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City Council Regular Meeting Minutes August 23, 2016 Page 7 1 Ms. Erin Kokish, resident of Columbia Heights, business owner in St. Anthony who works 2 directly with residents of St. Anthony stated she is not sure she chose the right community for 3 her business. She is concerned about the safety of her students and their families. This may be 4 the biggest incident in St. Anthony but it is only one of many. She is concerned with 5 communication from the Mayor and the Council and was disturbed with the cancellation of the 6 City Council meeting right after the shooting. This officer was put back in his position swiftly. 7 Ms. Kokish stated this was the wrong thing to do and asked the Council to look at the policing 8 practices and do their job. 10 Ms. Sandy Sherman, Mirror Lake Condominiums, read a story from the newspaper about a 11 car acking in Indianapolis. She stated the whole world is watching St. Anthony and real change 12 needs to happen. Ms. Sherman felt the City's leadership failed to address the racism in this town 13 and stated she will continue to demand that Officer Yanez be removed from service, charged, 14 and prosecuted for murder. 15 16 Mr. David Jones stated he is no longer a resident but his mother and sister live in St. Anthony. 17 He shared an incident that happened to him in November 2015. He was pulled over for a faulty 18 tail light. He stated he has been pulled over a number of times since he was 16 years old, has had 19 a gun put into his face on more than one occasion, and heard a family talking about the St. 20 Anthony incident two states away while traveling. He urged Council to listen to those speaking 21 today. 22 23 Ms. Annka Larson, 2800 31" Avenue NE, asked where the Chief of Police is and why he isn't 24 here. She stated the Police Chief should be here. She referenced an incident where a car was 25 pulled over and lights were flashing for more than one hour. There was a woman with two small 26 children that were walking and Ms. Larson would have liked to help her. She stated there needs 27 to be an advocate for people targeted by police as 67% of those let off with a warning were white 28 while 17% were Black. She had witnessed racial and possibly economic profiling. Ms. Larson 29 stated these issues can be addressed on a local level using kindness and empathy instead of a 30 police response. She stated the Police Department should remember their role as public servants. 31 32 Ms. Nancy Robinett 3408 31"Avenue NE, stated she has lived in St. Anthony for two years and 33 is a member of the Police Advisory Committee. She asked if John Mangseth is the temporary 34 Police Chief or the permanent Police Chief as of September 1, 2016. She stated there should 35 have been a public process of residents meeting the new Chief. She would like Chief Mangseth 36 to communicate to the community and be asked a number of questions for the Chief to answer, 37 noting records of all traffic stops should be documented. She asked Chief Mangseth and City 38 Manager Casey to make themselves available to answer the questions asked. She felt racial 39 profiling was a problem and it needs to be fixed. The questions will be provided to the Chief. 40 41 Mr. Bernard (Unknown last name) resident of St. Anthony, shared an incident where a black 42 motorist was driving a car and was pulled over. He stated this City was Lake Wobegan, feeling 43 he lives in a fictional city when hearing the Police Chief s response to the situation. He felt the 44 Police Chief showed no sympathy for the survivors, the Council is not listening and does not 45 care what the evidence shows, and the Council is defending the police officer and Department. 46