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Politics & Government

All Four Members of Human Rights Commission to be Dismissed

The City Council said liability risks forced them to take action—temporarily suspending the commission, while dismissing its members.

The four people who currently comprise the Golden Valley Human Rights Commission are on their way out.

During a special meeting Tuesday night held by the city council, the four commission members—Anne Dykstra, Marion Helland, Terri Policy and Tim Hepner—were told they would all be dismissed.

Formal action by the council to dismiss the four is expected at the Dec. 20 regular council meeting in

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“We need to protect the city from liability and possible damages,” said Mayor Linda Loomis. “This is a very serious matter.”

At a city council work session in November, the creation of a special task force to look into police behavior amidst recent high-profile incidents including the city having to settle a lawsuit filed against the police for excessive force. The suggestion of a task force also stemmed from in which a Golden Valley police officer shot and killed a woman brandishing a gun.

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The public manner in which the idea of a task force was brought forth did not sit well with the council or with the city attorney.

In a public memo prior to the special meeting, city manager Thomas Burt said the Human Rights commissioners "made false statements that defamed police officers involved in previously settled civil lawsuits and violated the Data Privacy Act by publicly discussing the shooting of September 22, which is still under investigation."

Burt said the city attorney recommended disciplinary actions which would include censure, public repudiation of the statements, or removal from the commission.

The council then decided that the liability issues to the city are serious enough to warrant suspending the commission, and dismissing the four members.

The council cited the commission’s public comments as to the details of the police incidents, especially ones still under investigation and immersed in the legal process.

Council Member Mike Freiberg was the one council member suggesting that “repudiation” of the commission’s actions would be sufficient. Previously, he had called for some kind of discipline but opposed dismissal.

Freiberg expressed concerns that dismissal would lead other city commissions and boards in the future to be reticent to express opinions or take positions because they would fear council reprisals.

However, Council Member Bob Shaffer said the commission created fear and distraction by “going after” city staff (police officers) through negative comments. Shaffer said the commission “disregarded logic in all this.”

Shaffer also raised concerns that if the matter went to litigation and it was shown the city only repudiated the commission, that the city would be seen as having not taken strong enough action and that nothing was done to correct the matter.

At the Tuesday night meeting, the council expressed a desire to suspend the commission itself, then revisit, revamp and reinstate it with new members at a later date.

Through out the meeting, three of the four commission members who were in attendance—Dykstra, Policy and Helland—sat in silence and listened to the discussions about their fate as well as that of the commission.

Dykstra told Patch that while she did not care to express her opinion on the decision to dismiss, she said “I hope that in the long run what we did will have some positive results.”

Policy and Helland declined to comment.

Because Tuesday night's meeting was part of a work session, the members won't be officially dismissed until the Dec. 20 meeting, at which time the city attorney has recommended the following statements be put into the public record.

"The Members of the Golden Valley Human Rights Commission are citizen volunteers. All statements made and writings promulgated by them are their own responsibility as private citizens and not statements made by or for the City. The City specifically repudiates the referenced discussions and writings by the Golden Valley Human Rights Commission and disassociates itself from any such discussions or writings."

In the memo, Burt said "false statements...have continued circulation of misinformation," and said the city council will also discuss how to address the situation with city staff and with the public to answer questions and provide clarification about what has happened in the last two months regarding the Human Rights Commission.

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