, but I would just share
that I reflected on a poem made recently reflected on a poem made famous in part by the late Reverend Jesse Jackson, I am somebody, which simply and strongly reminds us that everyone in our community is somebody. Thank you.
>> You can take that. And thank you to the Human Rights Commission. Oops. Thank you. Next, we'll move on to the consent calendar, and I'll turn it over to city manager Rodriguez. >> Thank you, Mayor Zeppel. The consent calendar contains several separate items which are acted upon by the city council
in one motion. Once the consent calendar has been approved, the individual items and recommended actions have also been approved. No further council action on these items is necessary. On tonight's consent calendar, item A, approve dispersements and claims. Item B,
consider the approval of engineering consultant pool agreements between the city and the selected engineering firms for routine professional engineering services for calendar years 2026 through 2030. Item C, consider an emergency
ordinance to temporarily extend pre-eviction notice requirements. And I do want to point out that the first version of the ordinance was not explicit that it takes effect upon passage and that this final version of the ordinance is.
And I submit these items for your consideration as part of the consent calendar. >> I move to approve the consent calendar. >> Second that. >> It's been moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Um, Council Member Burke,
>> just one quick comment in the historical context for the pre-notification eviction requirement that states that the study over revised permanent policy scheduled for late 2026 early 2027. I would ask that since the
since the staff has already been working on this, they've been gathering information from landlords and some tenants on this hopefully that can a little bit beyond that very thank you. Any other comments? And thank you to the staff for the quick
turnaround time and the clarification of when the um ordinance takes effect. So if there's no further comments, um city clerk Friedick, would you please call the role? >> Yes. Thank you, Mayor Supple. Uh Council Member Burke, >> I.
>> Council member Hayford Olirri. Hi. >> Council member Christensen. Hi. >> Council member Coleman Woods. Hi. >> And Mayor Supple. I >> Thank you. All right, we've passed the consent agenda. Um, that will move us on to the
city manager report. Um, city manager Rodriguez. Yes, thank you. Uh, there were seven speakers at our last council meeting. Um, and three speakers provided new suggestions. Uh, two speakers suggested that the police do more to
document interactions with DSA DHS agents. Um, the chief did make changes to dispatch. uh and officer processes so that all 911 calls that are reporting in interaction with federal agents are automatically recorded in our dispatch
software. Uh that information can be pulled from for reports. Um one speaker advocated for the city to provide additional rental assistance to BEP. Uh staff have been in contact with BEP and as of our last conversation, some of our
original 50,000 contract remains available for rent assistance. Um they have received large donations from the Richfield Leadership Network uh and also private donations in recent weeks and that's allowed our dollars to to stretch
longer. So staff will be continue to be in contact with BEP um and and plan to bring a recommendation uh for the city to the city's housing and redevelopment authority to provide future assistance for
um also the transportation commission provided a recommendation to the city council to stop the empoundment of abandonment vehicles unless it was a threat to public safety and discontinue fines. Um We have concerns that completely
relaxing the city's enforcement of abandoned vehicles is likely to have unintended consequences. One of the most common code complaints is about illegally uh parked vehicles and trailers and so we don't want to relax that completely. However, I've got
several suggestions for your consideration. Um cars may be left in a legal parking space. So pushing them to any legal space um would be fine and uh they can stay there for 48 hours. Also,
public safety only enforces current ordinances based on complaints. Um public safety staff have confirmed that the with the city's towing contractor that if a vehicle owners can submit proof that the car was abandoned due to immigration enforcement
um due to an arrest, they will only be charged for the towing fee and storage and it really is the storage fees that result in the significant fines. Uh finally, uh I'm bringing back a a proposal for your for you to consider.
Um staff can contract with the Ridgefield Leadership Network. Uh I was thinking, you know, an initial amount of $5,000 and then perhaps allowing me to increase it to $10,000 without coming back to council if needed. and it would
reimburse any Richfield residents for towing and impound fees related to an immigration enforcement arrest. Uh the proposal is to fund it with uh a budget amendment. So it would be additional budget um expense uh because we've
already the 2026 uh social service funding has already been solicited and scored and actually that would come before you in March. Um I did discuss the idea preliminarily with uh Richfield Leadership Network
founder BJ Skoo and he believes this is something that they can help with um it would be pending their board approval. So uh if the council supports pursuing this idea then I can work with uh city attorney Den and we can work on a
contract um and hammer out the details and then bring it back to you at a future meeting. And that's all I have. >> Thank you. Are there any comments or questions for the city manager? Um, council member Hayford Deliri. >> Yeah, I will just say I think I think
that's a good idea um working with RLN and yeah, I appreciate the update. I think I would like to see that brought forward. >> I agree. Uh I would um champion the the usage of you the funds from the city in
an emergency and you know not to exceed certain amount but yeah for for people to go through RLN first um to see if they've still got funds available to help the with that and also the limitation of the fines of storage
storage fees. Um it seems so egregious. add add insult to injury for people to pay more um if their loved one or their their um if the owners of the vehicles are have been detained. I think that's making it
worse. So, thank you. Appreciate your help on this. >> Council member Burke, >> I would also be in favor of both of those. >> Council member Christensen, did you have anything to add? Yes, I would totally agree with what's
been said about the uh the help from RLN and especially the uh towing fees, you know, and the and the storage fees, those types of things because uh adding insult to injury like it was has been said, you know, when people's
lives are disrupted as such as they are uh so egregiously that uh some of the things that they don't think about, little things like their car, other types of things um should be handled in a in a better way.
>> Thank you. Um one of the reasons this came up is like Minneapolis and St. Paul, it's my understanding, own their own impound lots so they can decide whether to forgive it or not. We had to talk with um the towing service and I appreciate
that staff did that because I think that is important to have that discussion and figure it out. And I think $5,000 is a reasonable amount. So if we can come back and we can hear feedback from the community and bring it up at the next meeting, that would be great.
I assume that's what you're saying when you're going to bring it back to us. Maybe have time for everybody to weigh in on that. >> All right. Any other questions for city manager Rodriguez? >> All right. Thank you. Moving on, we'll go to council
discussion for hats off to hometown hits. Um, council member Christensen. >> Yes. One of the things I'd like to mention is that um I'm sure everybody has received this this uh hometown uh if
you can see it the hometown uh the hometown guide. It's quite a very very well uh put together this spring. a lot of activities and a lot of things socially that people can be involved in
uh starting as early as next month. >> Thank you, Council Member Coleman Woods. >> Uh thank you, Mayor. I want to especially thank the city of Richfield for the outpouring of support uh in the death of my father-in-law. Um, James,
Pastor James Willie Woods, um, came as a shock for us even though we it can never be so we can never be prepared for those. Um, he was, uh, barely an eighth grade graduate um, and came from
Mississippi to Minnesota in light and hopes of raising his children here. Um, my husband has eight brothers and sisters. Um, and there's so much to be said for a man that was able to um
was called off of the plantation in order and forced to go to school in a schoolhouse in Mississippi to have to have moved here and created a life for himself. um especially during Black History Month, I reflect on his uh
sacrifices that he's made and how um how he's instilled his faith in all of us and all of our children, all of our all of his own children. Um and his legacy will continue to carry on and I I really can't thank the city enough for their outpouring. Uh and all of our family and
friends here. Um we appreciate all the love and support. >> Thank you. Um, council member Hero Liry. >> Uh, nothing tonight. >> Council member Burke. >> Nothing tonight. >> All right. Thank you. Um, I wanted to,
um, thank Margaret Perez for coming with us to join us on Laasa Radio and also to thank Armando who is the host for making us welcome and also Miss Perez joined me at um, the League of Women Voters. So, I just want to say thank you for all of
the outreach that she did and for everything with that. Um, we also have been working with some area business owners and talking about ways that we can work together as a community and we've been participating in the cities
for I'm going to say this wrong, the cities for safe and stable communities. So, we had were able to have a meeting with um Senator Smith last week. Tomorrow we're going to be meeting with Governor Walls and we've been testifying at various committees and things about
the impact and how it affects Richfield. So, thank you to everybody that's been involved in that. And with that, is there any other things that anyone would like to to add? Well, then there's a the motion to adjurnn would be in order.
>> Move adjournment. Second. >> It's been moved and seconded to adjourn the meeting. Um, city clerk Friedrich, could you please call the role? >> Yes. Thank you, Mayor Supple. Council member Burke, >> I. >> Council member Hayford Olri. >> Hi. >> Council member Christensen.
>> Hi. >> Council member Coleman Woods. >> Hi. >> And Mayor Supple. >> Hi. Thank you.