Agenda - Council - 04/27/2021 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Councilmember Heineman noted that is important as he wants to relieve any ideas that there is selective enforcement. He stated that if the history of violations on this property goes back years and attention was just brought to the other properties today, that would explain why one property could feel singled out. Motion by Councilmember Specht, seconded by Councilmember Howell, to grant a 30-day extension to allow the property owner to work with City staff and bring the property of 7111 175th Ave NW into compliance. Motion carried. Voting Yes: Mayor Kuzma, Councilmembers Specht, Howell, Heineman, Musgrove, Riley, and Woestehoff. Voting No: None. 8. MAYOR, COUNCIL AND STAFF INPUT 8.01: Council Staff Input — Regarding Public Data Request Councilmember Howell commented that residents would be well informed to know that the Mayor has been actively working behind the scenes to undermine the authority of Councilmembers. She stated that throughout the month of March, Mayor Kuzma was in correspondence with an activist political organization related to comments that she made in response to her disagreement with the City Attorney related to reconciling the constitution and other laws. She stated that in history bad things have happened when people fail to see that, and she provided examples. She stated that an activist organization chose to latch onto one of those examples and use it to propagate their own purposes. She stated that over a series of 10 to 11 days, Mayor Kuzma corresponded with the group and read aloud some of that correspondence. She commented that there is a section of City Code relating to the presiding officer, which would apply to Mayor Kuzma, as well as the obligation of Councilmembers. She provided examples of language from that section of City Code and stated that Mayor Kuzma invited members of the public to disparage her in front of the public. She commented that she never made a comparison to the suffering of the Japanese people and the mask mandate. She commented that she did disagree with the City Attorney when he said that there is not a reconciling and she provided examples in history. She stated that we've left off the fact that she also mentioned women's suffrage, that her statement was taken completely out of context and that this has been completely inappropriate. She commented that she will never be pressured to not uphold the constitution or say what she thinks is right. She stated that she will not ask Mayor Kuzma to apologize because this is clearly what he thinks. Councilmember Heineman pointed out that following the articles written about the City, Mayor Kuzma showed disappointment that the resolution was at fault for putting the City in the spotlight. He commented that after reading this, Mayor Kuzma asked activist groups, or organizations, to come to the City and berate a fellow member of the City Council and put further attention of the City. He referenced the comment in Mayor Kuzma's email that he wanted to censure Councilmember Howell and noted that either you do or do not; either you censure someone based on what is right or you do not and not base it on whether you think it would pass. He stated that he did not write the resolution based on whether it would pass but based on what he believes. He stated that if Mayor Kuzma feels it is appropriate to censure someone, he should bring that forward based on his belief and not whether it would pass. City Council / April 13, 2021 Page 17 of 20