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<br />Mr. Cairns stated that the waiting list is public, so those families could be called. <br /> <br />Councilmember Dehen asked how much Mr. Cairns was charging the school to be here tonight. <br /> <br />Mr. Cairns stated that he has been working with the school since 1994 and charges fair and <br />reasonable rates, in most cases, of $325/hour. <br /> <br />Councilmember Dehen asked where this money was coming from to pay for his services. <br /> <br />Mayor Gamec stated that he did not want to get into this kind of debate. <br /> <br />Mr. Cairns stated that he could answer that question because his payments come from the same <br />pot of money that pays for any child in the public school system, the taxpayers' pocket. <br /> <br />Councilmember Strommen stated that she would like it to be very clearly defined what roles <br />Councilmembers Dehen and Look are playing in this discussion. She stated that at the work <br />session, City Attorney Goodrich gave a legal analysis that there was not a conflict of interest. <br />She stated that she feels there is a difference between a legal conflict of interest and a perception <br />of conflict of interest. She stated that, in some cases, the perception of conflict of interest is <br />more important and would like to ask her colleagues to consider that. <br /> <br />City Attorney Goodrich noted that in order to be fair, the Council should hear from those who <br />brought forward this lawsuit. <br /> <br />Mayor Gamec asked that if Councilmember Dehen or Councilmember Look would like to speak <br />that they step down from the Council table and speak at the podium. <br /> <br />Matt Look, 5635 - 142nd Avenue NW, stated that he hopes his comments will help clarify his <br />position on the enrollment policy. He stated that in researching this issue, his wife read the State <br />Statute on enrollment and felt it applied to residents. He stated that, in his opinion, Anoka- <br />Hennepin has not met the needs of the community and many students are bused into other <br />communities. He stated that he feels this is the reason that the previous Council approved PACT <br />coming to the City. He stated that currently Ramsey residents have a 7% chance of entrance into <br />the Kindergarten program at PACT. He stated that before the State Statute was amended in <br />2000, all students would have been involved in the lottery process. He stated that after 2000, <br />siblings were given preference. He stated that the author of this amendment, Senator Neuville, <br />never intended it to apply only to "towns" and when challenged, the Minnesota Department of <br />Education also interpreted the amendment in this manner. He stated that the amendment would <br />not give Ramsey residents exclusive preference, but would include proximity, and siblings in the <br />preferences. He stated that there would still be a lottery, but with a different composition. He <br />stated that currently there are 500 students from Ramsey on the waiting lists and nobody knows <br />why they are there. He stated that he has heard that if the interpretation of this Statute changes, <br />people will pull their children from the school a'nd homeschool them. He stated that he <br />understands that this has turned into a very emotional issue, but his position is clear that he is just <br />looking for the law to be followed. He stated that he is seeking judicial review, so all the <br />"opinions" can be set aside and this can move forward. He stated that he has been accused of <br /> <br />City Council / April 8, 2008 <br />Page 10 of20 <br />