Agenda - Council - 09/12/1995 - Laserfiche WebLink

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! I I I I I i I I I I I I I I I I I that he is tir .~1 of Terry Hendriksen making accusations with no basis. "He has no facts, only instinct~ and gut feelings something is wrong." Mr. Wagner noted other accusations made by Her~driksen regarding the past election and concluded that Mr. Hendriksen has a personal venqitetta against Hardin. Mr. Wagner inquired if "everyone is going to have to be subject to ttuS. Councilmernjber Zimmerman replied "when you are in public life, you are under the microscope, iYou better be ethical, above board, and above and beyond expectations. You have to respond to it the best you can when accusations are made." Councilmember Beyer agreed that "you have to be able to respond. Always." Councilmember Beahen stated she "disagreed that as a public officer, we are subject to people's opidions that what we have done is wrong and we are held suspect. I will not stand before ~tnybody and be accused and submit tax records simply because they want to see them." She contended that many people have been accused of different things by Terry Hendriksen. i Councilmember Beyer stated "you need to get used to it." Councilmember Beahen declared that "this is not why I am serving the public. The law protects me a~nd my privacy." Councilmemb. er Beyer replied "no, not once you are in the public eye." Glen Hardin~ 15681 Andrie Street N.W. - stated that at the last two meetings, many accusations §ave been made. He asked Mr. Hendriksen to provide details of his (Mr. Hardin's) une3'nployment as outlined in Mr. Hendriksen's memo (Exhibit A). Mr. Hendriks~en responded that he believed what he stated to be true. If it is not true, he would like d&ails of accuracy. If anything is inaccurate about the base issue regarding his employment at Northeast State Bank without divulging that, then I would ask him to let us know. There!would have to have been a disclosure at some point in time. Councilmeml~er Zimmerman noted the letter from Chris Smith of the League of Minnesota Cities, dated ;July 6, 1995 (Exhibit G) wherein Mr. Smith states "I do not believe I have ever taken th{ position that your actions areper se legal or ethical... I have not done any independent i investigation and the only other person I have spoken with is Mr. Hendriksen."! Councilmember Zimmerman felt this letter recants Mr. Smith's first letter (Exhibit E). : Councilmeml~er Beyer suggested, in the interest of putting closure on this issue, to do an independent i~nvestigation, noting that the quote received from Malloy, et al. in an amount not to exceed ~1500 (Exhibit B). Motion by (2ouncilmember Beyer and seconded by Councilmember Zimmerman to authorize Maliloy, et al. to do an investigation. Further Disctission: Councilmember Peterson felt that until the City Attorney gives his final opinionion this matter, he could not vote on this. He stated he was tired of the assumption of guilt when the issue has not been answered. Councilmember Zimmerman stated that "tlie worst thing we can do is nothing." Councilmember Beyer noted that she encouraged Olen Hardin to cooperate and stated she "personally did not have a problem with disclosing tax records." City Council/July 11, 1995 Page 11 of 13