[0:00] New York.
>> Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. It
[0:05] is now 5:30 and I will call this regular
meeting of the Burnsville City Council
[0:10] to order. It is our tradition to stand
for a moment of silence followed by the
[0:14] pledge of allegiance and we invite you
to join us.
[0:44] I pledge allegiance [clears throat]
to the flag of the United States of
[0:47] America and to the republic for which it
stands, one nation under God,
[0:53] indivisible, with liberty and justice
for all. [clears throat]
[1:00] and welcome to the members of the public
who are joining us in person this
[1:04] evening. Thank you so much for being
present. Members of the public can also
[1:09] uh watch us on burnsvillemn.gov/meings
[1:14] or comcast channel 16 or 859. The public
can also participate through Zoom by
[1:20] joining us at zoom. usjoin.
More information is available on our
[1:27] meetings web page and in the council
agenda packet.
[1:32] Uh the first item on the agenda is our
announcements.
[1:37] Our announcements have to do with all of
our upcoming meetings. Our regular
[1:42] council meetings are scheduled for
Tuesday, July 21st at 5:30 p.m. and on
[1:48] Monday, August 3rd at 5:30 p.m. Now,
it's moved to Monday because Tuesday,
[1:55] August 4th, is our night to unite event
throughout the whole city. So, we're
[2:00] going to be meeting on Monday rather
than Tuesday.
[2:04] And our work session is scheduled for
Tuesday, July 14th at 5:30. And we have
[2:10] a special work session which is our
quarterly roundtable scheduled for
[2:15] Tuesday, July 21st at 6:00 p. p.m. All
meetings of the city council are in the
[2:21] council chambers. Our roundt
um
[2:27] special work session. I think we haven't
scheduled the location for that just yet
[2:32] » because of all of the um changes going
on with uh with all of the meeting
[2:38] rooms, but it's going to be in one of
the meeting rooms.
[2:43] Okay.
And then the next item on the agenda is
[2:48] citizens comments. And this is the
opportunity for anyone in the audience
[2:53] to um address the council on an item
that is not on a printed agenda and not
[2:58] an application form that will be coming
before us at a future date. Um
[3:05] and I see that um
Mr. John, you are going to be speaking
[3:12] at citizens comments. You have the
floor.
[3:16] » Thank you.
>> Good evening.
[3:17] » Good evening. Thank you, Madam Mayor and
city council members.
[3:23] » Oh, sure.
[clears throat]
[3:26] My name is Chris John. I live here in
Burnsville. I'm also a challenger in in
[3:30] the current city council race. And I
want to make clear that this is not an
[3:34] attempt to campaign during the council
meeting, but rather a plea to
[3:40] current council members for a completely
fair and free election and to discuss
[3:45] possible illegal campaign practices of
incumbent challengers in the upcoming
[3:50] election.
Specifically, I and others are
[3:54] witnessing the same troubling practices
of council work council member workmen
[3:58] in this election cycle we have seen in
past elections.
[4:02] These have to do with him as a sitting
council member exerting election related
[4:07] pressure on Birdsville businesses of
whom he as you all have regulatory power
[4:12] over local licensing zoning and code
enforcement and the like.
[4:19] This not only puts him at an unfair
advantage over competitors like myself,
[4:22] Mr. Benson or Miss Gomez.
It amounts to implied authority over
[4:27] businesses and spoken or not coercion of
the business person. In other words,
[4:32] it's an abuse of powers that can lead to
things like quid proquo.
[4:37] The latest resulted in removal of a camp
a promised campaign sign location at Red
[4:42] Lion Liquors down by the performing arts
center. This is after I met with owner
[4:47] Harpo last week at which time he told me
he'd put my sign up. Fast forward to
[4:52] this morning when I heard from a mutual
friend of council member Workman and
[4:56] myself asking if it was okay to share my
phone number with council member
[5:00] Workman. To which I replied, "Yes, of
course." After I did, the friend
[5:04] forwarded snippets of council member
Workman's request, which read, and I
[5:08] quote, "Could you do me a favor and send
me Chris John's phone number?" Harpo at
[5:12] Redline Liquor asked me for it, and I
said, "I would ask you." Here's the
[5:16] problem. Not 10 minutes later, I
received a phone call from Harpo at Red
[5:21] Line Liquor telling me that he's changed
his mind. He doesn't want my yard sign
[5:24] on his property. He's just going to put
the incumbents Keely and Workman up this
[5:28] year. Nothing personal
alone. This incident would be a red
[5:34] would be a red flag, but nothing
something that I would address the
[5:37] council with. As Harpull, like any
property owner, has every right to
[5:41] support whomever he likes. It's the fact
that two years ago I was made aware that
[5:47] Miss Council member Workman made the
exact same request and that he told
[5:52] Harpo, "We don't like this Chris John
all that much and asked Harpo not to
[5:56] host my sign."
I'm not sure who we were in that
[6:00] scenario, but I was the only
non-incumbent in that race and council
[6:04] member Workman was not up for
reelection.
[6:07] The good news is that Harpo arranged to
meet with me and ultimately decide to
[6:10] allow me to put the sign up at that
time. But now with council member
[6:14] Workman's exerting pressure, he's
reversing his position. And he's not the
[6:19] only one. There have been similar
incidences with other businesses.
[6:24] Besides being a problem given council
members workman's legal requirement not
[6:29] to misuse his public position or
accepting pre special privileges, it
[6:34] puts myself again and this election's
other non-incumbent candidates at a very
[6:40] unfair advantage. City council races do
not get a lot of attention. It's very
[6:45] hard for a non-incumbent to win against
an incumbent. Name recognition is
[6:49] incredibly important, which means a lot
of door knocking and a lot of yard signs
[6:54] visible, especially at high travel areas
such as the heart of the city where line
[6:59] red line liquor is located. It may help
explain municipal incumbents being
[7:04] elected 10 to 20 plus years.
Regardless, when a recognized incumbent
[7:11] like Council Member Workman goes to a
business and tells them that they
[7:14] shouldn't put up somebody's sign that
carries the implied weight of
[7:17] consequences on businesses if they do
put up that sign. Since it happened more
[7:22] than once, I want to bring it up because
I think it needs to stop and it needs to
[7:26] stop now. If you can't win an election
on your values without cheating, then
[7:32] you do not deserve the seat on the
council.
[7:36] As for other times that has happened,
two years ago, Ysef was running
[7:39] against council member Workman's mother,
Liz Workman for county commissioner. A
[7:44] local business owner was recorded by
Ysef saying that he can't put you sign
[7:51] up because Vince Workman told him not
to.
[7:55] Four years ago, when I was running along
council with Crystal Fett, we lost
[8:00] several signs throughout the campaign,
which harmed our campaign and cost
[8:04] money.
A mitzvah, who was a black woman, had
[8:08] racist slurred written on one of them.
I'm not saying council member Workman
[8:12] did that, but that was the case. We have
photographs of one of his campaign team
[8:18] taking down these signs. We all deserve
a fair election, and I don't only mean
[8:23] for myself and the other non-incumbents.
More importantly, our businesses and
[8:27] residents deserve leaders,
election year or not, who play by the
[8:31] rules, in particular, don't abuse their
power. I plan to continue running a fair
[8:37] campaign that demonstrates that kind of
fair leadership and legal practices that
[8:41] always gives voters in our community the
power they are they deserve.
[8:48] Thank you for your attention and time.
>> Thank you.
[8:53] Okay, mayor. Yes,
Council Member Schultz.
[8:59] » Uh, so I would like to give uh residents
an idea of the sign wars that happen.
[9:07] Um, it is regular that we all lose
signs. Um, it's regular that people run
[9:15] them over, they steal them, they rip
them up, the wind blows them. Um,
[9:19] there's all kinds of things and
shenanigans that happen with science.
[9:24] That's
normal and we all pull our big boy
[9:28] panties on and move on. Now, I will tell
you, Chris John, that last election when
[9:36] you were running, I was door-knocking at
a house and they had one of your signs
[9:41] and I door knocked and they said why
they supported you, which is perfectly
[9:48] fine. um but it was actually a 180 of
how you actually um spoke on a
[9:56] particular issue. And so I said, "Well,
you can check that out because we all
[10:05] were in uh a chamber forum and there is
a recording of that. So you can see what
[10:11] that says." Now, I was contacted by that
resident later because he picked your
[10:17] yard sign up and threw it in the garbage
and then he asked me for one of mine.
[10:22] So, it does not mean that someone used
their pressure
[10:28] for why someone may do a sign or not do
a sign. It can be that they decide they
[10:36] don't like your policies or they don't
like what they've heard about you. or it
[10:41] could just be whatever. Sometimes they
decide we're only going to do two signs,
[10:46] we're going to do five signs. There's
all kinds of things. We all need to be
[10:50] respectful of what property owners
decide.
[10:54] And we also need to understand that just
because you don't get a sign at a place,
[11:02] that's not the end of the world. Knock
your doors and move on.
[11:10] If I may, Mayor.
>> Yes, Mr. John.
[11:14] » It's not the fact that I did not get the
sign it. Like I said, this it's his
[11:20] decision. It's his decision.
>> So, one of the things we're not going to
[11:23] be debating any of this. We understand.
And you want to
[11:28] » I just want to say then and then we're
going to move on.
[11:31] » It's the implied power of a sitting
council member sitting standing in front
[11:38] of a person. go for 10 years.
>> Tell them not to put up a sign.
[11:41] » To stand there and call me a cheater in
a public forum is the bigger problem.
[11:46] » I I can tell you that there's people I
will tell
[11:49] » members of the council sign
for your comments. I really appreciate
[11:54] that. Members of the council,
>> uh we are going to move on. Uh this is
[12:00] not a debate. Uh we have a resident who
spoke and it um
[12:10] um remarks were made and we're going to
move on. Thank you for sharing your
[12:14] thoughts uh this evening. Is there
anyone else who wants to address the
[12:19] council on an item that is not on the
printed agenda and not an application
[12:23] form that will be coming before us at a
future date?
[12:28] City clerk. Um
yes.
[12:32] Yeah. Uh, is it on the agenda or I have
you down? Um, Miss Grazini that it's on
[12:40] the agenda that you want to speak to an
item.
[12:43] » Okay.
>> So, I'm going to wait till we get to
[12:48] that item on the budget.
>> Well, sure. That's right.
[12:51] » Yeah. This is So, this is citizens
comments. It's not It's an item that is
[12:57] not on the agenda and not an application
form.
[13:00] » Okay. Thank you.
[13:04] All right. Uh, city clerk Collins, is
there anyone on um line who wants to
[13:11] address the council?
>> No one online has asked to speak, mayor.
[13:15] » Okay. Thank you. We will then move on.
The next item is additions to the final
[13:20] agenda. This is for emergency items
only.
[13:24] City Manager Lindberg, are there any
emergency items to come before the body?
[13:29] » Nothing from staff.
members of the council. Okay, we are
[13:33] moving on and now we are at the consent
agenda. The consent agenda is a group of
[13:38] items that's considered to be routine
and will be enacted by one motion.
[13:43] However, an item on a consent agenda can
be removed for a separate discussion and
[13:48] vote. Is there anyone in the audience
who wishes an item on the consent agenda
[13:53] to be removed for a separate discussion
and vote?
[14:01] City Clerk Collins. Anyone online who
wishes an item to be removed?
[14:06] » Uh, no one online has made a request.
Mayor,
[14:10] » City Manager Lindberg, does staff want
an item to be pulled?
[14:14] » Not from staffer.
>> Members of the council?
[14:17] » No.
>> Okay. Uh I am requesting to pull uh item
[14:23] 4H and this is to authorize the purchase
of a joint police and fire department
[14:27] mobile command p uh post uh vehicle. So
I'm pulling that item for a separate
[14:33] discussion and vote. May I have a motion
for the balance? Please
[14:37] » move to approve.
>> Second.
[14:38] » There's a motion and a second. All in
favor, please say I.
[14:43] » Oppose say nay. And the motion carries.
Thank you.
[14:47] uh members of the council and um our
community. I'm pulling this item
[14:54] because I want to highlight
the strength of relationships and
[14:59] working together for the good of the
community.
[15:03] This item is to authorize the purchase
of a joint police and fire department
[15:09] mobile command uh post vehicle. And this
item
[15:15] is the result of work that we do well
together with our congressional
[15:21] delegation.
I am pulling it because I wish to
[15:28] express my deep appreciation
uh to Cong um council to Congresswoman
[15:35] Angie Craig who carried this item
uh in the House of Representative
[15:43] because it's a federal congressional
direct spending
[15:49] item
and to Senator Clober Bushar who carried
[15:54] it in the Senate for us
and both
[16:00] these members of Congress
take my call asking for their support
[16:08] and all of my letters
asking them for their support.
[16:14] And the result of that is that we have
this
[16:19] which allows us to have this um
opportunity where the federal government
[16:26] is going to be paying for this vehicle
for us for police and fire and that our
[16:34] neighbors can also use.
the one that we have
[16:41] no longer is it's it's ex extended its
uh useful life and again this was back
[16:50] in after 911 and we received in 2004 so
it has passed its useful life so I want
[16:57] to just express my deep gratitude and
appreciation to Congresswoman Craig and
[17:03] to Senator um Globachar and uh with the
support of Senator Smith because after
[17:11] the vote was taken in the Senate and it
was after 9:00
[17:18] Senator Clolobachar called me to tell me
it is done and you have it. Those are
[17:26] the kinds of things that the power of
relationships
[17:30] and working together
allows us to get receive the kind of
[17:35] result for the city of Burnsville. So
with that, I move approval of this item
[17:40] and I thank you very much for your
support and your partnership.
[17:46] » Second.
>> There's a motion and a second.
[17:48] » Triple. Yeah, it is it is a good thing
because when we work together for the
[17:54] good of the people, we get great
results. So there is a motion and a
[18:00] second. All in favor, please say I. I.
>> I. Oppose say nay. And the motion
[18:04] carries. Thank you very much, everyone.
All right.
[18:09] And now we will move on to um our
regular agenda. And the first item on
[18:17] the regular agenda is a public hearing.
And this is to approve on sale wine and
[18:21] on sale 32 malt liquor license for
Tsunami Japanese LLC doing business as
[18:28] Tsunami Japanese Cuisine at 1601 County
Road 42 West. This is a public hearing.
[18:36] Presenting this evening is our city
clerk,
[18:40] Mrs. Collins. The floor is yours.
>> Thank you, ma mayor and city council.
[18:45] the uh new owners of Tsunami Japanese
Cuisine uh known as Tsunami Japanese LLC
[18:52] has submitted an application for wine
onale wine and on sale beer license at
[18:58] the existing location there on County
Road 42 West. The Burnsville Police
[19:02] Department has conducted background
investigations on the principles
[19:06] involved with nothing found to deny the
application. Uh the license issued
[19:11] contingency listed in the background has
been resolved. The associated license
[19:14] fee has already been paid. Uh, city code
requires a public hearing for all new
[19:19] liquor license applications. I stand for
any questions. This is a public hearing.
[19:24] » Members of the council, [clears throat]
questions for city clerk. Okay, there
[19:28] are no questions. This is a public
hearing. Is there anyone who wishes to
[19:32] speak to this item? Anyone who wishes to
speak to this item?
[19:38] Seeing no one, I will close the public
hearing. Members of the council, your
[19:41] pleasure. Move to approve.
>> Second.
[19:44] » There's a motion and a second. All in
favor, please say I. I.
[19:47] » I. Oppose say nay.
>> And the motion carries. Thank you. The
[19:51] next item on the regular agenda is
the uh amendment
[19:58] to the 2026 operating budget to fund
private security cost for the Burnsville
[20:04] Festival and Fire Master for one year.
Presenting this evening is our fire
[20:08] chief BJ Gentleman. Chief.
>> Good evening, Madame Mayor, members of
[20:13] the council. I've got a short
presentation uh just to cover how we got
[20:17] here. Um so the item is to amend the
operating budget to fund private
[20:22] security for Burnsville Festival. Uh
from C from a council direction
[20:25] standpoint. Uh April 14th, staff brought
uh request forward from the festival for
[20:31] the city to fund the private security
associated with the festival. Uh June
[20:35] 9th, the city council directed staff to
prepare a budget amendment to provide
[20:39] one-time funding for private security
for the 2026 festival and fire muster.
[20:45] And tonight before you is a one-time
general fund budget amendment in the
[20:49] amount of $17,849
[20:52] that would be funded from fund balance.
So
[20:56] » questions for
Chief Gentleman.
[21:02] Okay. Thank you, Chief. We do have uh
members of um our community who wish to
[21:08] speak to this item. Uh I have Mr. Nick
Benson. Mr. Benson, the floor is yours.
[21:17] » Uh hello, I'm Nick Benson. Is the
microphone on?
[21:20] » Yeah.
>> Okay. Um disclosure, I am also running
[21:23] for city council. Uh but I am not
campaigning. In fact, I admire the sign
[21:27] work that I have seen around town. Uh
you I could learn a lot from all of you
[21:31] clearly. Um in the discussion regarding
the uh the funding for this I had seen
[21:39] in the last meeting in early June that
there was concern about the conflict of
[21:44] interest with Mr. Keely's um being on
the board of the fire uh of the
[21:50] festival. Uh it was explained away that
there since you're a volunteer and
[21:54] that's admirable that it is not a
there's not a fiduciary conflict of
[21:58] interest. But I did see that companies
that Mr. Keley works for sponsor events
[22:03] and their name and logo is all over at
the festival with uh Pawn America and
[22:08] Cheddar. And so I just wanted
clarification on if that to to me that
[22:13] appears to be a potential fiduciary
conflict and I just wanted to see if if
[22:18] that made sense to anyone else either.
That's a concern I had when I saw that.
[22:22] So thank you.
>> Thank you.
[22:26] Okay. Uh the next one is uh Miss Gazini.
[22:36] Sorry, sorry I uh get a little confused
on when I can talk.
[22:42] And I'm sorry for this, too. I would
like to make a note regarding Mr. John's
[22:46] comments. It appears there is evidence
of what he claimed. I didn't hear him
[22:50] complaining about an isolated case. What
I heard was a pattern. Patterns are a
[22:54] problem.
While there are apparently videos of at
[22:57] least two of the incidents, the recent
one regarding Red Lion sounds plenty
[23:01] suspicious to me. One wonders why Mr.
Workman would seek to intervene on
[23:06] getting Mr. John's phone number to the
Red Lion owner,
[23:09] » who would then call Mr. John less than
10 minutes later.
[23:13] » That's not complaining about a sign
blowing away. It's not complaining about
[23:16] a sign falling. It's not complaining
about not having a sign somewhere. It's
[23:21] a problem. Whenever a council member is
speaking to a business person
[23:25] » about a competitor,
>> okay,
[23:27] » council members have power over what
businesses can do.
[23:31] » Madam Mayor, I would like to interrupt
this. This is not on this topic. This
[23:36] topic
>> I'm sorry is about Thank you.
[23:39] » Thank you. and and uh and forgive me if
I
[23:44] stopped you from because I saw your name
on the list and I thought you were
[23:50] but
>> I didn't know I was I didn't know I was
[23:52] going to say anything about Mr. John.
I'm sorry. So that was my mistake. Okay.
[23:56] I I do want to ask about uh or talk
about the uh the budget decision because
[24:00] the bud this is about 5B the budget. So,
I'm mainly concerned about council
[24:06] members putting their finger on the
funding scale. Um, and obviously I'm
[24:11] talking about you, Mr. Culy. When our
attorney says it's illegal for you to
[24:15] participate at all and the statute that
I read it does seem to, as I read it,
[24:20] I'm not an attorney. Does make it sound
illegal. It didn't look good to me that
[24:25] you kind of bullied your way and
insisted that the attorney was wrong and
[24:28] you could do it anyway. And so, I guess
what I'm
[24:33] the lawyer clarify. You use terminology
that didn't exist.
[24:37] » It is not illegal.
>> Seems to be a trend.
[24:39] » So, um
>> I I will I will I will have our attorney
[24:44] address that when we when her remarks
are done.
[24:48] » I apologize if I use but it is a
statute. So, to me, if you're breaking a
[24:52] statute, that's illegal, but I'm not an
attorney. So, again, I apologize. Um, I
[24:58] was especially kind of surprised because
the leader that spoke for the fire
[25:01] muster at the meeting said, "If we don't
get the funding, it's okay. We'll work
[25:06] it out."
I didn't understand why Mr. Workman who
[25:10] volunteers for the fire muster claimed
that it might go away if they didn't get
[25:15] $18,000 more on top of the what 150 or
whatever we've already given them. I'm a
[25:19] taxpayer. I'm wondering where fidiciary
responsibility comes in on this council.
[25:24] I don't see a lot of brakes being put on
it. And forcing it through when you head
[25:28] the organization,
legal or not, doesn't look good. It
[25:34] looks like it's my baby. I'm going to
make sure I defend it to hell. That's
[25:38] not what I was told our city's about.
But increasingly, I'm beginning to
[25:42] wonder. Seeing some really ugly
behaviors in this council, and I didn't
[25:46] expect it from you, Dan. And I'd like,
for that reason, I'd like this vote not
[25:51] to occur. I don't It's a statute. I'd
like the attorney to address it. If this
[25:56] was an illegally contrived vote or
unethical, I'd like it to be pulled.
[26:04] » Okay.
>> Thank you.
[26:05] » Thank you. Um Mr. Jared, um
would you like to uh address the
[26:13] remarks that were made with regard to
the statute?
[26:17] » Sure. Um you know, members of the
council has my opinion with respect to
[26:21] the conflict of interest questions. I
will say for the for the public um
[26:25] courts use what's called the lend
factors when they look at
[26:28] non-contractual conflicts of interest.
So they look at a various things that
[26:32] that the council members are then
entitled to examine and make their own
[26:36] determination as to whether or not they
feel like they're conflicted. Those are
[26:39] the nature of the decision being made,
the nature of the financial interest if
[26:43] any, the number of officials who possess
interest, the need to have those
[26:47] officials make the decision, other means
of review available which could ensure
[26:51] officials do not act arbitrarily uh to
further their own selfish interests. So
[26:57] those are the kind of the factors that
the courts will look at. Um, again, I
[27:00] just advise the council and advise
individ individual council members on um
[27:05] the state of the law and those decisions
are yours to determine whether or not
[27:09] you feel like you're conflicted and and
obviously council member Keley uh spoke
[27:14] his opinion at the work session on this
topic.
[27:17] » Okay, very good. Uh, Council Member
Schultz,
[27:22] » uh, I would like to make a motion to
approve.
[27:26] Uh if I may there there's a motion in a
second and I would like for council
[27:33] members to have the opportunity to speak
to this item.
[27:37] » Absolutely.
>> Because it is the right of each council
[27:39] member before anyone calls a question
because a now a vote is made and second
[27:46] and yet we have not given everyone the
opportunity to speak and it is their
[27:51] right to make those remarks. I will
accept a friendly amendment to allow
[27:57] comments by each
council member if they so choose. Do I
[28:04] have a second on a friendly amendment?
>> Absolutely. Yes. Thank you.
[28:07] » Okay. There's a motion and a second.
>> All right.
[28:10] » Yeah.
>> Okay. Thank you.
[28:12] » And now, Council Member Keley, you
wanted to make a remark?
[28:17] » Yes.
Um,
[28:20] point of record,
this isn't the first time that our city
[28:24] attorney has advised any one of us on
optics, not the law, optics. It happened
[28:32] previously. It happened by his
predecessor. This goes back many many
[28:37] years, few decades or so with council
members who volunteer their time on an
[28:43] event that the city um provides public
safety and public works for uh
[28:50] international festival which was um the
mayor was very involved in might even
[28:56] created the event. I mean it's a great
event and she has volunteered her time
[29:00] and made votes related to financial
support that the city gives. art and all
[29:04] that jazz. It's unfortunate that it's
not around because it was a great event.
[29:08] Um, I met my wife at one many, many
years ago. Uh, Council Member Gustoson
[29:14] voted as well. My comments that night
were it's really I think the pot calling
[29:19] the kettle black to say, "Okay, we all
did it, but you can't." And I don't
[29:23] think that's fair. So, I want first I
want to thank you for reaching out in
[29:28] perspective and and sharing your
perspective. I I know you're very
[29:32] engaged and I appreciate that and I do
appreciate when residents closely
[29:36] monitor how public funds and our council
decisions are made. I would love it if
[29:41] this room were full every meeting every
Tuesday night because that's an engaged
[29:44] community. Now, we're on camera so they
can you can sit at home and watch it.
[29:49] I want to address your concern regarding
my involvement with the 501c3
[29:54] Princeville Festival and FireMuster.
My role in this organization is entirely
[30:00] voluntary.
I do not receive a salary, a stipend or
[30:05] any form of personal financial
compensation or benefit from the
[30:09] involvement. Quite the contrary, it
takes a few hundred hours of my personal
[30:15] time to give to it to make the event
happen. It also takes a lot of hours by
[30:22] almost 150 people. It's a very large
effort to make that three-day event um
[30:29] happen each year. And it's not different
from any other city. Go to Lakeville, go
[30:35] to Savage, go to Apple Valley, go to
Rosemont, go to Heaggan, our neighboring
[30:39] cities, anywhere else. A 501c3 non 501c3
nonprofit of a group of volunteer
[30:46] citizens is at the heart of putting
these events on. And in every case they
[30:51] partner with the city and the city
provides an as significant as you have
[30:55] found with Burnsville amount of public
safety and public works to make it work
[31:01] right because you need streets blocked
off. You need police there to make sure
[31:05] everyone has a safe event. So it is the
city is the largest partner of anybody.
[31:12] Um, under the city's ethics code and
state law, a conflict of interest arises
[31:18] when an official stands to gain a direct
personal or private financial benefit
[31:24] from a vote because my involvement is
strictly voluntary and carries zero
[31:29] financial uh interest. There is no legal
conflict of interest and I am fully
[31:35] qualified and obligated to represent the
public on this matter. In local
[31:40] government, we want council members who
are actively engaged in the community as
[31:45] the mayor was with the international
festival, as council member Gustoson was
[31:49] with the art and all that jazz, as
council member Workman has been for many
[31:53] years with the uh Burnsville festival
firebuster, as I was for many years with
[31:58] the heart of the city race, which was
another legacy event by the city. All of
[32:03] us give our time willfully because we're
engaged in the community. And I think
[32:09] the people, it's true, people do expect
us to be engaged in the community. So,
[32:14] it's a little difficult to be a
volunteer and then sit up here and and
[32:19] have to recuse every single vote that
has anything to do with what we
[32:23] volunteer in. And as I noted, it isn't
indicated by law because we're not
[32:28] taking any personal benefit.
>> Can I respond?
[32:31] » My volunteer work gives me a deep
understanding of the organization's
[32:35] impact on our residents. We had an
estimated a very good estimate of 34,000
[32:41] attendees at the Burnsville Festival in
Fire Muster in 2024. A little less than
[32:46] that last year because rain canceled
Thursday, cold winds and 50° Friday, and
[32:53] three bouts of rain on Saturday. But
ultimately, this organization
[32:58] has come back to life because of so many
people getting involved. I'm just one of
[33:04] those people. It's a huge effort.
So I think that helps me make more
[33:11] informed decisions at this dis. My role
in this matter as always was guided
[33:16] strictly by what is in the best
interests of our entire city and this
[33:20] organ this particular 3-day festival has
a 46-year history in this history in
[33:26] this city. No other event has that kind
of depth uh and uh tenure in the city.
[33:32] So that is what drives my decisions.
I think about it very carefully. I
[33:38] talked to our legal counsel as I did his
predecessor in votes that happened years
[33:44] ago. Same exact situation and I'm sure
Council Member Gustoson and the mayor
[33:49] did as well. And so it's
I just want to ask everybody to know all
[33:56] the facts and understand the history
that many of us here are involved in
[34:02] volunteer efforts that we bring events
to the city. We're very proud of all the
[34:08] festivals that we we bring in this city.
It brings a quality of life that I think
[34:12] is a part of why somebody chooses to
live in Burnsville.
[34:18] We have great houses. We are very good
location. We believe we have good
[34:22] schools and the festivals are a talk of
the town. People love when the community
[34:28] brings folks together with festivals and
events like Party on the Plaza, what was
[34:33] art and all that jazz. What is still the
international festival and and what is
[34:37] the Burnsville festival? So, I think
it's all good.
[34:42] That's all I have to say. Thank you.
Can you wait till I have have all and
[34:47] then I will come back to you? Uh, Miss
Gazini. Uh, Council Member Gustoson.
[34:53] » Thank you, Madam Mayor. Um, I agree that
festivals are the fabric of our city and
[34:58] it brings neighbors together. Neighbors
become friends and it's important that
[35:02] that happens in our community. I do have
to set the record straight a little bit
[35:05] on art and all that jazz though. up
until just as we were coming out of
[35:10] COVID, I recused myself from votes for
art and all that jazz, including when we
[35:14] became a legacy event to begin with and
I asked for some money the same year the
[35:19] fire muster had asked for $10,000 for
the fireworks because it was your 40th
[35:24] anniversary and we were struggling as we
were coming out of CO. But that's really
[35:28] that and the time that we did the
$50,000 grant to uh funding for the fire
[35:34] muster. That's the only two times I
actually voted. Nobody ever told me I
[35:37] should have recused myself in any one of
those things. And so I I did that. But
[35:41] prior to that, I always recused myself
and all this art and all that jazz
[35:44] things that came to the city. In fact, I
never brought anything to the city for
[35:47] art and all that jazz. And the records
will definitely show that. Um
[35:54] there's a couple things I want to say
about this particular budget amendment.
[35:58] One is I I really think we need to uh
make a
[36:04] differenti between public safety
commitments that we have to the festival
[36:10] and private
safety that we that that we have to hire
[36:14] out for the festival. I think they're
two different things. I know this I know
[36:18] this is going to be happening for the
next year. We're going to be reviewing
[36:20] it coming up here sometime toward the
end of the year, first part of next year
[36:23] because we're going to have to for the
festival for next year. I'd like us to
[36:27] be able to talk about all that when we
when we bring that forward in the in the
[36:31] future. The second part I want to remind
everybody that
[36:35] this festival is a 501c3. It's a private
festival. It's not a city festival. The
[36:41] policy is our policy as a sponsor of the
festival. It's it's not an entitlement.
[36:48] It's a it's a sponsorship. And we can't
just keep coming back when we need more
[36:53] money every time. And different
circumstances require different things
[36:58] from the fireworks and a couple years
ago to the $50,000 cash. And I
[37:03] understand there were there were issues
raising money and I get that. And then
[37:07] now there's current thing with with the
private security that has to be hired
[37:10] for it. And so for that reason alone,
I think I I know I'm going to be voting
[37:16] no on this budget amendment on it, but I
do look forward to having us have this
[37:21] conversation going forward about our
legacy festivals and how we're going to
[37:25] deal with them in the future. And I
really want to kind of separate public
[37:29] safety from private security as who's
responsible for that. And I and I don't
[37:34] think the city is. With that, I'll pass.
>> Council member Schultz.
[37:40] Uh so I will be voting yes on this. And
just to reiterate why I'm voting yes on
[37:44] this, uh we're voting yes for one year.
Um the city is the one that through our
[37:52] first responders is placing the
additional burden
[37:58] of security on the festival. Um this is
not the festival deciding out of the
[38:04] blue through their own initiative that
certain levels of security are needed.
[38:09] um this is the city telling the festival
this really needs to happen. Um and so
[38:16] when government tells an entity that
something needs to happen, like I'm not
[38:23] a big fan of unfunded mandates. I don't
like them in our schools and I don't
[38:27] like them in this and I see them as very
comparable. Um,
[38:32] however, I also think that we have a
problem with the vagueness in our policy
[38:39] and I pointed that out when we discussed
this in our work session. I I was
[38:45] hopeful and I am hopeful um that we can
take that up because I don't think this
[38:51] will be the first time we see this. Um,
I think we'll see this with other other
[38:56] festivals um in our city. And the issue
is that we have some vagueness in in our
[39:04] policy. And so I would like the um
Burnsville Festival to have a year to
[39:13] figure things out for themselves, but I
also think that the city uh needs the
[39:18] year to be able to reook at that policy
and tighten the language up so that it's
[39:25] more clear and more defined. So
let's do it. Council member Burkeman.
[39:36] » Thank you. I'm in support of this as
well for one year. Um as Cara Schultz or
[39:41] Council Member Schultz stated, um this
is a requirement coming from public
[39:45] safety. Um I'm fine doing this for one
year so we can hash out everything
[39:52] that's been said from distinguishing
public safety um and private security
[39:57] and so on. The festival is already
losing the carnival um this year, which
[40:02] I think is going to make a pretty
significant impact. Um
[40:06] and like I already said in the work
session, um
[40:10] this is our longest standing festival. I
understand we're not just going to
[40:14] continue to throw money at it uh just to
keep it alive, but this is new territory
[40:20] for the festival. Um this isn't
something we've discussed previously.
[40:23] It's not like we're paying for fireworks
or live music. this is a security thing,
[40:26] which is why I'm a little bit more um
okay with this. Um so with that said,
[40:34] I'm I'm fine with it for this year, but
we do need to go back and tighten up a
[40:37] lot of things in the next 12 months.
Thank you, uh council members for all of
[40:43] your remarks. And um I appreciate the
work that goes into community events
[40:50] like the Burnsville Festival and Fire
Muster and the International Festival.
[40:54] and when we had art and all that jazz.
And yes,
[40:59] it is good for all of us to be engaged
in our community and to be
[41:06] proponents of things that enrich the
lives of our community. However,
[41:12] when we are engaged in these events,
I have voted against
[41:18] the amount of money
that we give to the legacy. So my
[41:25] position has been consistent all along.
I do not support the city
[41:35] contributing money to festivals because
I think that's a 501c3.
[41:40] It is the responsibility of that
organization to raise the money to make
[41:45] the festival a reality and to meet what
it is that they want the festivals to
[41:51] look like. So I have never come to the
city in my capacity
[41:57] uh as a volunteer
uh at the international festival to ask
[42:02] for money for the festival. I have voted
against the legacy funds
[42:08] because I believe that that is the
responsibility of those 501c3
[42:14] organizations.
[42:18] The festivals and the events matter to
our residents, but this request and
[42:24] other requests that ask for our
taxpayers to cover that kind of money,
[42:30] like tonight it's $17,74923
[42:36] in private security cost that were not
budgeted and would require us to amend
[42:42] the general fund.
When we amend the general fund, that
[42:47] means that it's going to take money away
from some or some some department within
[42:54] the organization because the budget is
already set.
[42:59] And our residents expect tax dollars to
support public safety, public works,
[43:06] parks, and community assets and
responsible stewardship. and for us to
[43:11] be good responsible stewardships of
their money, not private operational
[43:17] expenses for nonprofit events. That's my
belief.
[43:23] And so I've not voted for any of that.
So tonight, I'm not going to be voting
[43:28] for this because nonprofits and
businesses have the responsibility to
[43:33] raise the funds needed to deliver their
mission and what their outcome is for
[43:40] that event. Shifting private security
costs to taxpayers sets a precedent that
[43:49] I cannot support. And for that reason, I
will be voting against this like I have
[43:55] in the past in all the other uh requests
that have come before the city because I
[44:01] believe that our residents are asking us
to be good stewards of their money. And
[44:08] when we work hard on the budget, because
we start in February and we go through a
[44:15] very transparent
process that allows everyone in the city
[44:20] to understand how we're going to be
spending the public's money, the
[44:25] residents and business money in this
community.
[44:29] And when it is set, it is set. And
tonight we're asking our
[44:37] city manager and our staff to amend this
budget. Now, I don't know where this
[44:42] money is going to come from, but I
understand it's going to be out of the
[44:45] general fund, but out of that general
fund, I can tell you that it's coming
[44:50] out of some department that's going to
be losing some of that money.
[44:56] And so, I am voting against this just as
I have in the past. It is the
[45:03] responsibility of all 501c3s
that are legacy events within the
[45:08] community of Burnsville. Raise the money
if that's what you want to do uh with
[45:14] regard to your events. Raise the money.
The 501c3s that I belong to,
[45:23] like the community foundation or the
police uh and fire foundation, we bring
[45:30] money to the city. We're not asking for
the city to pay any of that. We bring
[45:36] money to the city.
[snorts] That's what I believe. I'm
[45:41] going to be raising money to help make
the city uh events
[45:47] uh a success, not coming out of the
taxpayers.
[45:54] » Council member Keely,
>> two things real quick. uh your last
[45:58] point about um the wonderful police and
fire foundation. That event doesn't
[46:04] happen in the city of Burnsville. It
happens actually in Lakeville. So, uh it
[46:09] wouldn't be gerine to this discussion.
Number two, you mentioned um this is
[46:16] going to take money from another
department. City Manager Lindberg, would
[46:20] you please uh enlighten everyone on the
current unallocated balance in the
[46:27] city's general fund uh sources and
whether this is going to quote, as the
[46:32] mayor put it, take money from another
department,
[46:37] » city manager Lindberg,
>> Madame Mayor, members of the council, is
[46:40] is reflected in the background
information provided to you. a budget
[46:45] amendment. Uh the budget amendment in
front of you uh is to increase
[46:49] expenditures in the general fund
operating budget. Um that's related uh
[46:54] the staff recommendation is related to
um the the policy of legacy events in
[47:01] the definition of basic city services.
Um so the request in front of you is for
[47:07] uh event security related to operating
expenses. um uh the funds uh or the
[47:15] revenue side would be through available
general fund balance.
[47:20] » Okay. And um to clarify, council member
Keley, the Burnsville Police and Fire
[47:26] Foundation is a Burnsville Police and
Fire Foundation
[47:30] that is through its declaration
>> and address is Burnsville, not
[47:36] Lakeville. It just doesn't have a an
event that happens in the city of
[47:40] Burnsville and it's not a legacy.
>> We're using using the brackets crossing
[47:46] because they have a a golf course in
Lakeville. We don't have an 18hole golf
[47:52] course,
>> but it's also not a legacy event. So,
[47:53] it's not
>> But the thing is the the purpose of my
[47:57] remarks is that I belong to
organizations that bring money to the
[48:00] city, not take money from the city. All
right. Um, Miss Grazini, I'll give you
[48:07] one more time, but please keep your your
comments short.
[48:10] » I will I will do that. I just want to uh
respond to some claims that were made.
[48:14] Um, I think your semantics is might be a
little misleading, Dan. Um, the statute
[48:20] treats officers of 5013C's differently
than it treats just general volunteers,
[48:24] even if you're a volunteer officer. My
understanding is you are a vol you are
[48:28] officer.
>> Okay. So, that's different. Um,
[48:33] » are you
>> It appears unfair in that case. Let me
[48:36] finish. Can you stop interrupting me
kindly?
[48:39] » Well, I just you're you're you jump to
legal situations.
[48:44] » Absolutely. I do because legal matters.
>> Well, and you said you're not a lawyer.
[48:48] I think we need a lawyer to weigh in on
this.
[48:50] » Council member Keely, it is respectful
to give um Miss Gazini her time and then
[48:57] I am going to go to Mr. Sheepard.
Mayor, just if I may, really quickly, um
[49:03] just to let the council know where we
are procedurally, we had a a motion and
[49:07] a second and we had a friendly amendment
to allow discussion of the council.
[49:12] » Yeah. Yes.
>> So, we're we're really outside of the
[49:15] public comment section of this. We're
we're we're back to the council. So,
[49:18] that's where we're at in terms of the
You have a a motion and a second in
[49:22] front of you. [snorts]
>> Thank you, Mr. Sheepard, for the
[49:25] clarification. So, Miss Gazini,
according to Robert's rules and where
[49:30] we're at,
you are outside of that request. So,
[49:36] perhaps in a different environment,
[snorts] you can cl make your
[49:40] clarifications.
>> I will do that.
[49:42] » So, thank you so much.
Okay. If the clerk can then take the
[49:49] role because there has been a motion and
a second and the friendly amendment was
[49:54] accepted. So, if the clerk could please
take the role.
[49:58] » Keely,
>> yes.
[50:01] » Estiffson,
>> no.
[50:03] » Schultz,
>> yes.
[50:05] » Workman,
>> yes.
[50:07] » Couts,
>> no.
[50:10] And um
thank you and the clerk and everyone has
[50:14] the division of the house. And then I
thank everybody for their uh input into
[50:20] this particular item and members of the
council. There are no other items to
[50:24] come before us this evening and a motion
to adjourn is in order.
[50:28] » So moved.
>> Second.
[50:29] » There's a motion and a second. All in
favor, please say I. I. Oppose. Say nay.
[50:33] And the motion carries. Thank you for
being with with us and have a good
[50:37] evening.