10-12 Work Session
CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
Richfield, Minnesota
City Council Work Session
October 12, 2021
CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order by Mayor Regan Gonzalez at 5:00 p.m. in the
Bartholomew Room.
Council Members Maria Regan Gonzalez, Mayor; Mary Supple; Simon Trautmann (arrived
Present: 5:25pm); Sean Hayford Oleary; and Ben Whalen
Staff Present: Katie Rodriguez, City Manager; John Stark, Community Development Director;
Blanca Martinez Gavina, Equity Administrator; Chris Swanson, Management
Analyst; and Kari Sinning, City Clerk
ITEM #1 CONSIDER THE PROPOSED UPDATE TO THE CITY’S LEGISLATIVE PROCESS
City Manager Rodriguez introduced our lobbyists Ann Lenczewski and Angie Huss, Equity
Administrator Blanca Martinez Gavina, and Management Analyst Chris Swanson for the presentation.
Equity Administrator Martinez Gavina gave an overview of the current legislative process.
Management Analyst Swanson stated the proposed changes to the current legislative process.
Equity Administrator Martinez Gavina broke down the specific changes of the proposed
changes and introduced our lobbyist, Ann Lenczewski, who stated her background and the need for
the legislative support for the city and how the city can support the state and federal legislature that
affects the city directly. Lobbyist Lenczewski also gave advice about how to address the legislators to
be the most effective for our community. Lobbyist Angie Huss clarified that there should be issues
initiated by the city and there are issues that the city would be supportive/opposed to so that
legislators know where to focus.
Council Member Whalen asked for clarification of how to support community issues that are at
a state level. Lobbyist Lenczewski recommended having the delineation of testifying on the behalf
themselves as a private citizen or on behalf of the city. City Manager Rodriguez gave a couple of
examples.
Management Analyst Swanson gave a summary and an overview of the next steps.
Council Member Supple supported the idea of the council adopting and voting on the
legislative priorities.
Council Member Hayford Oleary supported the clarification of the process and had a few
questions regarding the internal political policies, the timeline of approval by council, and the number
of legislative topics brought forward by the city. Management Analyst Swanson clarified his first and
second questions stating that this is a city staff policy that would be updated to be more clear to staff
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and that a work session would be brought forward to council at a later date. City Manager Rodriguez
described how legislative topics would be brought forward by staff as a part of the legislative process.
Council Member Supple asked for a verification of the timeline of which City Manager
Rodriguez stated the proposed dates.
Council Member Whalen echoed Council Member Hayford Oleary’s point of making the
legislative priorities more cohesive to the top priorities of the city and showed excitement about the
testifying policy updates. City Manager Rodriguez is hoping that this will make it clear to all employees
of the city of our policies of those that testify on behalf of the city or on behalf of themselves.
Mayor Regan Gonzalez approves the of policy changes and would like to see that council and
staff are all aware of the policies. Mayor Regan Gonzalez expressed excitement that we are moving in
the right direction and would love to see more communication out to the residents regarding these
legislative processes.
Council Member Whalen appreciated the lobbyists’ updates.
Mayor Regan Gonzalez thanked the lobbyists for their continued support of this growing city
and thanked staff for their leadership.
Lobbyist Lenczewski thanked the city for the help that we can provide for their process.
Council Member Trautmann also thanked the lobbyists and city staff for their contributions to
the city.
ITEM #2 PRESENTATION BY STATE DEMOGRAPHER SUSAN BROWER
City Manager Rodriguez introduced State Demographer Susan Brower.
State Demographer Brower gave an overview of the demographics of the country, state,
county, and city.
Council Members discussed the growth areas of the city and how the data collected may be
skewed due to the populations of Richfield that have changed since the census data was collected.
Community Development Director Stark agreed with Council Members and the Mayor
regarding the data collected.
Mayor Regan Gonzalez thanked State Demographer Brower for her contribution to the
process.
Council Member Supple asked about State Demographer Brower’s role in redistricting.
Council Member Whalen asked about the timeline of redistricting. State Demographer Brower
shared that Feb 2022 is the deadline for Legislative boundaries.
Council Member Hayford Oleary asked about redistricting for the city wards. City Clerk Sinning
stated that Hennepin County helps with this process and will know more information after the school
board election.
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Mayor Regan Gonzalez stated that seeing this data helps solidify our core value of being
equitable to all our residents and reiterated that the census really shows who we are as a city and
how we can use this data to help our work.
ADJOURNMENT
The worksession was adjourned by unanimous consent at 6:29p.m.
Date Approved: October 26, 2021
Maria Regan Gonzalez
Mayor
Kari SinningKatie Rodriguez
City ClerkCity Manager