GV City Council, Human Rights Commission Talk it Out

For a little over one hour late Tuesday afternoon, the Golden Valley City Council and the four people who make up the city’s Humans Rights Commission squared off to air opinions about who did what, why it was done and what the ramifications might be over calling for a task force to look at city police department actions and behavior.

The meeting was the result of the council suspending the commission last month after the commission publicly issued the resolution. The commission recommended the task force after two incidents—a recent lawsuit the city settled regarding alleged excessive force by a city police officer and when a Golden Valley police officer shot and killed a California women they say brandished a gun.

At the special Tuesday night meeting in the room outside , the council reiterated what it had said before: it was not pleased by the way the commission unveiled the resolution.

"We feel the commission acted outside the scope of its bylaws and historical directions from the council," said Mayor Linda Loomis. "It was put on the agenda at the last minute and it would have been much better had there been a courtesy call before hand to discuss it."

Commissioner Anne Dykstra defended the resolution saying she believed the council "acted fully within our roles and duties." She said the resolution should still be acted upon when the new city council takes office early next month.

Both Council Member Bob Shaffer and City Attorney Allan Bernard expressed concern that the resolution both "violated the rights of some of the people referenced" in the resolution and also that an active criminal investigation, albeit by Hennepin County, is ongoing relative to the I-394 shooting.

Both Commissioners Terri Policy and Tom Hepner said they were stunned by the anger displayed by some of the council members back in the November meeting.

"I believe I did what I was asked to do when I became a commission member earlier this year," Hepner said. "I don’t apologize for what we did, and I believe in this commission and still want to serve."

Shaffer said he was angry about the way things were handled, but said, "I believe in, and want, a good commission."

Council Member DeDe Scanlon added, "there seems to be a good deal of confusion about what the commission is about its structure and role and I would hope we can resolve that."

Council member Mike Freiberg said he was not pleased by the way things were handled, but said he "would not be comfortable removing any of the commissioners."

The council then said it would continue to look into the matter and confer with legal counsel. There is currently no set date for when the matter will be addressed again.