Osseo Council Appoints New Member in Spilt Vote
The Osseo City Council appointed a new member to its ranks in a split vote on Monday, Aug. 12.
Mark Cook, who owns Osseo’s Annabelle House Coffee Shop with his wife, was appointed to the vacant seat on the council previously held by Alicia Vickerman.
Vickerman resigned effective Tuesday, July 23 to pursue professional opportunities.
Cook is a teacher and basketball coach in the Osseo Area School District.
Mark Cook, co-owner of the Annabelle House in Osseo, was appointed to the Osseo City Council on Monday. He’s shown here speaking during a previous story with CCX News.
The council was split 2-2 on Cook’s appointment with John Hall and Juliana Hultstrom dissenting.
Hall questioned why the council was appointing a member to serve only a short time.
“There’s five [meetings] until an election, eight until the end of the year,” Hall said. “I don’t see the need for this.”
Hall also referred to an undisclosed series of emails that he said he was “concerned about.” He stated he’d spoke with legal counsel because these emails bordered on “defamation.”
Citing state statute, Osseo Mayor Duane Poppe broke the tie to approve Cook’s appointment.
Agenda Debate
The decision came after the Osseo council spent about a half-hour debating the night’s agenda.
Hall and Hultstrom both spoke to issues with several agenda items.
Several of those agenda items related to personnel changes, including the potential hiring of a new fire chief and city clerk.
“I just, I don’t know what’s going on in this city — I really don’t,” Hultstrom said. “And I’m a council member. I should know. Does anybody out there know what’s going on in this city? Do you know Mr. Mayor?”
Council Member Mark Schulz urged the council to make concessions and move forward with the city’s business.
“At this point I’ll agree to almost anything to just get this moving on because I think this posturing is just ridiculous,” Schulz said. “And I’m grateful for the fact that it’s being caught on camera.”
See also: Osseo Coffee Shop Helping Teachers Get Back to School
