Amundsen Closing Argument August 20 2019

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me to City Attorney, that deceptively omits the last part of my email, which confirms City Attorney and I had a congenial relationship. The Plaintiff points to Mr. Meehlhause's testimony where he stated that he observed Commission's conduct, but Meehlhause actually simply testifies that he has "attended meetings" and only spoke once (Tr. Pg. 45, 23 to Tr. Pg. 46, 3). City Council member Meehlhause does not testify about observing meeting conduct or any member's individual conduct. In fact, the Court did not hear testimony describing what conduct was observed. In addition, Mr. Meehlhause testified that he did not know the statutes or bylaws, so his evaluation of Commission conduct has no standard against which to be measured. While Mr. Meehlhause testifies (Tr. Pg. 46, 20) that recruiting "has been a challenge", his comment is not put into any time context, thereby identifying when it was a challenge. Plaintiff's closing argument also claims Mr. Meehlhause as saying recruiting has become "increasingly difficult", whereas this is not supported by the actual text of the hearing testimony. In addition, Mr. Meehlhause has decided he "probably" will not recruit for the Commission at this time, but as a party (City Council member) to this request of Your Honor to remove me from the Commission, I would suggest he has some bias against me. While it is a personal prerogative of Mr. Meehlhause to choose not to recruit, it has no relevance to grounds for my removal. In my Answer and Answer -Amendment, the Court received evidence of the bias of city staff towards me, along with efforts to control the Commission. The Plaintiff in its Letter Attachment 8 admits it controls other Commissions established under Council's authority, and would like to have the Charter Commission use the same procedures and rules. I argue that this is more evidence of the City Council and city staff attempting to control the Commission agenda and amendment proposals. Has the Plaintiff attempted to also apply a conduct standard to other Commission members? Yes. The Court heard testimony from Mr. Zikmund and Mr. Thomas, that initially Plaintiff applied the conduct argument to Mr. Thomas as well, by asking him to resign or be removed by Court order. In the last 9 months, the City has attempted and continues its campaign to fundamentally change the Charter Commission, its membership and makeup. As testified, in October 2018, the City Council recommended to the Court, that Mr. William Doty should not be re -appointed. Moreover, he was not reappointed, though he was interested in continuing. As testified, Mr. Jonathon Thomas received a phone call from City Administrator Zikmund shortly after the June 3rd meeting (as did I), and was asked to resign from the Commission. He and I were both informed that if our resignations were not received by Friday, June 7, the City Council would submit letters to the Court asking for both of us to be removed from our appointments. All three of these Commission members have traits in common; concern for the independent authority of the Commission, and all three are long standing older (age) members of the Commission. Both Mr. Thomas and I have an understanding of statutes, and understand the Commission to be an independent authority, not under the authority of the City Council. We are members who are willing to question the City Council and staff, if necessary, and not simply rubber stamp. 5) Defense of My Conduct and actions serving on the Charter Commission Finally, the Court heard testimony and received evidence, which describes my presence and conduct on the Commission. I have been described as professional, courteous, open to dialog, welcoming to all members and it has been stated that my knowledge is an asset to the Commission. The Court also has other reference letters that describe my actions and interactions with other organizations and individuals, as also being courteous, professional and dedicated to following the organization's rules. I Case File: 62-CV 19-4965 Page 8 of 11