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Mounds View City Council March 25, 2024 Regular Meeting Page 7 1 I love this city! I will ask you: do you think I make the decisions I do because I believe it is what is 2 best for the community, or do you believe what this newest mailer is trying to propagate? I want you 3 to really think about this. 4 You may be asking yourself. Who might be behind these mailers and propaganda? According to our 5 most recent one, it is John M. Kysylyczn. You might be asking who that is. He is the former mayor 6 of Roseville, who served one term from 2000-2004. 7 According to a Star Tribune article, his term was going so well that a group of residents formed and 8 started a movement to get him to resign in 2002. According to his constituency, they said he engaged 9 in "arrogant bullying behavior toward staff members and citizens". They also said he has brought 10 about changes, effectively eliminating the democratic process. 11 A citizen raised a complaint regarding his ethics alleging a conflict of interest due to lobbying at the 12 state capitol, which was not sustained, but then voted to have the city pay his legal fees in that case. 13 Which in turn generated another complaint, and you know how he responded? He voted to abolish 14 the ethics committee. 15 The citizens of Roseville were so enamored by his performance that they rejected him at the ballot 16 box in 2003 and again in 2007. According to a Pioneer Press article, he was then removed as 17 chairman of the 4th congressional district Republican Party in 2012 by members of his own party. 18 So, this is the person who has decided to involve themselves in the fabric of our community. 19 I want you to ask yourself: do you think the four people who are dedicating their lives to this city 20 care more about you and its future? 21 Or do you believe that an out-of-town guy who no investment in our community other than the 22 paycheck he is getting from the haulers he represents, who is clearly a mercenary for hire whose own 23 community said he has a track record of bullying and intimidation and refused to put him back in 24 office on multiple separate occasions? 25 To me, it seems like he is using the trash market to take out his unresolved anger on local 26 governments across the state because he cannot garner enough support to wield the power he would 27 like to in government, so he has resorted to using trash and politics on communities to impose his 28 will. It is for you to decide who has your best interests in mind, and I really want you to think about 29 this. 30 So now we know all the players. We know the haulers; we know the lobbyists; and we know our 31 representatives. Haulers for Choice, in total, has many entries on their website in relation to their 32 influence in cities across the state regarding organized collection. 33 You have to ask yourself. What is at stake here? Is it about preserving your choice, or is it about 34 profits? The open market and competition only work when we have price transparency, and right 35 now, we have none. There is so much inequality out there in pricing; that I can see why they are 36 fighting so hard to preserve it. 37 What this is really about is who controls the price, and the answer is that right now they do, and they 38 want to keep it that way. With a good contract, you as residents will control the price of trash 39 collection in Mounds View, and you are voting on this issue, so the choice is truly yours. I will ask 40 you again, "Mounds View, are the actions we are seeing that of people who care about us? Or does it 41 appear to be something else? 42 You may be asking, What else does Haulers for Choice do besides sending mailers that instill fear 43 and prey on your emotions? Well, most recently in our community, they have been trying to 44 influence one of our candidates for City Council, and to be honest, it's not the lawsuit or the mailers 45 that really bothered me all that much; I consider that part of the job; this is what has crossed the line 46 for me. 47 You elected me to be the leader of this city, and I will not sit back and watch this group use and bully 48 candidates seeking to serve this community for their own gain because they are in a vulnerable