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City Council Regular Meeting Minutes July 26, 2016 Page 8 1 for all Americans. Mayor Faust stated all officers have college degrees, licensing requirements 2 are exceeded, training is held, and additional training will be done. Also, the Citizen's Academy 3 will be brought to the public and offers of help are taken seriously. Mayor Faust stated the 4 Council will be better. It won't be fast, but we will be better. He stated the City is on the cusp of 5 something here that is as great as he has seen in his life and we need to make all people equal. 6 Mayor Faust noted the police are not the bad guys, they need to hear that too, and we as white 7 people need to acknowledge and reach out to people of color. He stated the City does not raise 8 revenue through the Police Department and he takes exception to that comment. Mayor Faust 9 commented on the use of body cams and stated the City will have them soon as one of the tool to 10 help us. 11 12 Mayor Faust relayed his discussion with Governor Dayton that St. Anthony is not a racist 13 community, noting it had overwhelming re- elected Keith Ellison, the first black Muslim, five 14 times to Congress. Mayor Faust commented that one person elected to office, even the 15 President, can't solve all the problems and it needs to be addressed at a grassroots level of the 16 community. 17 18 Mayor Faust accepted the comment that the City had not had an open process. He stated he has 19 had a lot of conversations with local pastors and shared a story from a black pastor who also 20 worked for Xfinity and had explained that he can go anywhere while wearing his logoed Xfinity 21 shirt and driving the company's truck but it's a different story after he goes home. 22 23 Mayor Faust explained why his letter to the editor had first appeared in the St. Paul Pioneer 24 Press, the city where Philando Castile lived. However, since most of the City's residents read 25 the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the City added a link to his letter to the editor on its website. 26 Mayor Faust stated this is driving conversation in the metro area including the Regional Council 27 of Mayors that came out with an op -ed piece. However, he decided to write his own op -ed piece. 28 29 Mayor Faust stated the City is talking with other communities throughout the State in a way that 30 will mobilize them and actually affect change, noting that some communities have a very large 31 minority population. He stated the focus is on St. Anthony and there is a large group quietly 32 backing up the City including the Department of Justice, national police officer's associations, 33 black Councils, and black pastors so something will get done. Mayor Faust stated it will take all 34 of us and we need that mobilization. He stated he is glad that Black Lives Matter and the 35 NAACP were non - violent, noting this matter has the City's attention and he does not want 36 anything to jeopardize that attention. He explained this matter will go forward and the City will 37 work on it but it will take time. 38 39 Mayor Faust asked the Council to consider directing the City Manager to establish a working 40 group, which will also involve Falcon Heights and Lauderdale, to look at police policies and 41 perhaps using the Maplewood model. He noted that Human Rights Commissions do not have 42 the power to hire or fire, which is under the authority of the City Manager, including the Chief of 43 Police. Mayor Faust described the City Manager form of government, noting in St. Anthony the 44 City Manager hires and fires all of the department heads including the Chief of Police. He stated 45 the Police Chief is open to this conversation, will be presenting A New Day, and can bring it to 46 fruition. 47