Thread by @melissakaurs

#ChaskaGate Chaska City Council broke open meeting laws. All councilors in email and city admin = meeting. No public meetings were held. They plan to appoint again = HALF the council appointed! Mayor broke law & must resign! Thread:
@WCCO @KSTP @FOX9 @CityofChaskaMN @kare11

Late last year, I requested public data from the city of Chaska because I was concerned about Ward 4 and Ward 2 discussions around appointments and special elections. Aside from some inappropriate emails, there was the alarming one above. The timeline...

1/3/2018 at 7:53 PM
Jay Rohe, Ward 4 Councilor, submits letter of resignation to the entire council and city admin effective August 7th, 2018 and intends on speaking to Mark Olson at the @chaskaherald later in the week to give notice of resignation.
law = This is a meeting...

house.leg.state.mn.us/hrd/pubs/openm…

1/3/2018 at 10:42 PM
Mayor Mark Windschitl instructs Mr. Rohe to not contact the @chaskaherald

1/3/2018 at 10:46 PM
Mayor Mark Windschitl emails Councilor Rohe thanking him for his service and that they would talk more at the next council meeting.
****NOTE: They never talked about it at the next council meeting.****

1/5/2018 at 9:25 AM
Matt Podhrasky, City Admin, consults with attorney Larry Harris and results are that an August 7th resignation falls after July 30th filing so it would be an appointment unless the council were to establish a Special Election ordinance to fill the seat.

1/5/2018 at 9:28 AM
Jay Rohe emails the entire council and city staff saying he will make the official move in October...

3/29/2018
@chaskaherald interviews Rohe because public noticed address changes. "The move is “no secret,” Rohe said, adding that he planned to formally announce plans to resign in June."

***NOTE: no announcement came in June which would be ahead of candidate filing for midterms and no need for appointment or special election. Still no public meetings held by council to discuss the contents of the email chain in January bit.ly/2TaQbzO

10/1/2018
Jay Rohe, Ward 4 Councilor formally resigns and council decides to fill vacancy by appointment. bit.ly/2RdbUFv

***NOTE: 10 months after the January resignation email!****

11/6/2018
Greg Boe, Ward 2 Councilor, now @mnhousegop for 47b wins election, will resign from council and is also part of #ChaskaGate

11/19/2018
Chaska residents do visitor presentation, submit petition with 160+ sigs and call for special election for w4 & 2.
Council ignores Chaska residents and Mike Huang is appointed to w4
Greg Boe, MN House Rep 47b, resigns from Ward 2 seat effective January 7, 2019.

11/20/2018 - 1/6/2019
Chaska residents contact city to ensure a special election for at least ward 2 so we don't have half the council appointed instead of elected by residents.

1/7/2019
Chaska City Council agrees to have a work session to weigh pros and cons on 1/28.

1/16/2019
Mayor Mark Windschitl responds to constituent stating that he has a candidate that is considering running if it's an appointment, not an election. Mayor is ready to stack his deck.

1/25/2019
New details: If the council votes for a special election, a special election will not be for just ward 2. It would be for ward 4 as well so Mike Huang, appointed Ward 4 Councilor has to recuse himself from the vote on Monday 1/28....

leaving the decision to 2 new councilors - Ward 1 - @JonGrau4Chaska and Ward 3 - McKayla Hatfield

1/28/2019
The Chaska City council will meet to weigh the pros and cons of appt vs special election at 5:30 pm and will likely vote at the 7 pm meeting

The only remaining person on the council that broke the open meeting law in January 2018 is the Mayor...
MAYOR WINDSCHITL wants to stack the deck further
MAYOR WINDSCHITL needs to resign
THE CHASKA CITY COUNCIL NEEDS TO VOTE FOR A SPECIAL ELECTION.

The only remaining person on the council that broke the open meeting law in January 2018 is the Mayor...
MAYOR WINDSCHITL wants to stack the deck further
MAYOR WINDSCHITL needs to resign
THE CHASKA CITY COUNCIL NEEDS TO VOTE FOR A SPECIAL ELECTION.

#chaska #chaskamn #ChaskaGate