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Chambers. After the election, the City Council voted to do just that and the citizens have been
<br />very pleased with that change. She was honored by the support she received from the voters in
<br />Ramsey and elated by the trust they placed in her. On November 7, 2000, she won her seat on
<br />Council. Now the rest of the story. On November 16, 2000, an article appeared in the Star
<br />Tribune titled "Ramsey City Council winner accused of campaign violation". In addition, an
<br />article was written in the Anoka County Union on November 16, 2000, which stated
<br />"Councilmember Terry Hendriksen, and defeated Mayoral hopeful, filed an unfair campaign
<br />practice complaint against Kurak on October 31, with the Anoka County Attorney's Office
<br />alleging lack of literature disclaimer and false statement in campaign literature and that her
<br />family gave out beer to supporters at a "Meet the Candidates" session. The only response Kurak
<br />was willing to give to the allegations was a brief statement. "The first I heard about charges
<br />brought against me by Mr. Hendriksen was from a reporter at the 'Anoka Union' paper," she said
<br />in a statement. "Not having been officially charged with any willful wrong doing I cannot and
<br />will not comment further on this matter other than to say it saddens my heart greatly that Mr.
<br />Hendriksen feels the need to challenge the voters' choice for their representative on the Ramsey
<br />City Council". She did acknowledge 25 brochures did not carry the disclaimer, Kurak said.
<br />There was no way to recall the literature, she said. The remaining 6,200 brochures that were
<br />handed out did carry the disclaimer, according to Kurak. While Jim Weaver, assistant Anoka
<br />County attorney, did acknowledge a complaint was filed with his office, he would not comment
<br />while the issue was being investigated". Ms. Kurak also read a letter from Steven A. Sondrall to
<br />Mr. Jim Weaver dated April 2, 2001, which stated the following: "This letter and the enclosed
<br />information relates to your ongoing investigation of an Unfair Campaign Practices Act alleged
<br />against my client, Ramsey City Council Member Pattiann Kurak. Apparently, the complaint
<br />precipitating the investigation was filed by Terry Hendriksen. Mr. Hendriksen is also on the
<br />Ramsey City Council. It is my understanding Mr. Hendriksen's allegations involve false
<br />statements made in the Kurak campaign literature. Specifically, the campaign literature indicated
<br />a storm water utility fee was adopted by the Ramsey City Council prior to any public heating or
<br />notice and minutes of the Council workshop sessions are not readily available. I am enclosing
<br />for your review and use a videotape containing excerpts from the October 24, 2000, November
<br />24, 2000, and September 25, 2000 Ramsey City Council meetings, relevant to these allegations.
<br />In the October 24, 2000, Council meeting, Mr. Hendriksen asks questions relative to both
<br />allegations. Concerning the availability of Council workshop minutes, both the City Attorney,
<br />Bill Goodrich, and the City Administrator, Jim Norman, indicate the Council workshop minutes
<br />are readily available, however, Mr. Goodrich indicates their availability is within 30 minutes of a
<br />meeting, while Mr. Norman indicates typed minutes might not be ready for at least a week
<br />subsequent to a meeting. I am enclosing for your review a copy of a December 5, 2000 letter
<br />from the Ramsey City Clerk, Jo Thieling, regarding availability of City Council minutes,
<br />including workshop minutes. The letter is addressed to Pattiann Kurak's husband, Thomas
<br />Kurak. The letter is dated December 5, 2000, and the City Clerk indicates some of the workshop
<br />minutes from 1999 as well as 2000 have not been transcribed. Clearly, Council workshop
<br />minutes are not readily available when they have not been transcribed into type written form and
<br />are contained only in notes of the City Clerk's steno books. I submit to you that the statement
<br />made in my client's campaign literature about the availability of Council workshop minutes is
<br />not false and the City Clerk's December 5, 2000 letter supports my client's campaign literature
<br />
<br />City Council/May 8, 2001
<br />Page 4 of 22
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