Brooklyn Center City Council Repeals Code of Conduct in 3-2 Vote
The Brooklyn Center City Council repealed its code of conduct just a month after it was initially approved.
The decision came on Jan. 13 during the council’s first meeting of the year after new Council Member Laurie Moore took the oath of office.
In a 3-2 vote, the council struck down the policy, which laid out expectations for council member conduct inside and outside the council chambers.
It also included a process for investigating complaints and reprimanding members that violate the code.
Those reprimands could be as tame as a verbal warning or as severe as a censure.
Mayor April Graves and Council Member Tenisha Kragness wanted to keep the policy in place, while Council Members Dan Jerzak, Kris Lawrence-Anderson and Moore voted to repeal the policy.
“I’m just going to say, be careful what you ask for,” Graves said after the vote.
Brooklyn Center Mayor April Graves speaks as the council considered repealing its code of conduct.
Lawrence-Andersn said she felt the censure provisions were unclear.
“I’m not opposed to having a code of conduct, I just don’t like that document,” she said. “I want clarity around the censure. I want to understand what would cause me to be censured.”
According to Graves, the council can’t vote on the code of conduct again for a full calendar year.
“I just don’t see any purpose for this — I see this being a potential for division,” said Jerzak on Dec. 9 when the policy was originally approved. “I see it to be a potential for political gainsmanship.”
Jerzak was the subject of a city investigation after a city staff member filed a workplace harassment complaint against him in 2023.
The council has also been considering a code of conduct policy for the city’s commissions. Jerzak questioned if that was something they could consider at a future work session.
“It seems like a hypocritical thing to do, but I still see the need for it,” Graves responded.
Kragness concurred.
“I also agree, I don’t think it’s fair to say that we need a code of conduct for our commissioners but we don’t need a code of conduct for the council,” she said. “We want to hold them accountable but we don’t want anyone to hold us accountable.”
Moore was elected to the seat previously held by Marquita Butler in November. Butler supported the code of conduct in December.
