Report of Investigation Prepared by Dyan J. Ebert Quinlivan & Hughes, P.A. For: City of Brooklyn Park April 19, 2024 Sere co aanzed tee Ee voreection cummmtned Oe tiie Report wey be culgoce to disclosure restrictions. Improper disclosure of this information may violate Minnesota law. You should asek lngal advice before making ang disclosure of the information contained in this report.‘TABLE OF CONTENTS Retention... Scope of Investigation/Nature of Issue. Information Received and Reviewed....... Investigation Overview .. \dings and Basis for Findings .......:+-s-ssssssssssssesesees Finding One Finding Two. Finding Three idual Witness Interview Summaries ........0... Councilmember Maria Tran........ Mayor Hollies Winston... poeeuee 8) piscine 14 08 19 Councilmember Boyd Morson .. Victoria Kates, City resident ............ssesssseseeseeneesee Collette Hamguyo, City resident...... Hassan Mohamed, City resident. ‘Tekoa Cochran, City resident Nelima Munene, City resident... Sarah Fercho, ity resident.The City of Brooklyn Park's Attorney, James J. Thomson contacted me on February 10, 2024, regarding the City’s need for assistance with an investigation following receipt of a complaint from City employee, Ll against Maria Tran, a Member of the City Council. I was retained to conduct the meependent investigation on February 15, 2024. Scope of Investigation/Nature of Issue: ‘As noted above, the investigation stems from a complaint made by City employee a alleged that Councilmember regarding Councilmember Maria Tran. Tan violated the City’s Elected Official Rules of Proceaure and Code of Conduct, as well as the City's Employee Handbook, in her interactions with, and treatment of, According to the complaint, Councilmember Tran has unfairly criticized work performance in a number of ways and in a variety of settings since taking office In January of 2023. The most recent events which resulted in the formal complaint being made by occured 5 Pen a retina tothe Ciara Councilmember Tran expressed criticism of [to step down from position with the City. Both Mayor Winston and City Manager Stroebel advised Councilmember Tran that her comments should not be made| Councilmember Tran disagreed and claimed she was being bullied and denied the opportunity to express her opinion about the issues being presented to the City ES aa, Information Received and Reviewed: ‘The following items were received and reviewed in conjunction with the investigation: 1 January 30,2024 Compa III oudig Memos and Log of Interactions between CounciimeiiieP A Tran ‘—_—— 2, Brooklyn Park Elected Officials Rules of Procedure and Code of Conduct, along with confirmation of approval/adoption by the City Council on January 9, 2023, and January 8, 2024; Brooklyn Park Employee Handbook Audio and video recordings of] ‘meeting; ‘Audio and video recording of] meeting; ‘Audio and video recording of meeting; Excel spreadsheet of| Pompramnt mace by Councilmember Tran and actions taken regarding same; Email from to City Couneil (and others) providing information about the process and information Gwith referenced attachments), and ng, (0 EN forward 9 Ema fom Comelinenber To TTT Indicating. that has not provided her with information about @ soveeEmail from fo eee unciimempber Tra Email from ae ‘and contractors that worked on the f a. wae er 28, 2023} notice; 12.CCX Media Article, PAINT FILED AGAINST BROOKLYN PARK COUNCIL MEMBER,” March 6, 2024, 5:11 p.m. including statement from Councilmember Tran; 13. Link to YouTube video, Political Corruption in Brooklyn Park, http://www outube.com watch” =AiRdsvagZs 14 HES Memorandum {7c NNN ca vouncilmember Maria Tran Allegations: 15. Undated letter from J. Halverson to Council Members and Mayor expressing concerns about lack of security and customer service in City buildings. Investigation Overview In-person interviews of and Councilmember Tran were conducted on March a1 and March 21, respectively was interviewed via Teams on April 5, 2024. Mayor Hollies Winston was interviewed via Teams on April 10, 2024. Cocina ES MRI tee Tec pr 5 2005, Cy restents Tctoria Kates, Collette Hamguyo, and Hassanen Mohamed were interviewed over the phone on April 17, 2024. Messages left for City residents Nelima Munene and Sarah Fercho were not returned; the voicemail box of City resident Tekoa Cochran was full and would not allow a message to be left. All of the witnesses were provided Tennessen Warnings prior to being interviewed. Summaries of each witness interview are appended to this Report. In addition to the interviews, the information detailed as items 1-15 above was reviewed and considered during the investigation.Findings and Basis for Findings: Finding One: conceit that City Councilmember Tran violated the Brooklyn Park Elected Mictals Rules of Procedure and Code of Conduct in bow Couneimember Tran treated and interacted with J including during the [i [MEE mecting, is SUBSTANTIATED. Basis for Finding On Brooklyn Park's Elected Officials Rules of Procedure and Code of Conduct includes a section detailing how elected officials are supposed to interact with City employees. In particular, Section 6.2 provides, in pertinent part, as follows: 6.2 Council Conduct with City Staff A. Treat all staff as professionals. Clear, honest communication that respects the abilities, experience, and dignity of each individual is expected. Belligerent, personal, impertinent, slanderous, threatening, abusive, or disparaging comments toward staff is not acceptable. B. _Limit contact to specific City staff. Questions of City staff and/or requests for additional background information should be directed to the City Manager, City Attorney, or Department Heads, unless otherwise directed by the City Manager. The City Manager should be copied on or informed of any request. C. Couneil direction to staff. In accordance with Charter Section 2.10, individual Council Members cannot give direction to city staff either publicly or privately. The Council as a body may provide staff direction on matters that come before the Council. Requests for follow-up or directions to staff should be made only through the City Manager or the City Attorney when appropriate. When in doubt about what staff contact is appropriate, Council Members should ask the City Manager for direction. Materials supplied to a Council Member in response to a request for information of interest to all Council Members will be ‘made available to the entire Council so that all have equal access to the informationE Never publicly criticize an individual employee. Council should never express concerns about the performance of a City employee in public, to the employee directly, or to the employee's manager. Comments about staff performance should only be made to the City Manager through private correspondence or conversation. The City’s Respectful Workplace Policy also applies to elected officials and prohibits a variety of things including the use of disrespectful language and other offensive behavior in the workplace The investigation confirmed that Councilmember Tran was aware of and received training on the Elected Officials Rules of Procedure and Code of Conduct after she was elected to the City Council, Asa result, Councilmember Tran was aware of the Code’s requirements that she refrain from making personal attacks or disparaging comments toward staff and that any concerns about a City employee's work performance were to be brought to the attention of City Manager Stroebel rather than to the employee directly, to others, or ina public meeting. Councilmember Tran_‘isvegarde’ these requirentents on ‘several occasions, including when she accused i uf misrepresenting and the ‘work [was doing for the City, and when she questioned {lf work and aske to resign from J position with the City during the} necting, The investigation did not reveal any justification or reasonable explanation for Councilmember Trans decision to disregard the requirements of the Code of Conduct in her interactions with ot ene To the contrary, as detailed below in explaining the basis for Finding Three, Me uivestigation confirmed that on several prior occasions when Councilmember Tran did follow the Code of Conduct and had asked questions or expressed concerns about a City employee's work (whether to City Manager Stroebel or another member of the City’s administrative team), the issue was immediately addressed and corrected. Finding Two: PR a eee played aoe the manner in whic, Couneinenber Tan interacted with {MJ or the criticisms she expressed about work performance since she was elected fo the City Council is UNSUBSTANTIATED Basis for Finding Two: The investigation did not reveal a basis to definitively conclude that race impacted the manner in which Councilmember Tran treated or the eniticisms Councilmember Tran expressed regarding J work performance. While some of the 4witestes interviewed suggested that Counciimember Tran was quick o accuse I I of treating her unfairly or not doing their jobs appropriately, Councilmember Tran confirmed she is generally skeptical of most City officials and employees, regardless of their race (and gender) and this was also borne about by other aspects of the investigation. Councilmember Tran said she simply does not believe that the City officials and employees are doing their jobs or that the City, as a whole, is being transparent about the work being done and the decisions being made. Further, Councilmember Tran was extremely critical who is MMMM As a result, I am unable to conclude that Councilmember Mans actions towa were motivated by il] race. Finding Three: City Councilmember Tran’s assertion that it would have been futile to direct her concerns about orf work performance to City Manager Stroebel as required by the Code nduct is SUBSTANTIATED. Basis for Finding Three: Councilmember Tran alleged that she did not bring her concerns a or| performance to the attention of City Manager Stroebel because she did not believe he would do anything to address her concerns. Councilmember Tran told me that she based this conclusion on previous instances when she claims to have raised concerns about other employees to City Manager Stroebel and he did nothing to address them. The investigation confirmed, however, that on at least five prior instances when Councilmember Tran raised concerns or spoke to City Manager Stroebel about issues, including employee performance concerns, her concerns were taken seriously and the issues she raised were looked into and addressed. For example, shortly after Councilmember Tran was elected, members of the [core caaa ‘worked with her to develop her profile for the City’s “Park Pages Publication. Councilmember Tran was not given the opportunity to review the final version of the profile before it was published and some of the changes she requested had not been made in the final version. (To be sure, the _ including all of the City Councilmembers, not just Councilmemt in, In the email sending the publication for final review.) Councilmember Tran questioned why this did not occur and the issue was immediately addressed. The az confirmed an oversight in the process occurred and personally apologized to Councilmember Tran. Additionally, arrangements were made to feature Councilmember Tran in a video for use on the City’s social media accounts. (Councilmember Tran subsequently asked that the video that was created not be published by the City.) On another occasion, Councilmember Tran questioned why City staff did not take pictures of her at the City’s Tater Daze celebration, suggesting that this was the result of an anti- Asian sentiment in the City. Again, Councilmember Tran’s concerns were immediately addressed by City staff and it was explained that the staff photographing the parade and the community market were focused on the community members attending these eventsand were not focused on highlighting the activities of the individual City Councilmembers in attendance. City staff also confirmed, however, that Councilmember Tran was featured by CCX Media's livecast and still photographs of Councilmember Tran participating in the parade were also obtained. Another example of Councilmember Trans concerns being taken seriously occurred when she complained about the smell of marijuana in City Hall. Councilmember Tran told Ci Manager Stroebel she believed City employees were smoking on City property. City Manager Stroebel and another City employee did an immediate walk-through of the building and confirmed the only location where the smell was prevalent was in the main lobby area of the building. City Manager Stroebel was satisfied that there was no basis to conclude that City staff were smoking and determined the smell likely was brought into the building by a member of the public on their clothing. City Manager Stroebel told Councilmember Tran what he did to address her concern and how he arrived at his conclusion. Another example of concerns raised by Councilmember Tran being immediately addressed as soon as they beame known occurred when Councilmember Tran asked for information about ee process in March of 2023. ee gathered the information Councilmember Tran requested, provided it to Kim Berggret and Ms. Berggren sent it to all of the City Councilmembers, including Councilmember ‘Tran. Several months later, in December 2023, Councilmember Tran sent an email to City Manager Stroebel and claimed a never responded to her request for a City Manager Stroebel immediately reached out to| Tan, anc jand confirmed the information had been previously provided to founcilmember directed IEEE to resend it to Councilmember Tran. Further, after Councilmember Tran said ving difficulty accessing the information through her City email zou le to schedule a time for Councilmember Tran to come to her office and review the information, but Councilmember Tran refused. Finally, Councilmember Tran has raised concerns about the security (or lack thereof) at City Hall; Councilmember Tran noted that there were occasions when she and members of the public found the building open with no City staff are around, both before and after regular business hours. City Manager Strocbel confirmed that rooms in City Hall are available and often used by community groups that meet outside of regular business hours when most City staff are not scheduled to work. To address the concern raised by Councilmember Tran and others, City Manager Stroebel confirmed that arrangements are being made for police cadets to regularly patrol the building when these meetings/community events are taking place. While Councilmember Tran may not have been satisfied with the actions taken or the follow up that was done to address her various concerns and complaints, the investigation confirmed there is insufficient evidence to support Councilmember Tran’s claim that her concerns were routinely ignored, not taken seriously, or not otherwise addressed. As a result, there is no basis to conclude that it would have been futile for Councilmember Tran to bring any concerns she had about RII or iJ work performance to the attentionof City Manager Stroebel and that her only recourse was to raise them during the or in other public forums. It should also be noted that there appears to be no doubt that conflicts exist between members of the City Council which may be impacting how the individual councilimembers act of interact with one another during public meetings and otherwise carry out their councilmeniber duties. That issue is, generally, beyond the scope of this investigation. The existence of these conflicts and the impact they have, including the information Councilmember Tran, Mayor Winston, and some of the City's residents provided regarding how and why these conflicts exist and how they have been exhibited, however, were taken into account and considered to extent they potentially impacted or explained Councilmember Tran's treatment of and interactions w a ‘To my knowledge, a formal complaint has not been made by Councilmember fran tegarding these conflicts or her allegations of race and age discrimination (as outlined in Section 8 of the Elected Officials Rules of Procedure and Code of Conduct) Regardless, any conflicts that may exist do not justify Councilmember Tran’s disregard of the Code of Conduct’s requirement tal she iether concer boi No fo pertormane to Cy Manager Stroebel. Further, any such complaints by Councilmember Tran are outside the scope of my investigation ARMM 0° Respectfully submitted, Dyan 9. Ebert Dyan J. Ebert Quinlivan & Hughes, P.AIndividual Witness Interview Summaries: a Jwas interviewed in-person on March 11, 2024, at Brooklyn Park fall. Was given and signed a Tennessen Warning Notice before the interview. a in late 2000 or earl |. He attended viduals who have done internships wi [REE Department is a very collaborative working environment.recalls Jj first contact with Councilmember Marie Tran (“CM Tran”) was before she was elected to the City Council jsaid that{fJwas aware that CM Tran wrote a letter to City Manager Jay Stroebel claiming she was being discriminated against by the recalled that CM Tran claimed she had would not fix them. The City determined CM ‘Tran’s complaint was @ Hssue and referred her to the and the Minnesota Human Rights Department: ae CM Tran and eft amessage for her with this information. CM Tran never return call, sof called and left a second message for CM Tran with the information. fexplained t at Bpeieves this is japan tof current complaint because CM Tran has suggested that jdoes not do ifiob and that has refused to help her when she has raised issues or asked questions, Accompanying, }written complaint against CM Tran is a spreadsheet that details Yarlous eneountessimaaims to have had with CM Tran. explained thatfiformer work as al taught J to track contacts m this fashion. fleonfirmed that Mlstarted tracking fjMlinteractions with CM Tran after the jmeeting. jsaid [added the entries that predate this meeti sed on] Teeofection of events-the recording of the jaar meeting, an other documentation. was| first interaction with CM Tran after she was elected to the Counell- was providing a report to the City Council during the meeting. recalled that CM Tran questioned how long fjJhad been working with the City an referenced “two terms"; IMhtold CM Tran 4 at as» City employee (and not an elected official) sofffJJdid not serve “terms. a said CM Tran made comments nl ran the meeting that made it clear tofjjfthat ¢ id gt bln as doing job. At one point, CM Tran asked if there was another ‘working for the City and suggested that the “other IN” was trying to by givingthem money without them even asking. confirmed J was the only working for the City and also confirmed that jiob included the C n was adamant, however, that the person she was thinking ofand whom she claimed to have seen at a meeting she attended was not Mand was, instead, someone else that had the same name or claimed to be s next documented interaction with CM Tran was on| that included a Keynote speaker, @ Teport 10m fanager Stroebel,_and various breakout sessions on a variety of topics. was responsible Tecalled that CM Tran attended one of the ‘sessions gj Was responsible for and during ‘he session asked a number of questions about jeri voiced complaints that the City was not providing sufficient oversight of tried to answer CM Tran’s questions and explain that the City is not responsible for managing| also pointed out that her questions were outside the scope of presentation which was focused on According to i Tran would not accept the onses/explanations provided and contmued to ask more and more questions and express criticism about what she char ed as the City’s lack of oversight of I me CM Tran that J would be happy to follow up with her after that event to address her questions a she listen ‘oil Met that CM Tran at this eve was very disrespectful to| ext interaction with CM Tron os ot he i meeting. was providing a MMI update during the meeting, Including information about City expen -s relating to Various| programs. CM. Tran asked a question about | which had previously been aj ‘and approved by the City) did not seek funding for| that CM Tran claims should have been a was to address code also tried to explain that the City is not involved mn setting the | ran was very critical offend did not accept ffexplanatic Following the| meeting, CM Tran made a data request regarding the , asking for data relating to the application, staff Teports, the public hearing -proposal/presentation, inspection reports, and the HMMM c2ther-d atl of the documentation ane providedit to serggren. Berggren, in turn, sent it toall of the City Council Members, including CM Tran.Much ater in IMM an old ity Maneeen Sse tha never responded to her request for information. Stroebel spok ‘Ie confirmed Jhad, in fact, responded and avs ht I provided the data to CM Tran, fe information was also resent to CM Tran at that time. According tof, CM Tran never acknowledged that she had been previously provided the information and never apologized for accusing [IIMMJof not responding to her request. | CM Tran attended a sponsored by the City The| id that ’ fed Oopena bottle otwater for her; if felt she did so in an attempt to “denumanir« and treat J like “slave labor.” Jwas very put off by this and characterized tras a very disrespectful and strange interaction, The ext negative interaction bets co nM tran occured on ’ Jexplamned that because the City had received several questions about the City decided to provide some education to the City residents Two guest speakers were Tn addition to a significant ran and CM Boyd Morson also 1 the meeting room, weleoming specifically relating to conflict resolution ted to attend, number of attended the} was star the dow attendees, when OM Tran and CM Morson walked in, According to CM Tran Tefused to acknowledge = \d would not shake ff) hand. Additionally, during the presentation, CM Tran asked a lot of questions and prevented others in attendance from having the opportunity to speak or ask their questions. When speaking, CM Tran made several negative comments about in City, including claiming that they were “not trustworthy” and were “taking advantage « a] cautioned CM Tran to be very careful with her accusations. Additionally, another City employee, MIRREN, 3 C01 Tran to submit beg uestions about to the City in writing to be addressed later but, according to| |, CM Tran never followed up on this invitation, On December 15, 2023, CM Tran told Strocbel that she was not satisfied with| work on the Mot 20 shy Jaimed that not happy with what had occurred on the project. Despite being asked to Identity the a: had the concerns so follow up could be done, CM refused to provide their names and contact information. After learning of CM a _.| worked with City Attorney Rachel Tierney to outline the process that was followed WI regard to the project. CM Tran continued critical of the project and| work, and kept asking for more and more information. {gM felt there was nothing could do that would satisfy CM Tran During the a report about the statute jwas on the agenda to provide explained that, by committee of various stakeholders decides fiCouneil meeting, CM Tran objected to the recommendations; Presentedregarding liow the money was being allocated and, in particular, she questioned why the recommendations did not include more funds to be allocated to Senior residents of the City Ie to answer CM Tran’s questions and explain how the program worked, and'also explain how senior residents were eligible for other programs offered by the City. CM Tran, apparently not satisfied $e explanation, asked I to step down from fjiposition with the City City Manager Stroebel tried to interject and noted that it was not appropriate for a discussion about employee performance to occur during a City Council meeting. Additionally, at one pont, the Mayor turned off CM Tran's microphone because she was not following the rules of decorum. In response, CM Tran called the Mayor a bully. has not had any other interactions woth CM Tran since} a nifirmed fb sf oan to avoid interact ‘Tran because ofthe way she has treated AY" whieh is particularly troubling to fj b Wha ques said [work performance has neve City of Brooklyn Park's representative to the committee for several years, a the embarrassed by what happened. Since the mecting, has-been approached by people who said they saw what happened, no oneljifhas spoken to about the incident hias told J they believe CM Tran was justified in lier actions toward When I asked| Jabout other people iif thinks I should speak to about [J complaint, BB icentified and the other City employees and maividuals identified In gg -omprain 1 advised (I that if J experienced anytliilelieved to be retaliation for either making the complaint of participating in the investigation ‘bat should immediately let me or City Manager Stroebel know. When I asked how Belt like play resolved CM Tran to be helt resporistble for her 5 df wants fo work ma environment which means] is not sub jected fo unfair c*/bcism and is supported by colleagues. believes CM Tran has be BEB (ra Jong time and feels there should be some consequences for her ves shie will continue to treat (and others) this way OR me there have been many ve ch he City during [tem Mefuding an increase in diversity in th ore and better development projects. said CM Tran’s behavior « MIB wake it hard for to “give best” because she does not mak supported. is concerned that fsemething is not done, others wi dd people will be discouraged from working at the City note has mad Jos suggesting that is “getting kick eke. from inchid I Conds ese accusations to beicularly offensive. | is responsible for processing paperwork relating to but] has absolutely no connection to the funds themselves.2. Councilmember Maria Tran Councilmember Maria Tran (“CM Tran”) was interviewed on March 21, 2024, at the Hennepin County Library in Brooklyn Park. CM Tran appeared with her attorney, John Hayden. CM Tran was given and signed a Tennessen Warning Notice before the interview. Attorney Hayden asked if my investigation encompassed CM Tran’s complaint of retaliation against the City. I confirmed I was not retained to investigate a complaint made by CM Tran and was not aware one had been filed; I also confirmed, however, that I would consider whatever information she wanted to provide me in my investigation of the employee complaint. {advised CM Tran that the complainant vas IML CM Tran suid based onthe redacted complaint that she was provided, she believes there is likely more than one complainant. When I asked her to tell me who she thought the other complainants were, she identified very generally “people who handle public funds” for the City of Brooklyn Park. Additionally, she believes the reference in the complaint to her asking someone to open a bottle of water for her at a meeting was made by CM Tran told me that she feels the complaints are being made against her because she is asking questions about the City staff and how they are spending money. According to CM ‘Tran, many citizens have asked her to look into these issues because there has been a pattern of mistreatment by the City and how the funds are being used. When I asked CM ‘Tran to identify the citizens by name, she refused and said she would not do so without first obtaining their permis CM Tran told me she believes emails being sent to her at her City email address are being “filtered out” because she does not receive them. CM Tran indicated she has spoken to City Manager Jay Stroebel and = in the City’s Department about her concerns and was told there were no problems with her account. CM Tran does not believe this and maintains that the City staff is monitoring her emails and filtering out those that they do not want her to receive. According to CM Tran, CM Morson has told her he has also experienced this and has not received emails that citizens have told him they have sent to his City email account. CM Tran told me she believes City officials and employees try to” shut up” citizens when they do not like their opinions or the questions being asked. CM Tran said she has also been stifled during City Council meetings and had her microphone turned off when she tries to raise these issues, CM Tran told me she feels ridiculed at the City Council meetings by the other City Council members. She has observed other City Council members roll their eyes and said they do not listen to her when she is speaking. CM Tran confirmed that she made a comment during the July 21, 2023 City Council meeting that the other City Council members “have no balls.” CM Tran said any concerns she raises about staff are dismissed and not taken seriously. By way of example, she told me that when she was in City Hall she smelled marijuana. 4She told City Manager Stroebel that she suspected City employees were smoking marijuana on City property and he told her he would look into it. Later, City Manager Stroebel told her he did not find anything that lead him to believe City employees were smoking marijuana on City property and suggested that perhaps she smelled it on other people that were in the building. CM Tran does not believe City Manager Stroebel took her complaint seriously or that his explanation for what she smelled was plausible. CM Tran said she is very concerned about the lack of building security at City Hall. She said she has come to City Hall before and after regular business hours and has found the building unlocked and no employees around. After asking questions about this, CM Tran alleges she was told she was only supposed to be in the building on Mondays (the days of. City Council meetings) and that the badges of all the City Council members (including hers) only allow for very limited access to the building. CM Tran said that she was also told by| inf] that J would only help her with her laptop issues on Mondays. CM Tran confirmed she was elected to the City Council in November 2022, and was sworn in on January 9, 2023. She was provided some training between November and January, from both the City and the League of Minnesota Cities, including training on the Rules of Conduct for Elected Officials. CM Tran said she is aware the Rules state that as a City Council member she has no direct involvement in providing work direction to the staff and that she is supposed to work though the City Manager if she has any staff-related concerns. CM Tran said at |, she_had concerns about HERB 22:4, in partular, request to be appomred to the committee. When I asked her to explain the basis for her concern, she told me 1e had previously interacted with an individual at an| who identified himself as| |. The individual who was speaking a meeting, however, was not the same individual she remembered being at meeting. While it was somewhat difficult to follow, CM Tran implied that| being dishonest about the work iwas doing for the City. She also told me she believes ied about being at the| she attended According to CM Tran, since that initial meeting in =: whenever she has questioned her fellow Council Members have encouraged her to continue to challenge en I asked her to identify those Council Members, she refused to do 50, CM Tran told me that City employees never take her picture when she attends public events. CM Tran said a member of the CCX staff told her they were worried about her at the City. She could only identify this CCX staff member as “Shannon.” According to CM Tran, she has talked to City Attorney James Thomson and City Manager Stroebel about feeling excluded by the City staff. She told them the staff does not take photos of her, will not talk to her, and ignore her when they see her.CM Tran told me that she does not believe City employees are actually working when they are not at City Hall, even though she is aware that some staff work remotely. She thinks they are being dishonest and not really working but could not explain why she held this belief. She told me that she thinks this is the real reason she has been told not to come to City Hall on any days other than Monday because no one is working. With regard to in particular, CM Tran said she has received several complaints from citizens not being in the office and not returning their calls. When I asked CM Tran rought those issues to the attention of City Manager Stroebel, she said she did not think she should talk to him about it because he would me the employees. CM Tran said she has previously brought concerns about and disrespecting her to Stroebel’s attention and he did not do anything about it. CM ‘Tran does not believe Stroebel takes her concerns seriously. Because of this, CM Tran has never made any more complaints about [iljor other employees to Stroebel. CM Tran told me that MM staff get mad at her when she asks for information and have refused to give her information when requested. When I asked her to elaborate on this, CM Tran said she had sent these concerns to the “upper hand” but would not explain what she meant by that other than to imply it was a person or entity not associated with the City. CM Tran told me that she believes City staff will not work with her because she is asking questions and asking for transparency CM Tran told me that in January or February of 2023 she spoke to Stroebel about her concern that| [was not honest and Stroebel told her to talk to| about it.CM Tran refused to talk to however, because CM said| as also mistreated her. CM Tran explained that is unfriendly to her but will talk to other City Council members. CM Tran told me that when she attends public events and asks questions, including questions about [Jin the City, she is cut off by City staff and is prevented from talking further. She spoke to Stroebel about this and after doing so she claims it got worse and the staff continued to treat her poorly. CM Tran told me that she has a long, written list of complaints about City employees and that she has told Stroebel about the list, but she has not and will not give the list to anyone associated with the City. ‘When I asked CM Tran about Be a ccrmiromh on she recalled beit in attendance, but she denied being disrupuve. With regard to the| WRI C¥ Tran admitted that during the mecting she raised issues and asked questions to CM Tran, she visited with pod! are not being treated fairly by the fy. She dented receiving the information after the meeting that she asked for to address her questions. According to CM Tran, when she told! a she had not received the information by cca oe to meet with her at City Hall so she could review it. CM Tran, however, did not think this was necessary as she wanted to be able to review it at home. She also told me that she was not comfortable going to 's office because she does not feel safe at the City. She said she feels intimidated and attacked and 16believes staff are spreading rumors about her being “demented” because she fell at City Hall. When I asked her to identify the staff she believes are spreading these rumors, she initially refused and would only say [IIB [IMI and “anyone else that she is asking hard questions about.” OM Tran was ooking shout (ie TT oil een te information she requested. CM Tran tolame she felt very threatened at this pont because she was asking questions, Tasked CM Tran about the| meeting. According to CM Tran, atan earlier meeting on| no" onthe issue of whet: I should be reappointed to the committee. After doing so, she was, accused of engaging in a personal attack Om PCM Tran denied this claim and said she was only exercising her right to vote “no™on the motion. CM Tran said she tried to position, but she also realized that she was outnumbered in the vote and| reappointed. CM Tran also told me that her concerns with [Mj related to explain her reason for voting no, namely that she wanted to see a new person in the to answer her questions about transparency Tasked CM Tran if she had any concerns about the way the [I funds were being used and she said she did not recall. She confirmed she is aware the allocation of the funds is reviewed and vetted by the IMME nen aed her what ol I Played in the allocation decisions, she sald she knows if is involved in thqfMJ process and that when she asked iMfto “publicize thd proce: fused to ‘Tran also told to provide her with the (and others with ‘were SUD} to talk to the ‘and not just the - ‘managers. CM Tran told me she ) are showing favoritism for the i] managers over the CM Tran believes the City doesnot prot ‘When I asked CM Tran about others I should speak to for my investigation, CM Tran identified CM Morson. She also said I should speak to citizens of the City who have brought their concerns to her attention but, again, she was not willing to provide me with their names until she received their permission to do so. CM Tran told me that she and CM Morson believe they have been discriminated against because of their age. CM Tran also believes she is being discriminated against on the basis of her race. CM Tran expressed feelings of being “in danger” because she is speaking her mind and defending her constituents. She said she does not feel comfortable being at City Hall after dark. She said she feels stifled at City Council meetings because her microphone is turned off when she speaks. 1 advised CM Tran that if she experienced anything she believed to be retaliation for participating in the investigation that she should immediately let me or City Manager Stroebel know. I also advised CM Tran and attorney Hayden that they could provide me with additional information and the names of people they think I should talk to for the rinvestigation once they discussed it further. One particular document that CM Tran told me she intended to provide me was a complaint she received from a citizen that they dropped off for her at City Hall; the citizen old CM Tran that they had sent an email to her at her City email address about the issue but CM Tran had not received it. After CM Tran’s interview CM Tran sent me an email providing me with a copy of an ‘undated letter to “Council Members and mayor” from “J Halverson” that CM Tran indicated was dropped off for her and was in her folder at the front desk at City Hall ‘on Jan 2024.” Additionally, CM Tran and Mr. Hayden sent several emails and identified the following City residents that they suggest I contact for the investigation: Collette Hamguyo (763-489-8205) Victoria Kates (320-330-5251) ‘Tekoa Cochran (612-772-0615) Hassanen Mohamed (612-296-0604) Nelima Munene (612-986-4927) Sarah Fercho (612-432-1684) 18has been the since developed about 6 years ago to address some negative behaviors that were occurring on the City Council, The decision was made to set forth an established code of conduct for elected officials to guide them as they relate to each other, to staff, and with public. The Code of Conduct is reviewed and approved every year by the City Couneil. MERI 21 22 counciimembers,inctuding Couneimember Tran, go through an onboarding process after they are elected; the process includes a presentation on the Code of Conduct, as well as the City’s respectful workplace policy, and other laws that apply to councilmembers (i.e., the Open Meeting Law, the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act). The onboardingis typically done by the City Attorney, and the ‘The: [eague of Minnesota Cities also offers training for newly elected officials an eves Councilmember Tran attended this training, as well WR conrmed thas the interactions between! and CM Tran have been strained Sesh: (ook ce AT 27 Fes longstanding interest issues and has expressed fru bout what she believes to be a lack of action By the City in this area. Because of MIM position with the City, Jas become the person CM ‘Tran has focused her attentfon on when asking questions about Min the City. KM exolained that while the City does provide some IM taining, and information for residents, it is largely a st gulated issue. Even so, CM Tran is critice of the Citys limited role, patiulrly with rsa to th IM process and continues to express her criticism even when she » proof that her claims are unfounded or that the City has no ability to change the s. Her criticisms are directed at HB called during CM Tran's , she questioned if was who fl said was, and sald someone else using ag name had attended| Meeting. told CM Tran that there is only o: who works for the City oa me that CM_Tran has denied receiving information even after it has been sent to her. The example ff provided was relating to her request for information on the even though it was sent to her (and aan oT the rest of the City Council) by email. Si while CM Tran claims she is not ross information through her City email account, MH = this i just not true and, to knowledge, there are no issues with her email account. Further, the City's IT employees sued laptop have provided her with assistance when she has requested it with her Cit or other technology-related issues.MRI sic ca Tran bas brought forth concerns about other City employes and, in each Of these circumstances the concerns were taken seriously and addressed. For example, CM Tran was upset that she was not given the chance to review the final proof of her rofile in the City’s Park Pages publication. It was confirmed that this was an oversite by a (none of the City Councilors were given the chance to Teview the final proof) and tt was immediately addressed. CM Tran also raised a concern about the City staff not photographing her when she attended the Tater Days parade, claiming it was because of an anti-Asian bias. Again, this issue was immediately tddressed 2nd RMMMMINNRS reached out to CM Tran regarding the issue CM Tran has also expressed concerns that she feels unwelcome in City Hall. When asked to 2 le ok are making her feel this way, she has been unable or unwilling to do so._ jalso confirmed that there have been no limitations placed on CM Tran regarding when she can come to City Hall and she is welcome at any time. = is also aware that CM Tran and other councilmembers have expressed concerns about safety and security issues at City Hall because the building is open after regular business hours when most City staff are not scheduled to work. BR cst that various community groups and even the commissioners use space In City Hall and may meet after regular business hours. While operations and maintenance employees are in the building at these times, they are not always visible. As a result, to address the safety and security concerns, the City is working to schedule police cadets to patrol the building. cin recalled CM Tran calling, after she said she smelled marijuana in the vu when she was in the City Counell work area and her concern was that someone working for the City was smoking. TT 3! throughout the building and confirme ie smell was most prominent in the lobby area ofthe bala ‘said there was nothing that suggested tof that employees were smoking in the building and, due to the location of the smell, JJ came to the conclusion that it was likely brought into the building on the clothing of a member of the public. HRB oo ve ac came otis concasion. With regard to the confirmed that in addition to the| which captured all ofthe even when f explained that during mn expressed. criticism ntual Jwork performance and asked Mayor Winston did eve Interject and tried to stop CM Tran from although given the statements she was making, than she was. Regardless, all 0 RR fe me tht fl betieves CM Tran's comment dur feo the meeting violated the Conduct because she was expressing criticism of| work performance which, pursuant to the Code, is to be done in a private setting. also confirmed that [ff felt CM Tran’s criticisms of IMJ were unfair because they were based on issuesthat are outside and the City’s—control, and unfounded because, to | | knowledge, fwork performance has always been good. RRR ct me that co Tran tas been voal during meetings when she thinks she is not ing given time to speak but she has not filed any formal complaints pursuant to the process outlined in the Code of Conduct. so told me that the conflict that developed during the| meeting was not the first time that CM Tran and Mayor Winston have had conflicts. Indeed, in an effort to address their conflicts and keep the City Couneil meetings productive, the City hired a consultant to work with the City Council. Six of the seven City Councilmembers, including CM Tran and Mayor Winston, participated in the process fia] would like to see the City continue to work with the consultant to improve Counell relations and interactions going forward. I advised that if J experienced anything [J] believed to be retaliation for participating in the investigation that jj should immediately let me know. sent an email to me after: Bineriew and confirmed that CM Tran did not ttend the LMCIT offered training in either 2023 or 2024.4. Mayor Hollies Winston ‘Mayor Hollies Winston (“Mayor Winston”) was interviewed via Teams on Wednesday, April 10. Prior to the interview, Mayor Winston was provided an electronic copy of the ‘Tennessen Warning and confirmed his permission for me to acknowledge same on his behalf. Mayor Winston was elected in November 2022 and took office in January of 2023. Before his election, Mayor Winston had served on the City’s Budget Advisory Commission for 5~ 6 years. Mayor Winston recalled the City’s onboarding process for elected officials was fairly comprehensive and included training on the Code of Conduct. Mayor Winston said they received a lot of information during the process. He said while he certainly did not recall everything about the training, he did come away from it knowing that there were resources available if any questions came up about his role and the role of other members of the City Council. Mayor Winston said he regularly consults with City Manager Jay Stroebel and City Attorney Jim Thomson if he has questions. Mayor Winston said he has had concerns about CM Tran’s behaviors since taking office. He initially tried to build a good rapport with CM Tran and tried to make her feel comfortable and valued. He believes CM Tran has a fundamental misunderstanding of the City’s weak mayor system and her role as a member of the City Council. Mayor Winston thinks CM Tran thought after she was elected that she would command immediate respect or automatically be treated as having more authority than she (or any member of the City Council, including him) actually has. Some of Mayor Winston’s interactions with CM Tran have also caused him to believe that CM Tran may not comprehend or understand how the City Cou works. In Mayor Winston's experience, CM Tran confuses disagreement and debate with disrespect and bullying. If someone does not agree with her position, CM Tran believes she is being personally attacked and immediately jumps to the conclusion that something. improper or illegal is taking place. Mayor Winston is aware that CM Tran was critical off work relative to| in the City and that she suggested that| wwas “corrupt but he had no specific detalls of any interactions between CM Tran at outside of the events that occurred suri fete ‘Mayor Winston said he believes CM Tran feels threatened by Mj in general, and a. in particular, and is quick to accuse them of not doing their jobs or acting, ike bullies. These behaviors, as well as CM ‘Iran’s inability to engage in discussions with people holding different opinions on the same issue, has resulted in an environment of people being skeptical of her motivations. Mayor Winston believes CM Tran has difficulty placing things in the correct context.Mayor Winston said, in his experience, City Manager Stroebel is responsive to concerns that are brought to his attention. Stroebel may not react the eame way or have the same level of concern as the person raising it, but he does not ignore legitimate issues. With regard to the events that occurred during the Imeetin; between CM Tran and |, Mayor Winston said he deck as soon as CM Tran started to attack [J because he knew this was contrary to the Code of Conduct. Mayor Winston noted that his role requires him to consider the legal implications of events occurring during City Council meetings. advised Mayor Winston that if he experienced anything he believed to be retaliation for participating in the investigation that he should immediately let me or City Manager Stroebel know. 235. Councilmember Boyd Morson Councilmember Boyd Morson (“CM Morson”) was interviewed via Teams on April 15, 2024. CM Morson was provided an electronic copy of the Tennessen Warning and confirmed his permission for me to acknowledge same on his behalf. (CM Morson is currently the longest serving councilmember on the Brooklyn Party City Council serving his 4" year in the Central District. CM Morson denied receiving any training regarding his role on the City Council after his election. He acknowledged that training sponsored by the League of Minnesota Cities is offered to newly elected city council members but said it was optional and not mandatory. He also said that he is aware of some training offered by City Manager Jay Stroebel and City Attorney James Thomson for newly elected members of the City Council, but he thinks this is not appropriate because City Manager Stroebel and City Attorney Thomson should not be in control of the City Council and the training they provide is simply a way for them to exert their power and try to maintain control. According to CM Morson, he has been advocating for the City Council to implement training with the most senior members of the City Council serving as the trainers and explaining to newly elected councilmembers how the City Council is supposed to operate. With regard to the Elected Officials Rules of Procedure and Code of Conduet, CM Morson said he did not recall seeing this until after he was sworn in. CM Morson also indicated he does not agree with the Code of Conduct because it was drafted by City Manager Stroebel and City Attorney Thomson rather than by the City Couneil. CM Morson said he does not think new members of the City Council are given adequate time to review and understand the Code of Conduct before they are asked to vote on it. CM Morson first met CM Tran after she was elected to the City Council in the fall of 2022. CM Morson also knows| and said he is aware his position with the City has something to do with| CM Morson told me he is skeptical of the information the City employees provide the City Council and he questions whether it is accurate. When I asked for an example he shared that a few years ago a question came up about chickens being allowed in the City; a City employee who he could only recall as P who worked a made a presentation to the Council and recommended the Council approve an ordmance that would allow chickens to be kept by residents. According to CM Morson, failed to disclose to the Council that [iJ personally had chickens which CM Morson believes influenced {J recommendation and the information being provided to the City Council regarding the issue. Additionally, CM Morson said the survey that was presented to the Council only had 800 responses and, even though it was reported that 60% of the people who responded were in favor of allowing chickens in the City. CM Morson dug deeper into the survey and found out that 25% of the people who responded were 18 year olds and 34% of the people who responded were renters, which lead him to question the results (Since these people were not homeowners) and he felt the City staff had provided ‘misleading information to the City Council 24Another example CM Morson provided related to a liquor license application for a minority-owned business (Oro Lounge) that was approved by the City Council. CM Morson said after the City Council approved the license, City staff placed restrictions on the license that were “made up” and not authorized by the Council, including precluding the license holder from collecting a “cover charge.” When CM Morson reached out to City Manager Stroebel about this, Stroebel offered a meeting with him and Community Development Director Kim Berggren to explain the process but CM Morson refused and said that if these issues were legitimate, they should have been brought to the attention of the City Council when they were initially asked to approve the license. CM Morson said he does not understand why the elected officials have to disclose their conflicts of interest, but City employees do not. CM Morson told me he was not aware of any specific conflicts between CM Tran and| luntil he received my email asking if he would be interviewed for the investigation. fe said this is another example of City Manager Stroebel, City Attorney Thomson, and Mayor Winston overstepping their bounds — the City Council should have been asked to approve the investigation before it was started but they were not. He also said he did not think it was appropriate for this investigation to be authorized when CM Tran's complaints about City staff and how she is being treated have not been investigated. When 1 asked him to explain what he was referring to, he said that CM Tran made an announcement in a public meeting “about a year ago” that she had made a complaint about how she was being treated by City staff but nothing was done about it. CM Morson said he did not believe the City took CM Tran’s concerns seriously CM Morson has never talked to CM Tran about [I or work performance or any concerns CM Tran has about CM Morson said he has had issues with emails being deleted or missing from his City email account. He told me he took his City-issued laptop to the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office and asked them to look at it and when they did they discovered some emails that he had never received. He said he also has experienced issues with his phone not syncing with the email account, and he could not get any explanation from the City’s IT department about why this was happening CM Morson said he does not think the City Staff presents the City Council with accurate information to help them make informed decisions. He also said that when residents approach him after a meeting and raise questions about the accuracy of information provided by the City staff this causes him to be more skeptical and question the accuracy of the information he receives. CM Morson said he thinks the City staff provides incomplete information to the Council. One example he provided was relating to a| (the name he could not recall) who was seeking funding or| CM Morson was told later that the contra i the project had a v Interest in the request because the contractor would personally benefit from it, but this information was not shared with the City Council. CM Morson said he knows there have 25been other issues with in the City and he questions why the City staff does not provide more detail about these issues to the Council. ‘At the conclusion of the interview, I advised CM Morson that he should not suffer any retaliation for speaking with me for the investigation and asked him to inform me if he felt he was being retaliated against. In response, CM Morson said he is facing a possible censure at tonight's City Council meeting (on April 15) but agreed that this is not related to this process. He also reiterated that Mayor Winston does not have the power to initiate an investigation without the approval of the City Council and this was never obtained in this instance. As a result, he questioned if this investigation was unethical, illegal or otherwise improper, particularly since CM Tran’s prior complaint was ignored. CM Morson told me he thinks this process is unfair since it elevates a complaint by an employee “who had fjiffeelings hurt by a city councilmember” over a complaint by an elected official which was never addressed. CM Morson asked about my relationship with City Manager Stroebel and City Attorney ‘Thomson. I confirmed I know both of them in a professional capacity and that I have previously represented the City through their coverage through the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust. I also confirmed that I was retained to do an independent investigation EE complaint and that I was not retained to decide how the complaint will be resolved or what will be done with my written report 26oT: MPI = sterviened vi Teams on Ans 5, 2024, siened and returned the Tennessen Warning before the interview as worked with the City of Brooklyn Park for approximately [IH as an There are ibeon ses mn the partment. Inf position, ais often asked to assist councilmembers with issues. MJ has worked with Councilmember Maria Tran with issues she has experrenced with logging in due to forgetting her password, locating emails, and printing documents. With regard to locating emails, in particular, | explained that because of the multifactor authentication the City uses the delivery of some emails can be delayed until a user updates their password on all of the devices they use to access their accounts. CM Tran uses both a City-issued laptop and City-issued phone to access her City email account. J said there have been occasions when CM Tran does not access her City email account using her laptop for an extended period of time and her password expires. Once her password has expired, emails will no longer be delivered to CM Tran’s phone until the password is updated/reset through her laptop. = confirmed that, to J knowledge, no one in the J department or any other City fepartment accesses or reviews the emails of City Counetlmembers. The spam filter used by the City, however, does catch and filter some emails and prevent them from being delivered. If] is made aware of an email that was sent but not delivered, it can be located and retrieved from the spam filter. J does not, however, as a matter of course regularly review the spam filter; instead, if someone ask for assistance in locating an email that was believed has been sent but was not received, i will look for it in the spam filter and release it to be delivered if itis found. recalled that J has helped both CM ‘Iran and CM Morson locate emails that had een automatically diverted to subfolders due to a “rule” that was set up by them. confirmed tha ff does not set these rules or set up subfolders within the councilmembers, email accounts unless they are asked to do so by the councilmember. 1 advised I that ifexperienced anything that[fJbelieved to be retaliation for having participated in the investigation that fjjshould let me or City Manager Stroebel know.ee was interviewed via Teams on April 15, 2024, I was aaa fed a" electronic Copy of the Tennessen Warning and confirmed jijpermssion for me to acknowledge same on fj behalf the City of Brooklyn Park for jut Teports to direct reports, is not community and excels in the Position, said in J role with the City Te interactions with the City Council, juring their regular meetings and in rote as th Council a can direct questions about the partment {0 or through City Manager Jay trek Suspicious of City staff and believes CM Tran always starts from the perspective that City staff are doing something wrong. CM Tran comes across as very negative about ity sta HRB 214 that since pa fon Jama of suns, OM Tin has been very om IMM penpecihe, Co Tar spray fo issuesand the Ciy’s involvement, orlack thereof, with In the City. CM Tran seems to want the City to get involved in MlMissues that are not within the City’s authority. a: lot of efforts have been made to educate CM Tran on the City's authority, jut she has not been receptive to these efforts and continues to raise the same issues and ask the same questions over and over again jsaic ton conflicts between CM Tran and) started at CM Tran's| P<: eel when CM. — fof not being the person who she Was previously told Was| WR "ceived a copy off complaint and based on ijreview of itm believes —_ 1s an accurate account of what has experienced with CM Tran. jsaid that each interaction, in isolation, is probably not a big deal but they have eompounded over time and the most recent interaction a the TAT: was very inappropriate and a clear violation of the Code of Conduct. What ts most frustrating r ma (CM Tran’serticisms off work is that what CM Tran says is not true ane Tran’s misstatements about} ole in the process are vo has concerns about. MRP sig c¥ Ton hs previous sexs oer City tof hing that are notre al ample she ind often leads with an assumption that somethi eae being done won, provided was regarding the City’s allocation/use ofa =ee8 cMTran accused City staff of improperly managing these funds, (EE De (© he private data in the files any ‘Significant amount of time it would take to redact the private data before it could be sent electronically to CM. Tran, en ‘CM Tran review the files in the office Initial ‘ran resisted the invitation eventually did come in to review the files. After doing so, CM Tran said she was satisfied that the funds were being used properly and acknowledged that staff had not done anything wrong rather than accuse staff of doing something improper right out of the gate, jgggwished that CM ‘Tran had looked at the information first. confirmed there is conflict among the members of the City Council. sees one OFM Tesponsibilities to protect if stat from this conflict and serve as a “puffer” between the| fand staff. One wayiJ docs this is by referring to “staff recommendations” vests tfbuling i (oa specific Person a Ne 2 2h iso over to atom ae lo yo gute th ee CM Tran, in particular, said fhad tried very hard to answer her questions and address her concerns — jl fovfows up with her and offers to meet with her, but many times CM Tran declines these overtures. (RRB tes that betives CM Trani frustrated because she often does nt get a fot of traction or support from other members of the City Council on issues CM Tran thinks are very important. GERRI 12 re that J thinks CM tran has demonstrated pattem of being rruicurarly skeptical of lJ employees, noting that in addition to her conflicts with she has expressed concerns or been critical about another smployee in the Department, as_well as about the Citys 3 | Additionally, JM has obsery icant confMicts at City rouneil meetings between CM Tran and Mayor Winson, as isnot able to say for certain whether Mil has anything to do with CM Tran’s actions, But it strikes] as being possible given what jjhas observed said that, from [fi] perspective, City Manager Stroebel has worked extremely hard to support CM Tran by always being willing to answer her questions and giving her opportunities to engage in City issues. I advised | that if experienced anything that filJbelieved to be retaliation for having participated in the investigation that fj should let me or City Manager Stroebel know.8. Victoria Kates, City resident Brooklyn Park resident Victoria Kates was interviewed over the phone on April 17, 2024, ‘Averbal Tennessen Warning was provided to Ms. Kates and she agreed to speak to me. I advised Ms. Kates that CM Tran provided me with her name and telephone number and indicated she may have information that is relevant to the investigation. Ms. Kates told me that CM Tran has been very helpful to her. CM Tran has been her advocate and helped her with issues she has faced in her housing and with her landlord. CM Tran contacted Ms. Kates’ case manager with Hennepin County and helped her with her CADI waiver issues. Ms. Kates told me ‘a also been very helpful to her; she also said several other City employees lia jer. 309. Collette Hamguyo. City resident Brooklyn Park resident Collette Hamguyo was interviewed over the phone on April 17, 2024. A verbal Tennessen Warning was provided to Ms. Hamguyo and she agreed to speak to me, Ms. Hamguyo said she has attended City Council meetings for the last 30 years and, in her opinion, the Brooklyn City Council in the last 5 years has been extremely dysfunctional. She said the City Council, as a whole, refuses to act on issues that are important to the residents. The specific examples she provided were regarding safety issues in the City’s parks, including the use of marijuana, and the lack of attention to the “flash mobs” of youth that have made the parks unsafe. Ms. Hamguyo said the City Council is simply not doing what they need to do to address these issues. Ms. Hamguyo told me that the City staff is not to blame ~ they are not able to take action without the City Council's approval. From her perspective, the City staff is doing everything they are supposed to do, ‘Ms. Hamguyo told me that she does not believe the City Council is doing things or making decisions that are in the best interest of the City residents, noting again that they have ignored the issue associated with marijuana use and juvenile crime. Ms. Hamguyo said she feels like the City Council does not take her concerns seriously. The conflicts she has observed on the City Council cannot be blamed on the City staff. She knows that City staff have to take their direction from the City Council. Ms. Hamguyo said she feels like the City Council is not doing enough to heal the divided community and that they treat White residents poorly. Ms. Hamguyo said the City Council continues to want to discuss chickens in the City rather than the other, more important issues. Ms. Hamguyo said she believes| jworks hard and that is limited in what lj ae regarding housing issues becauselggean only do what the (ity Council authorizes todo. Ms. Hamguyo said she thinks CM Tran may have initially misunderstood what her authority, as a city councilmember is over staff, but she is learning. She said the City Council's lack of transparency does cause residents to be skeptical of the City and this may spill over to the City staff.10. Hassan Mohamed, City resident Brooklyn Park resident Hassan Mohamed was interviewed over the phone on April 17, 2024. A verbal Tennessen Warning was provided to Mr. Mohamed and he agreed to speak tome. Mr. Mohamed told me that he lives in CM Tran’s district. A couple of months ago, CM Tran told him that she was afraid to go to City Council meetings. Mr. Mohamed offered to meet CM Tran at the City Hall parking lot and walk her to the meeting. Mr. Mohamed also contacted the City Police Department and asked them to escort CM Tran to meetings if she felt unsafe. Mr. Mohamed told me that CM Tran told him that her safety concerns were related to the other members of the City Council; Mr, Mohamed has not personally witnessed any behaviors directed toward CM Tran that raised concerns about er safety. Mr. Mohamed told me that he helped to mediate a conflict between CM Tran and an employee of the City regarding the City’s use of covid funds. Mr. Mohamed said CM Tran ‘was concerned the funds were not being used properly because each individual receipt. had not been provided for her review. Mr. Mohamed worked with the employee to get CM Tran the information she wanted to understand how the funds were disbursed. Mr. Mohamed said the City employee was very helpful and welcomed his assistance.11. Tekoa Cochran, City resident called Tekoa Cochran two times on April 17, 2024, but was unable to leave a message cither time because the voicemail box was full. 3312, Nelima Munene, City resident called Nelima Munene on April 17, 204, and left a voicemail message with my phone number and asked for a call back if he was wiling to speak to me. As ofthe date ofthis report, Ms. Munene has not returned my13- Sarah Fercho, City resident I called Sarah Fercho on April 17, 2024, and left a voicemail message with my phone number and asked for a call back if she was willing to speak to me. As of the date of this, report; Ms, Fercho has not returned my call.