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Amundsen Closing Argument August 20 2019
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Amundsen Closing Argument August 20 2019
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MV City Charter Commission
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January 5, 2017), the Court approved the amended Commission Bylaws reducing the number of <br />Commission members from eleven to nine, pursuant the Courts authority in Minn. Stat. 410.05 sub.1. <br />to set the size between 7 and 15. The Court, in the same order, answered the Commission's quorum <br />authority by approval of the Bylaws two tier test. I ask the Court to direct Plaintiff to the existing <br />Court order, and answer the Plaintiffs concerns regarding "Commissions authority is limited to certain <br />acts and functions without a full complement of appointed members regardless if quorum is present", <br />with the Court's answer, stating that there is no restriction of the Commission to act when quorum is <br />present. <br />The Plaintiffs final argument is that the Commission might not have enough members appointed to be <br />functional if I remain on the Commission. The argument is speculative, and irrelevant to grounds for <br />my removal. As the Plaintiff states in his closing argument, it is not dispositive. However, Plaintiff is <br />still asking the Court to use it as a means to build a different problem. They contend it is my presence <br />on the Commission that is limiting recruitment, and is thereby a reason for my removal. Nevertheless, <br />the Court has facts in the Answer -Amendment Attachment 1, testimony, and Plaintiff s own Letter <br />Attachment 2. These pieces show that during my current appointment, there have been enough <br />Commission applicants to fill all nine seats. The Court has testimony (Tr. Pg. 4, 16) that there were <br />more applicants than open appointments in October 2018. This was also true in 2017. My presence on <br />the Commission has not stopped Mounds View citizens from applying to serve on the Commission. At <br />this time, the Commission has eight members appointed, and hopefully with the Courts advertising of <br />the open seat, there are applicants already available for appointment to seat nine again. Further, the <br />Court has testimony from Mr. Clawson that he will continue his appointment term, while I remain. He <br />testified (Tr. Pg. 53,/Lines 2-12) that his potential decision to not reapply is related to the frequency of <br />meetings, length of meetings, and boring nature of the content. My name or conduct is not cited by Mr. <br />Clawson at all as his reason for potentially not continuing after his term expires. The Plaintiff s closing <br />argument is not supported by actual testimony, because Mr. Clawson again simply testified that if <br />changes were made he would continue. He does not specify what changes. Certainly, due to his <br />testimony one could infer he might be referring to the length of meetings, frequency of meetings, or <br />any number of changes. The Court has not heard testimony or received evidence from any other <br />Commission member who may or may not be considering resignation. The most recent resignation <br />email (Answer Attachment 6) from Reyes -Johnson did not specify any reason for her resignation, and <br />no testimony was offered of any resignation being due to me. <br />4) City Council and Staff Bias impact on Charter Commission Membership and Functions <br />I argue, as I did in my Answer, that much of the real reason the Plaintiff wishes the Court to remove me <br />is political and personal bias from both city staff and City Council. Plaintiff is seeking relief from "Mr. <br />Amundsen vast knowledge of the statutes" (Tr. Pg. 17, 12) and history of the charter. Some examples <br />of the bias were heard in the opening statement and some testimony at the Hearing. Still more bias is <br />found in the Letter signed by Mayor Mueller, the numerous City Council meetings, and the audio <br />recording of June 18, 2019. One clear example, is the City Council's disregard for its own Statement <br />of Values (Answer, Attachment 7, 3.g.), which calls for giving due process to all parties in matters <br />under consideration. I was not afforded that due process. Another example is the May 21, 2019, web <br />stream where the Commission approved Chapter 4 draft language shows city staff influence to subvert <br />Minn. Stat. 410.12, subd. 7 for their specific language proposal to "18 months", rather than them using <br />Minn. Stat. 410.12, subd. 5. <br />Although the Plaintiff claims the Charter is in desperate need of clarity, testimony from Mr. Zikmund <br />Case File: 62-CV 19-4965 Page 6 of 11 <br />
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