Notes from a Chaotic City Council Meeting

The City Council met on February 23 and in front of a packed room, voted 4-1 to require an environmental assessment worksheet for the Watten Ponds project, with Mayor Jennifer Labadie as the lone opposing vote. Our notes from the meeting are below.

What Role Should Residents' Opinions Play In City Council Decisions?

Mayor Labadie seems to prefer tightly controlled meetings — quiet, orderly, and strictly procedural. That works fine for routine agenda items. It’s much harder when the room is full and the topic is a controversial development affecting neighbors’ homes, overturning long-time city precedent and threatening historic woods and wetlands.

At times, efforts to strictly manage audience reactions seemed to escalate tension rather than reduce it.  

The format of the meetings already makes it very difficult for residents to participate in important decisions.  Further liming residents’ ability to discuss important facts – facts that, as discussed below, they may know and City staff does not – just biases debate and focuses decisions on information that might not be true or complete.

Residents left with the sense that emotional responses were treated as the problem, rather than the underlying issues driving those emotions. In high-interest meetings, tone matters. Leadership means managing the room — but also reading it. It's hard not to wonder if the Mayor's focus is best for difficult issues such as these.

Sir, your five minutes are up, return to your seat now.

The Parks Are in Good Hands

We were very impressed with Parks Commissioner Mike Hirner. He's an informal and folksy speaker, but he's insightful and realistic, and has a very good understanding of what the parks can do for Shorewood. We were impressed by his comments about neighborhood parks and plans for South Shore Park. Nice job, Park Commission and Mitchell Czech, Parks and Recreation Director. We look forward to seeing your plans go forward.

Read the Shorewood Citizens' Advocate Summary of the Meeting Here.

The Planning Director Should Spend More Time In Shorewood

On a critical legal point, Planning Director Jake Griffiths stated that the Birch Bluff wetlands do not connect to the lake. Anyone who’s walked Crescent Beach or Birch Bluff Road has seen the visible channel connecting them, with water running both ways.

We know that Mr. Griffiths doesn't live in Shorewood, but still, it was surprising that someone with so much control over development seems to have spent so little time actually getting to know Shorewood. In many cases, decisions hinge on the details, and there’s no way to know the details without seeing them.

To Mr. Griffiths’ credit, he later acknowledged the error, after uproar from the audience and a time-out for the room. That correction matters, though we wish a public uprising were not necessary to achieve it. When decisions hinge on environmental impacts, accuracy is not optional.

If there’s a lesson here, it’s simple: local knowledge is valuable. Residents who live near these wetlands bring firsthand experience that should inform — not be dismissed from — the conversation. Consensus was that Mr. Griffiths should take an hour a day exploring our beautiful city. And the City should encourage resident input, not require an uproar from the audience to correct a basic error.

The Mayor's Focus is Development Above All Else

Let's put our Minnesota nice aside for a minute and just be frank - the Mayor seems to focus on helping developers and has little focus on the feelings, views or impact on residents, the city or the city’s natural resources. Her opinions on the EAW were both simplistic (they didn't do an EAW next door in 2000 so why should they do one here) and not well thought out (if we approve an EAW here, nobody will be able to build a house without an EAW).

We've talked to a lot of Shorewood residents and their frustration and feeling of irrelevance is palpable. The Mayor's vote, as the lone dissenter, highlighted her position on two broader philosophical divides: whether environmental review is just an unnecessary hindrance to development or a reasonable step when legitimate questions are raised; and is the city focused on protecting developers from residents or protecting residents from developers?

What's the "Big Woods"? Is that just a cute name you made up?

The Council Was Prepared

The record on the Watten Ponds development runs to many hundreds of pages, but even so, members of the Council, especially Council members Gorham, Sanschagrin and DiGruttolo were well prepared and well versed in the minute details of the project. They had clearly taken this issue seriously and had spent a great deal of time preparing.

There's Genuine Disagreement About the Weight to Give to Staff Opinion

One surprising development was the clear disagreement between council members on how much weight to give information from City staff. The Mayor emphasized strong reliance on staff input, even when evidence shows their information is incorrect or unreliable. Other council members indicated that while staff input is important, it is not infallible — particularly when conflicting information is presented or factual corrections are required.

This disagreement represents a larger disagreement on the role of the city government, and whether it serves residents or is independent of them with its own, separate goals and interests.

And it highlights an important governance question: Are elected officials simply ratifying and rubberstamping staff conclusions, or are they independently evaluating the record? On this issue, other council members demonstrated active engagement with the facts and a true oversight role.

Read About Wayzata's Forward Thinking Effort to Preserve Their Last Big Woods Remnant

"Don't Tell Me Your Character, Show Me Your Actions and I'll Know Your Character"

A group of two dozen residents asked the Watten Ponds developer to voluntarily prepare an EAW. Neighbors, and almost 400 signers of the petition requesting the EAW, are worried about the impact of this development.

The developer, Audrius Asakenas, has told the City Council that he wants to be a good neighbor and responsible developer. A resident asked Mr. Asakenas to show his good faith and prepare the EAW as a sign of mutual respect for his neighbors. Mr. Asakenas refused (the Council later voted to require it) and even refused to address his neighbors himself, choosing to send his paid consultant to speak for him.

Residents will draw their own conclusions about what it means to say you want to be a “good neighbor.” For many, actions carry more weight than words.

The City Attorney Needs to Up His Game

The law matters and the Council deserves balanced, informed legal insight.  The goal is to get the right answer, not to support a pre-determined outcome.

The Council's Going to Need a Bigger Room

This meeting, on a procedural issue, was standing room only. As focus on Watten Ponds increases, residents will be turned away.

Norman Rockwell's iconic "Freedom of Speech", depicting a town meeting, representing democracy in action on the home front during World War II.

The Council Got It Right

The Council was prepared, had reviewed the details of the voluminous record in depth, and asked insightful and sophisticated questions. They focused on the law, asked probing questions on the facts and brought common sense and personal experience and, in our opinion, reached the right decision.

It Was a Tough Night For The Mayor

Let's face it - this was not Mayor Labadie’s strongest meeting. Her persistent efforts to subdue the residents in attendance exacerbated passions rather than calming them and almost allowed a decision to be based on obviously incorrect information. Her vote left her alone on an island, with positions that were clearly out of step with the majority of the Council, most of the audience and, based on signatures on the petition and our conversations, residents generally. The vote left her isolated as the sole dissenter on requiring a brief environmental questionnaire, based on concern about slowing down this developer. Her full-throated support for developers and unwillingness to hear or vote for resident interests felt out of touch. On both process and substance, Mayor Labadie had a tough night. We imagine she woke up Tuesday wishing she could get a Mulligan on this meeting.