HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC MINUTES 041820241 CITY OF ST. ANTHONY
2 CITY COUNCIL JOINT TOWN HALL MEETING
3 APRIL 18, 2024
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5 CALL TO ORDER.
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7 Mayor Webster called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m.
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9 ST ANTHONY COUNCIL ROLL CALL.
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11 Present: Mayor Webster, Councilmembers Doolan, Randle and Stephens.
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13 Absent: Councilmember Jenson
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15 Also Present: City Manager Charlie Yunker
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17 FALCON HEIGHTS COUNCIL ROLL CALL
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19 Present: Mayor Gustafson, Councilmembers Leehy, Wassenberg, Mielke and Meyer
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Absent: None
Also Present: City Manager Jack Linehan
III. GENERAL BUSINESS OF COUNCIL
A. Joint Town Hall Meeting with the Falcon Heights City Council to Present the Results of
Community Engagement Efforts and Hear the Public Regarding a Potential Police
Partnership.
Mayor Webster stated tonight's agenda focuses on the potential police partnership with Falcon
Heights. The purpose of tonight's meeting is to share the data gathered in this initial exploratory
phase. This data was first shared at the Town Hall meeting in Falcon Heights last night.
Mayor Webster explained that before she shared an overview of the exploratory process, it is
important that she emphasize our purpose as a City Council. The St. Anthony City Council is
committed to governing with a servant leadership mindset. Each Councilmember strives to
ensure our behaviors meet high ethical standards, our interactions with our constituents are
respectful, our engagement seeks to listen to diverse perspectives, our policymaking utilizes an
equity lens and our processes and decisions are transparent.
Mayor Webster reviewed the timeline of events in detail which led to this evening for the
following dates:
Friday, January 5, 2024
Monday, February 5, 2024
Tuesday, February 6, 2024 — Wednesday, February 7, 2024
Thursday, February 8, 2024
Tuesday, February 13, 2024
Tuesday, March 6, 2024
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City Council Joint Town Hall Meeting Minutes
April 18, 2024
Page 2
Wednesday, March 7, 2024
Monday, March 11, 2024
Tuesday, March 12, 2024
Thursday, March 14, 2024
Wednesday, March 20, 2024
Tuesday, March 26, 2024
Sunday, April 7, 2024
Friday, April 12, 2024
City Manager Yunker presented a PowerPoint titled Renewed Police Services Contract Between
St. Anthony Village and Falcon Heights. This was the same presentation given at the Falcon
Heights Town Hall Meeting. The agenda for the meeting will consist of
Agenda
Opening Remarks — Mayor Webster
Background Information — City Manager Yunker
Stakeholder Engagement and Survey Input — Goff Public Vice President Ms. Winters
St. Anthony Police Department Feedback — Ethical Leaders in Action Dr. Weinstein
SAPD Preliminary Staffing & Contract Approach — City Manager Yunker
Town Hall Comment Period
Mr. Yunker provided Background Information noting the Cities of St. Anthony Village and
Falcon Heights are exploring the potential of renewing a police services partnership.
• St. Anthony Village currently provides contract policing services to the City of
Lauderdale and previously provided contract law enforcement services to Falcon Heights
from 1994 — 2017. The former policing partnership with Falcon Heights was highly
valued in both communities.
• The contract with Falcon Heights was terminated by both communities following the
shooting death of Philando Castile by a St. Anthony Police Department (SAPD) officer in
July 2016.
Falcon Heights has contracted with the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office since January 2018, and
the contract will expire at the end of 2024. Falcon Heights is seeking a long-term fit for its
policing services beginning in 2025.
• The SAPD is currently authorized for 20 sworn officers, increasing to 22 on July 1, 2024.
• If the partnership moves forward, St. Anthony Village will add additional positions to
support the expanded area while maintaining the high level of service the St. Anthony
Village and Lauderdale communities currently receive.
Mr. Yunker reviewed the 4 process stages being:
Phase 1— Consider Concept — Preliminary conversations and a joint meeting was held between
the Falcon Heights and St. Anthony City Councils to explore a renewed partnership.
Phase 2 — Stakeholder Input — Gather & analyze the feedback received from our community
and police department.
City Council Joint Town Hall Meeting Minutes
April 18, 2024
Page 3
Phase 3 — Partnership Decision — Decision on whether to move forward is made based on final
contract terms and agreed -upon timeframe.
5 Phase 4 — Implement — Implementation of new agreement if decision is made to renew
6 partnership.
8 The Stakeholder Input Process consisted of Online surveys conducted March 1 — April 12, 2024.
9 233 responses were received from Falcon Heights residents and 222 responses were received
10 from St. Anthony Village residents. Open House conversations were held on March 12,13,26 and
11 27, 2024. Door knocking and discussion at community meetings by City Council Members and
12 staff happened during March 2024. St. Anthony Police Department conversations Town Halls
13 were held April 17 and 18, 2024.
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15 Survey Input — Potential Benefits were:
16 Falcon Heights
17 Proximity
18 Increased SAPD capacity
19 SAPD's familiarity and prior relationships with community
20 Increased engagement
21 Financial
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23 St. Anthony Village
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25 Increased SAPD capacity
26 Proximity
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28 Many respondents felt more information was needed to fully identify benefits. A number of
29 respondents also noted they see no potential benefits. This response was more common from St.
30 Anthony Village residents.
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32 The Falcon Heights Priorities top themes were Community -based policing and Increased level of
33 service. Other common theme included increased visibility, cost, racial equity practices and
34 training, transparency and accountability, de-escalation training and alternative response
35 methods.
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37 Questions and Concerns cited were:
38 a SAPD staffing levels
39 a Trust (leadership, community and SAPD officers)
40 a Cost
41 a Policing style, training and practices
42 a St. Anthony Village respondents expressed a high level of satisfaction with SAPD and
43 the current level of service they receive from the department.
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City Council Joint Town Hall Meeting Minutes
April 18, 2024
Page 4
The Input received from the St. Anthony Police Department was provided. The City of St.
Anthony Village engaged Chad Weinsten from Ethical Leaders in Action, Inc. to gather input.
The approach taken included interviewed nearly all department personnel, covering command
staff, patrol officers, investigations and on -sworn staff. The learning to date includes
Commitment to professionalism, Love of work culture, Support for and trust in police leadership,
and partnership must be done right. While generally open to a renewed partnership some officers
expressed considerable concerns to be discussed:
Relationship Concerns
• Mutual trust needs to be established and relations need to be developed.
• Confidence department will be supported when use of force incidents take place.
Operational Concerns
• Cannot provide effective services before 1/l/2026.
Recruitment and training for new officers on top of current needs.
Expansion of police facility would be necessary.
The department analyzed call data and identified the following additional personnel to support
expansion:
Patrol Officers 4 additional patrol officers same as previous contract.
Swing Shift Patrol 2 additional officers during high call volume time.
Investigator 1 investigative capacity to adequately address call type needs.
Community Engagement Officer — 1 Sworn officer to coordinate community engagement.
Administrative Support — 1 additional administrative capacity similar to previous contract.
The preliminary staffing and contract approach methodology was determined by allocating costs
based on a 50150 blend of population percentage and call volume percentage, applied to total
police costs. Numbers were rounded for clarify.
Based on draft methodology, the numbers are founded for clarity and accelerated by a 4%
inflation assumption:
Preliminary Contract Price Range in 2026 $1,650,000 - $1,800,000
Additional personnel, operating and equip. costs $1,400,000 - $1,500,000
Fixed costs and shared capital contribution $250,000 - $300,000
Mr. Yunker stated each City Council will discuss moving to the next step at their upcoming
regular meetings. St. Anthony Village's next meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 23, 2024
and Falcon Heights next meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 24, 2024.
Residents can visit the City's website to learn more detailed information on the potential policing
partnership and St. Anthony Police Department's Contract Services including Frequently Asked
Questions, Who to Contact with Concerns, About the SAPD, and Background on both cities.
Savmn.com/sapd-contract-services and falconbeights.org.
Mayor Webster stated the purpose of this town hall event is to hear themes in the survey results
from community members and from our police officers. St. Anthony City Council members
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City Council Joint Town Hall Meeting Minutes
April 18, 2024
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believe it is our responsibility to model respect and civility in our interactions with one another
and with community members. We recognize that exploring a police service partnership with
Falcon Heights can generate a range of emotions. Tonight, our objective is to provide an
opportunity to listen to community members and for councilmembers to hear and understand
multiple perspectives. Our goal is to ensure an environment which emphasizes respect and
civility. We expect our community members to commit to this goal too. Members of the public
will have three minutes to share their perspectives. At the end of three minutes, we will restate
the themes we heard from each community member to ensure understanding before moving onto
the next community member. Speakers are requested to come to the podium, state their name and
address for the records, and limit their remarks to three minutes. The Mayor reserves the right to
limit off topic discussion. No community member will be given an opportunity to speak a second
time until everyone, who wishes to speak, has had an opportunity to do so. Please limit the
second presentation to new information and not rebuttals.
Gary Huss, 3224 Croft Drive, asked what the response time the SAPD would need to meet to get
to Falcon Heights. Now police officers are going very fast to calls. He asked if a cost benefit
analysis has been done. What will this cost the taxpayers? How many more squad cars will be
needed for the additional 9 people? Why are we hiring someone to survey the police department.
Why is he not speaking for the department. What is the Police Chief s position on this issue? Are
we dedicating two police officers to be in Falcon Heights at all times? How much time needs to
be spent in Falcon Heights for this to work? The distance from St. Anthony to Falcon Heights is
5.2 miles. Who will they support first if two calls at the same time? This is more tax money that
doesn't need to be spent.
Laura LaBarge, 2909 Townview, stated she does not see any advantage to the partnership. There
is a high cost for facility expansion and raising taxes for St. Anthony residents. There is an
increased legal risk. She cited some statistics. There is a shortage of police officers state-wide.
Randy Stille, 3717 Rankin Road, talked about risks. He was on Council in July 2016. Council
learned that partnerships bring risks. This could happen again (shooting). It could happen to a
good police department. The reputational risk is huge. There is operational risk and St. Anthony
suffered greatly and legal fees were in six figures. The Council shouldered this on their own.
Falcon Heights sent St. Anthony a bill for barricades. This is a risky business model. He asked
Council to use common sense. He is not in favor of this partnership. Ramsey County is required
to support Falcon Heights and they do not want to and neither do Roseville or St. Paul. We tried
it once and it didn't work. We should not try it again.
There were several off camera comments.
Joan Peterson, 3200 Hilldale, stated she and her husband have attended most of the meetings
including meetings in Falcon Heights. She understands how Falcon Heights wants SAPD
policing services. They are protective over the SAPD. Eleven people would need to be hired for
expansion and retiree replacements. The department is still grieving over July 2016. If a new
police station was built taxes would increase. Falcon Heights residents should be asked if they
would build a new police station to serve another community. Two percent responded in St.
Anthony to the survey which does not provide enough input to make a decision.
City Council Joint Town Hall Meeting Minutes
April 18, 2024
Page 6
2 Tricia Grimes, 3201 Townview, stated she thinks this would be a good idea. It would give us
3 economies of scale. The additional officers could respond to St. Anthony calls also. Racism has
4 been addressed.
6 Jerry Faust, 4033 Silver Lake Terrace, stated he was on the Council with Randy Stille for 22
7 years and Mayor for 15 years. He has attended both meetings and has not changed his opinion.
8 There is a recruiting effort that needs to be done to get the 2 more officers in the plan and
9 recruiting is going to be an issue. The survey results were too low to be considered. He noted that
10 St. Anthony is not contiguous to Falcon Heights. The familiarity is not there as it has been 8
11 years. He also noted that all police departments are short of people as well as Sheriffs
12 departments. He asked why should St. Anthony pay for the 11 additional officers to recruit them.
13 He stated the DOJ wanted to issue a report stating SAPD was an outstanding police department.
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15 Mike Peterson, 3200 Hilldale, stated in his view the potential partnership needs to be a win-win-
16 win. He is not sure it is a win for St. Anthony or the SAPD. To construct a new police
17 department outweighs the cost benefit. There may be more than 11 additional personnel needed.
18 He asked what if the current officers don't want to work and support Falcon Heights, noting
19 there may be more leaving. The response rate for the survey was low and most was subjective.
20 Some actual numbers and what residents actually said would have been better. He asked the new
21 Council not to be rushed into a decision.
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23 Dina Larrabee, 1358 Larpentur, Falcon Heights, asked St. Anthony to please consider Falcon
24 Heights. She was pleased with SAPD and was sad the contract ended. They were good to her and
25 she used them quite frequently.
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27 Carol Ann Paulson, Harding Steet, stated she was part of St. Anthony when the SAPD supported
28 Falcon Heights. She asked what are the commercial areas of Falcon Heights and are they more
29 than what St. Anthony has. She does not know the population of Falcon Heights. We need to
30 know what possible problems the police department will have.
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32 Gloria DeHealy, Legends of St. Anthony, stated the SAPD is very utilized in St. Anthony. She is
33 happy with the service she gets from SAPD and doesn't want to see that diminished.
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35 Dwight Pulford, 1757 Eustis Street, Lauderdale, stated Lauderdale appreciates SAPD. They have
36 always been very professional. He can't imagine Lauderdale ever not having SAPD. He sees
37 some advantages as far as patrolling Lauderdale.
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39 Jerry Faust, 4033 Silver Lake Terrace, stated St. Anthony is currently at capacity and there is
40 plenty of work to do here. Money was put into the police department in 2019. He does not know
41 if there is a need for a new facility with current staffing level. He noted if St. Anthony increased
42 by 9 people, a new facility would be needed which would be a burden to taxpayers. He can see
43 why Falcon Heights wants SAPD; they will have 4 full time officers for same price as Ramsey
44 County was charging and will have no responsibility. The responsibility lies with the residents
45 of St. Anthony. Mr. Faust stated St. Anthony has invested monies in the SAPD for many years
46 and shared capital contribution is not even close to what will be spent. He stated the St. Anthony
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City Council Joint Town Hall Meeting Minutes
April 18, 2024
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Council has no responsibility to provide policing services to Falcon Heights; it is the Council's
responsibility is to St. Anthony.
Joan Peterson, 3200 Hilldale, asked what happens if contract is signed and St. Anthony can't find
the additional officers that are needed, what happens to the contract. She also asked how does
Council know for sure they will be able to hire 9-11 officers in this environment, and will there
be liability with the contract signed or does that mean there would be less support to St.
Anthony.
Mayor Webster announced the Town Hall is now closed. She thanked all for sharing their
feedback and stated the St. Anthony City Council will not take official action on items discussed
tonight. The City Council will discuss next steps at their Council meeting on Tuesday, April 23.
Councilmember Randle stated from the beginning his main concern was what the SAPD Officers
want to do. He did not take the survey and has only attended meetings in St. Anthony. The only
opinion that matters is the officer's.
Councilmember Doolan thanked Dr. Weinsten for doing the survey of the Police Department to
provide an external perspective for transparency. The SAPD was not pressured to answer in any
manner. She also thanked Goff for looking at the data from an unbiased lens, noting a
considerable outreach was made to the residents to gain input. She said looking at the financials
is the next phase. She heard increasing taxes for residents is not an option.
Councilmember Stephens thanked everyone and their feedback. She echoed what
Councilmember Doolan stated that there need to be shared liabilities across the board. We will
take all comments into consideration.
Mayor Gustafson thanked everyone for tonight's and previous comments, noting Falcon Heights
has been on a journey to try to figure out policing needs for a while. He stated he is the last
remaining Councilmembers from 2016. Since 2016, he has been trying to find the best way to
provide policing in Falcon Heights and the errors made to make the relationship sour. SAPD has
provided good service to Falcon Heights. St. Anthony has been a shining star for police
departments across the company. A police department needs to provide the services needed by
the community. He noted that by having Falcon Heights participate with St. Anthony, Falcon
Heights is willing to share the cost for the service. They are looking for solid policing that works
for the community. Falcon Heights is willing to cover their fair share of the costs and they are
looking for a solution that will work for 10-20 years down the line. Falcon Heights is a
residential community and 2 square miles include the University of Minnesota and the State Fair
grounds, which are tax exempt. He noted that Dina lives next door to a convenience store/gas
station.
Mayor Gustafson stated Falcon Heights is asking the City of St. Anthony to work with Falcon
Heights to benefit both cities to make the future brighter for both cities. Public engagement is
refreshing, noting they could have worked in the shadows and come to the cities with a deal. He
stated they wanted to involve the residents in the process to move forward or can we move
forward. He asked are the communities ready to move forward on this. That is why this has been
City Council Joint Town Hall Meeting Minutes
April 18, 2024
Page 8
1 done publicly. It means a lot to him to have an engaged community. He thanked everyone for
2 participating in this process. If Falcon Heights is included, they will do their best to be good
3 partners. Falcon Heights has explored some of the problems identified and thought about them
4 long and hard. He stated they will continue to do that in a transparent way.
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Councilmember Wassenberg stated as a relatively new councilmember, this process has been
very informative and educational. He thanked St. Anthony for hosting the meetings. He agrees
this needs to be win -win -win and feels this is possible with some work.
Councilmember Mielke thanked all for their comments.
Councilmember Meyer stated he is happy to see folks participating in this process. He agrees it
needs to be a win -win -win.
Councilmember Leehy stated she has been on the Council since 2018. Before that, she served on
the Community Engagement Committee. She is very passionate about serving in the community
where she lives. When Philando was killed she told the City that we need to get this right. She
has seen the majority of people wanting to get this right. She thanked everyone for their
participation. She has friends on the SAPD. The entire process gives us an opportunity to renew
an agreement but not as it was before and restore relationships and rebuild communication. It
takes time. She believes there can be a win -win -win. When contract was first drafted, that
decision was made for the residents she believes.
Mayor Webster wanted to acknowledge this was a difficult ask from the Falcon Heights Council
to explore this possible partnership. In the first joint meeting she experienced a heaviness in the
room with both Council's carrying the legacy of tragedy from the shooting. She appreciates
Falcon Heights in aligning with St. Anthony's values gaining input from all. It is important to
rebuild those connections between communities regardless of what happens. She appreciates the
level of engagement from the community members. It is clear we care deeply for our police
department and know the officers by their first names, we know their families. We take that care
and responsibility seriously. She thanked the Falcon Heights community for their comments
during these sessions. There were two different narratives. Both communities are looking for the
same high level of policing SAPD provides to St. Anthony.
ADJOURNMENT.
Motion by Councilmember Stephens, seconded by Councilmember Doolan, to adjourn the
meeting at 7:40 p.m.
Motion carried 9-0.
Respectfully submitted,
Debbie Wolfe
TimeSaver Off Site Secretarial, Inc.
ATTEST: bi
City Clerk
Za/k,.
Mayor