Brooklyn Park City Council meeting ends in argument on Tuesday

Emily Baude KSTP

(Credit: City of Brooklyn Park)

Tensions were running high at a Brooklyn Park City Council meeting on Tuesday night as council members interrupted each other and fought over the proposed censure of a council member.

On Tuesday night, a motion to present a letter of reprimand to councilmember Maria Tran for violating the city’s respectful workplace policy and the Brooklyn Park elected officials code of conduct policy led to arguments and yelling after Tran stated she did not feel like she got to explain her side.

Brooklyn Park Mayor Hollies Winston and several other councilmembers disagreed, saying that Tran had previously agreed to a letter of reprimand during a closed session as an appropriate response to an April investigation which unveiled misconduct toward a city employee on behalf of Tran.

Mayor Winston argued that Tran had time to argue her side during that closed session.

The investigation, which was led by Dylan Ebert, of Quinlivan & Hughes, stated that Tran did not act in accordance with city policy when interacting with a staff member, who filed a complaint in January.

Councilmember Boyd Morson was one of the only people to come to Tran’s defense, saying he agreed that she did not get a fair chance to explain her point of view. “If I want to find justice, I need to go to court,” Tran said, adding, “I have a case… my report never got investigated.”

However, the investigators report found the city responded to Tran’s complaints.

Tensions came to a head a few minutes later when councilmember XP Lee called Tran’s and Morson’s conduct “shameful.”

At that point, councilmember Morson accused Lee of attacking him, and Tran and Mayor Winston began arguing back and forth.

Councilmember Nichole Klonowski then called for a point of order and a brief recess before saying, “This is out of control…. This is embarrassing, Brooklyn Park.”

When the council returned, they voted to adjourn the meeting. However, before adjourning the council voted to draft a resolution to officially censure Tran.

Watch the full Brooklyn Park City Council meeting from Tuesday HERE.