Brooklyn Park Meeting Gets Heated, Council Moves to Censure Tran
The Brooklyn Park City Council was supposed to vote to give a letter of reprimand to Council Member Maria Tran on Tuesday, May 28.
The letter of reprimand was in response to a complaint filed by a city employee alleging that Tran created a “hostile work environment” for the employee.
During a closed meeting on May 20, city documents show that Tran acknowledged her actions violated the city’s Elected Officials Code of Conduct and Respectful Workplace Policy.
The city hired an outside investigator to look into the staff member’s complaint against Tran. The investigation also found she’d violated the Elected Officials Code of Conduct.
The city council was expected to vote to approve a letter of reprimand and move on. That all changed Tuesday night.
During the public meeting, Tran brought up an employee, saying she “found violation of using drug in the city premise [sic].”
Brooklyn Park Mayor Hollies Winston quickly interjected.
“So let’s not go after employees,” said Winston.
“This is my time now,” interrupted Tran.
“I understand that, but you agreed not to go after employees — that was why we did a reprimand versus a censure,” said Winston.
Under the city’s policy, council members are supposed to go through the city manager when bringing up complaints or other issues with city employees.
Likewise, the Elected Officials Code of Conduct and Respectful Workplace Policy says council members shouldn’t publicly criticize a city staff member.
“When you punch down, it doesn’t make us look good,” Winston said to Tran. “You’re punching down on someone who cannot publicly speak against you.”
Brooklyn Park City Council Member Maria Tran speaks during May 28 meeting.
Tensions Rise
Before the council began to discuss the Tran matter, members voted 6-1 to limit comment by each member to four minutes.
Brooklyn Park Council Member Boyd Morson was the lone member to vote against limiting discourse.
He felt Tran “still hasn’t been heard” and claimed the outside investigation wasn’t done properly.
“I don’t agree with the investigation because to my understanding, the mayor cannot spend city money without the council’s approval,” said Morson.
Winston called Morson’s assertions ” boldfaced lies,” stating the city followed its own rules.
“The process was respected,” Winston said. “People may not agree with the process because it doesn’t boost their ego. It doesn’t make them feel good about themselves. It puts them in a bad light.”
The mayor also brought up a previous incident involving former Brooklyn Park Fire Chief Ken Prillaman who claimed hostile actions against him by former Brooklyn Park Council Member Mark Mata. The city ended up paying out more than $100,000 to Prillaman in a separation agreement.
Winston said he didn’t want a similar outcome.
“It’s just dollars and sense for those who don’t have the moral compass to understand we should not line up our people up in a firing squad,” said Winston. “If you cannot understand the moral element, understand this — if you can’t respect employees, the system will respect the employee and the taxpayers will pay.”
Move Toward Censure
Once Tran spoke about city staff, a majority of council members agreed to move toward censuring Tran rather than issuing a written reprimand.
Brooklyn Park Council Member Christian Eriksen stated that Tran “failed to grasp the basics of what we talked about in the closed meeting.”
“We have an obligation to hold this power carefully and responsibly and in such a way that those people who are subject to what we do up here feel safe and that they will be treated fairly and decently 100 percent of the time,” said Eriksen. “I feel that has been forgotten a great deal lately by a number people sitting up here right now.”
The city council had to go into a five-minute recess as tensions rose during an exchange between Tran and the mayor. The council then came back and voted to table the written reprimand, instead opting for a censure of Tran.
The council voted 5-2 to move ahead with the censure.
Tran and Morson — who has been censured twice for violating the city’s conduct policy — cast the two dissenting votes.
The complete Brooklyn Park City Council meeting is available here.
