Agenda Packets - 2012/05/14 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mounds View City Council March 26, 2012 Regular Meeting Page 4 Ayes – 4 Nays – 1 (Stigney) Motion carried. 1 2 B. Public Hearing, A Public Hearing to Appeal a Ruling on a Solicitor License 3 Denial. 4 5 Assistant City Administrator Crane stated staff received a solicitor’s application from Deonte 6 Darren Hill for a business called Window Concepts. His business completes siding and 7 remodeling services. In accordance with the City Code, a background check was conducted and 8 a gross misdemeanor, damage to property in the third degree and misdemeanor conviction were 9 on his criminal record. 10 11 Assistant City Administrator Crane explained staff provided the information to the Police Chief. 12 Mr. Hill has since submitted a letter explaining his activities on two of the convictions in 2009. 13 According to the BCA, Mr. Hill damaged property and gave police officers fraudulent 14 information. After review of the information, Police Chief Kinney denied the solicitor’s 15 application due to the fact these convictions took place in the past five years and were a 16 disqualification under City Code. She then reviewed City Code and read it aloud for the record. 17 18 Assistant City Administrator Crane stated Mr. Hill’s manager, Tony Strouth spoke with Police 19 Chief Kinney regarding the matter, requesting he reconsider his decision. She reviewed a 20 certificate of insurance provided by Window Concepts explaining they would be responsible for 21 any fraudulent or unlawful occurrences on behalf of their employees. However, the convictions 22 that took place in the last five years were still a disqualification under City Code. She requested 23 the Council hold a public hearing and make a motion to either approve or deny the appeal. 24 25 Police Chief Kinney thanked staff for the thorough report. He clarified the two convictions were 26 the grounds for the disqualification. He was concerned with Mr. Hill’s charge of giving false 27 information to a police officer. This led him to question Mr. Hill’s honesty and his ability to 28 conduct door to door services in the City of Mounds View. 29 30 Mayor Flaherty opened the public hearing at 8:12 p.m. 31 32 Tony Strouth, Window Concepts Manager, explained he handles all solicitors’ permits along 33 with hiring and firing employees. He indicated he recruited Mr. Hill from American Exteriors as 34 he had been working there for two years. He noted Mr. Hill has worked extremely well for 35 Window Concepts in several neighboring communities. 36 37 Mr. Strouth understood the reasoning behind the background check. He did not however, have 38 any issues or conflicts with Mr. Hill. He indicated Mr. Hill was a valued employee. He 39 expressed concern that the Police Chief did not state any specific reasons for denying this 40 request. 41 42 Deonte Darren Hill, 3800 Lincoln Street, Minneapolis, stated he went through a rough patch in 43 his life. He explained he had worked through the issues, moved on, and was working through the 44 adversities he now faced. Mr. Hill stated he loved his job, loved speaking with people. He did 45