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City Council Regular Meeting Minutes <br />August 25, 2020 <br />Page 4 <br /> <br /> 1 <br />Hearing none, Mayor Stille moved forward with the agenda. 2 <br /> 3 <br />IX. INFORMATION AND ANNOUNCEMENTS. 4 <br /> 5 <br />Mayor Stille thanked Mr. Casey for his service to the City and noted he will be moving onto the 6 <br />private sector. He indicated Mr. Casey will be sorely missed. He presented Mr. Casey with a 7 <br />plaque of appreciation from the City. 8 <br /> 9 <br />Councilmember Webster shared that sometimes their leaders live a few lives and she has the 10 <br />opportunity to know Mr. Casey from about twenty years ago when he was a Community Ed 11 <br />Director and one of the things she recalled is she met Mr. Casey by serving on the Minnesota 12 <br />Community Education Associations Board of Directors. At the time Mr. Casey was in 13 <br />Annandale and she was in Bloomington and after he finished his term of service on the Board 14 <br />she had heard from some of his colleagues on the Board that Mr. Casey actually left the field of 15 <br />Community Ed and was hired by the City of Annandale. She was really sad that they lost such a 16 <br />great leader in Community Ed across the State. Fast forward a few years and it turns out that Mr. 17 <br />Casey was hired as St. Anthony City Manager. She indicated as her time knowing him as a 18 <br />Community Ed Director in Annandale to the time she has had working with him as the City 19 <br />Manager she thought back to how sad she was when he left the field of Community Ed and now 20 <br />as a resident of St. Anthony, how grateful she was that Mr. Casey was the City Manager for the 21 <br />past few years. She stated Mr. Casey helped the City through the most difficult time in the 22 <br />community’s history and she will be eternally grateful for his service. 23 <br /> 24 <br />Councilmember Randle indicated this resignation stings. Integrity is a word that he can say most 25 <br />describes Mr. Casey. He can tell the respect that the City Staff has for him, the Council has for 26 <br />him but most of all, other community leaders have for him. He explained Mr. Casey is very 27 <br />respected throughout, in particular, the league and he wished Mr. Casey luck and to this day he 28 <br />did not know which side of the isle Mr. Casey is on, which in his mind Mr. Casey is doing things 29 <br />the right way. Mr. Casey is serving the community as a whole and serving people the way 30 <br />people should be served. He indicated he will miss Mr. Casey. 31 <br /> 32 <br />Councilmember Jenson stated nine years ago today as the Council interviewed for the City 33 <br />Manager position, Mark Casey obviously stood out among all other candidates. On behalf of the 34 <br />City he was excited when Mr. Casey accepted the offer. As City Manager, Mr. Casey has 35 <br />proven to be a fine leader and has expanded his talents in many capacities while serving the 36 <br />residents throughout the years. He stated Mr. Casey’s decorum in dealing with the staff, 37 <br />Council, media, and the public is consistently professional and personable. Mr. Casey is a 38 <br />strategic thinker and leader through encouragement, mentoring, stressing training, work/life 39 <br />balance and most importantly, leading by example. The Council knows budget planning can be 40 <br />difficult and Mr. Casey has coordinated his staff ensuring the City budgets provide service and 41 <br />cost containment while improving the transparency of the process. He stated Mr. Casey has 42 <br />coordinated several initiatives in light of significant events including Initiating the Government 43 <br />Alliance for Racial Equity’s, the Collaborative Reform Initiative, the Body Camera 44 <br />implementation, and push notifications. He thanked Mr. Casey for his dedication and service to 45 <br />the City. Mr. Casey has made a positive difference with all his efforts and commitment. The 46 <br />4