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Home My WebLink About6. Other - Additional InformationFormat Dynamics :: C1eanPrint :: http: / /www.startribune .com/local /south/126294088.html MCk /1 St at'Tr I b u n le Kfi City officia are In May,•a state appeals court ruled in a similar case that Minneapolis City Council warned to hold their Member,Lisa Goodman was biased in her tongues Article by: , Star Tribune 4 Updated: July 27, 2011 - 10:54 PM opposition to a developer s proposal for a condo tower in the Loring Park neighborhood. She was found to`have mobilized community opposition to the project and lobbied other council members. Rece laws against vocal City Council members in Minneapolis and St. Paul are reminding elected officials around the,state- to be careful about speaking their minds on s ome decisions they'll eventually vote on -- things as small as minor planning. approvals or as big major development projects. It's muddying the waters in, civic debates, where council members are`often used to being able to talk freely - =even feeling that taking a public position is part of their job description. The Wild 'Onion, a bar /restaurant on Grand Avenue in St. Paul, recently accused the city i of unfairly denying it a license to serve alcohol on its patio. In the lawsuit, the Wild Onion says that Council Member Dave Thune improperly had discussions about the request outside of council meetings when he was to be acting in a quasi - judicial role. The appeals court agreed with a district court, which said Goodman "adopted an developer's] proposed project well before she .discharged her quasi - judicial duties. "` While the developer wasn't awarded damages, -the council was ordered to rehear the case. "Quasi-judicial" is the key phrase: Both case's involved decisions in which the council was expected to impartially rule.on a request by applying rules and ordinances already in place'. That's`different from being able to express opinions about the budget or road maintenance. Several city attorneys agreed that the ,Goodman decision puts council members in a difficult position. .Y "Elected officials are almost always going to be asked opinions l on things;" "said Tom ` ,,., Qvn'sM'.a�A OA�°S�O'.trr� sn�iapt a uccw�unln�siar�{enm�n4:M Page 1 of 2 Print Powered By �k r r Crrt E x http: / /www.startribilnd.com /templates /fdcp , unique .1311867819241 �, 07/28/2011 a . Print Powered By �k r r Crrt E x http: / /www.startribilnd.com /templates /fdcp , unique .1311867819241 �, 07/28/2011 Format Dynamics:: C1eanPrint.:: http: / /w".startribune. com/local /s6uth/126294088.html k, StarTr Grundhoefer, general counsel for the League of Minnesota Cities. "The hardest part is when you're a public official, people always want to talk about it," Edina City Council Member Josh Sprague said. Sprague said that council members regularly face an ethical'dilemma about opining on issues they will later have to vote on. "It gets kind of difficult for people who are supposed to represent constituents. I, don't. know how realistic that is," for them to keep quiet, Grundhoefer said. Jim Thomson, the city attorney for Brooklyn Park and Shakopee, agreed. "They're not judges. They're elected officials. Judges know not to talk about their decision outside the courtroom," Thomson , said. Making the issue more confusing, determining when a council member is in a quasi - judicial role can be hard for even lawyers to do, he said. In West St. Paul, the confusion was enough to nearly derail discussions about whether the Advertisement El city should build a sports campus. The mayor and city attorney proposed barring council members from speaking for or against the plan outside a public meeting, a move they say was meant to protect the city but which one vocal council member likened to a gag order. The idea was eventually dropped. City officials have always been warned not to be biased before hearing the facts when they -- ar-e -in- those - quasi - judicial- roles Grundhoefer said. The Minneapolis decision should be °applied on a case -by -case basis, he said. "Would a simple comment like, Thave concerns about this project,' would`that be enough to taint the decision- making? I'm not so sure it would," he said. Roger Knutson, the attorney for Edina, Lakeville and several other cities, said that in light of the court cases, council members may be more careful. f "It's a learning moment. It got high visibility . .. This is a good point to remind them about that issue." Nicole Norfleet - 612. -673 -4495 -' BLPNDIE S M 4 ON SALE NOW MWic LAKE* 6awaa to�eareab►aoesr� ewae..q�anraasa cem�a,rxr R' yst clake.com Print Powered By �� w �� r T �� C�yr��r i s http://www.startribune.com/templates/fdcp?unique=1311867819241 Page 2 of 2 p 07/28/2011 t K n Minnesota Pollution,Cdntrol'Agency 520 Lafayette Road North I St. Paul, MN 55155 -4194 - 651- 246 -6300. 800 -6 -3843 1 651- 282 -5332 TTY www.pca.state.mn,us ' r December 4, 2009 Mr: Charles Muscoplat Vice President Statewide Strategic Resource Development 200 Oak Street Southeast 450 McNamara Alumni Center 'Minneapolis, MN 55455 RE:. Gopher Ordnance Works Dear Mr. Muscoplat: The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), as the lead regulatory State agency for the investigation and remediation of Superfund sites in Minnesota, has conducted or provided oversight of investigations at the Gopher Ordnance Works (GOW) site in Rosemount; Dakota County.'The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) is the designated lead federal agency for the investigation at Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS), such as the GOW site and has the' . responsibility to appropriate °investigations or, remediation activities are completed at FUDS..To date, the Corps has conducted only limited assessments at GOW, which have documented releases of hazardous substances from the operation of GOW by the Department of- Defense (DoD). As has been stated by the MPCA in previous correspondence to the Corps (see enclosed letters dated August 11, 2008 and January 30, 2009), it *remains the MPCA's position that a full and complete Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI /FS) is necessary for the entire GOW site. This includes any and all areas potentially impacted by releases from GOW, other DoD operations and/or other potential sources of environmental contamination. This complete`RI/FS should'also include an evaluation of the potential threats to the public from physical hazards and asbestos containing debris at the GOW site. The MPCA supports the University of Minnesota y iri its efforts to work with the Corps to expedite required investigations and`to determine - appropriate remediation measures at GOW. If you have any additional questions, -please contact .Gary Krueger, of my staff at 651 -757 -2509. Sincerely, Paul Eger . . Commissioner PE:csa s Enclosures St. Paul Brainerd Detroit Lakes Duluth j Mankato I Marshall I Rochester ( Willmar I Printed on 100% post- consumer recycled paper