03-27 Work Session (2)
CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
Richfield, Minnesota
Special City Council Work Session
March 27, 2018
CALL TO ORDER
The work session was called to order by Mayor Elliott at 5:50 p.m. in the Bartholomew Room.
Council Members Pat Elliott, Mayor; Edwina Garcia; Maria Regan Gonzalez; Michael Howard;
Present: and Simon Trautmann.
Staff Present: Steven L. Devich, City Manager; Jay Henthorne, Public Safety Director/Police
Chief; Jennifer Anderson, Support Services Supervisor; and Jared Voto,
Executive Aide/Analyst.
Item #1 T-21 TOBACCO INITIATIVE
Kris Klos, Advisory Board of Health (ABH) Chair, and Taylor Croissant, ABH Vice-Chair,
presented the topic of raising the tobacco sales age to 21 and provided information on tobacco use in
the Richfield School District, reasons to raise the age of tobacco sales to 21, who supports raising the
age to purchase tobacco, other cities that have raised the sales age, and frequently asked questions
about the initiative.
Council Member Regan Gonzalez thanked the ABH Chair and Vice-Chair for their presentation
and work on this topic and thanked the people in attendance for this topic. She stated as a public
health official she was in support of this initiative.
Council Member Garcia thanked the ABH Chair and Vice-Chair for their work and hearing from
residents. She thanked the residents and school board members in attendance. She suggested
sharing this information with the Chamber of Commerce and Richfield services clubs, like the
Optimists.
Council Member Trautmann thanked the ABH Chair and Vice-Chair for their presentation and
stated he had concerns about taking people’s liberty away from them. He stated he didn’t smoke, but
his brother does, and believed e-cigarettes are used as a cessation tool and within a
community/social environment. He also stated he had talked with some businesses and has concerns
that we are saying we may not want certain types of businesses in Richfield.
Mayor Elliott thanked the ABH Chair and Vice-Chair for their presentation and Council Member
Trautmann for voicing his opinion. He and stated he was not in favor of arbitrary restrictions based on
age. He stated he cannot question the medical results but unsure of the anecdotal stories. He stated
he would support the effort because it is a health crisis, but reiterated he generally opposed artificial
age restrictions.
Council Member Howard thanked the ABH Chair and Vice-Chair for their presentation and
Council Member Trautmann for his research and talking with businesses. He stated the research
Special Council Work Session Minutes -2- March 27,2018
show the public health benefits will save lives and is in favor of the passage. He asked about how
enforcement would be handled.
Police Chief Henthorne responded that compliance checks are down twice a year at
businesses selling tobacco products and this would be part of those checks of the business, not of
individuals.
Council Member Garcia stated health care costs concern her and that needs to be taken into
consideration on this item.
Item #2 HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION PRESENTATION OF DEMOGRAPHICS OF THE
CITY ADVISORY COMMISSIONS
Mark Westergaard, Human Rights Commission Chair, presented the findings from the 2018
demographics survey of the City's advisory commissions. This year's responses were compared to
responses received in 2014 and 2016.
Council Member Howard asked about connecting this work with the City's work with the
Government Alliance for Race and Equity (GARE).
City Manager Devich responded there is a connection between the work and the City's GARE
team could present their progress to the Human Rights Commission through the year.
Mayor and Council Members discussed the recruitment and retention efforts and were
somewhat surprised by the results based anecdotally on who they have been interviewing and
appointing to commissions.
Council Member Regan Gonzalez stated the results are a good general snapshot of the
commissions. She stated she would like to think about specific outcomes and targets to reach for and
tactics to accomplish them. She also discussed building relationships within each commission and
with the community. She also stated the Commission may want to include a statement of why this is
important to Richfield.
ADJOURNMENT
The work session was adjourned by unanimous consent at 6:56 p.m.
Date Approved: April 10, 2018
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