Notes on research for: Lakeville mayor and council torpedo Navy vet’s hopes for open council seat

Richard Henderson (candidate)
VoteRichardHenderson@gmail.com
https://voterichardhenderson.com

John Bermel (city council member)
jbermel@lakevillemn.gov
612-709-0180

Note: I first talked with Bermel as a constituent, at that time I was not planning to write an article. However, we were talking in his official capacity and I called hm twice to clarify information he’d given me.

Luke Hellier (Mayor)
612-237-2551
lhellier@lakevillemn.gov

Michelle Volk (city council member)
952-270-7125
mvolk@lakevillemn.gov

Joshua Lee (city council member)
763-245-3677
jlee@lakevillemn.gov

Judy Keliher (ISD 194 Chair)
Judy.Keliher@isd194.org
(952)-232-2054

Numerous Lakeville residents either named in this story or interviewed on background

NOTE: Most of the documents following are saved as time-stamped PDFs to show the information as it was when this story was written.

Lakeville City Council official website and Lakeville Government Facebook page

https://www.lakevillemn.gov/428/City-Council (saved in archive)

https://www.facebook.com/CityOfLakeville (saved in archive)

Related, but not necessarily helpful

https://www.facebook.com/lukehellier
https://www.facebook.com/VoteJoshuaLee
https://www.facebook.com/johnbermelforlakeville
https://www.facebook.com/VolkForCityCouncil
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100054481719997

Search for posts on “Lakeville city council” https://www.facebook.com/search/posts?q=lakeville%20city%20council

2013 Lakeville City Council Documents

2013-01-07 Regular Meeting
Agenda: Declaring Vacancy
Resolution: Declaring vacancy
Minutes: City Council Vacancy

2013-01-07 Work Session 
Minutes: City Council Vacancy

2013-01-22 Regular Meeting
Minutes: Noting upcoming close of applications

2013-01-29 Work Session
Agenda: City Council Position Application Review

Memorandum: Announcing interview dates and spreadsheet of all applicants

Minutes: Detailed account of rest of the process, determination of who would be interviewed by name.
 Notes: any applicant named by more than one board member was granted an interview.
Interview, final selection and swearing in-dates set 2012’s outgoing mayor Doug Anderson participated in the process.

2013-02-04 Work Session
Minutes: Council interviewed candidates Bart Davis and Scott Kelly

2013-02-05 Work Session
Minutes: Council interviewed candidates Karen Wentworth, Donald Kurta, Craig Manson, and Judy Jordan

2013-02-12 Work Session
Minutes: Council interviewed candidate Bob Boerschel

2013-02-19 Regular Meeting
Agenda: Appointment of a Council member

Minutes: Appointing Bart Davis to City Council

2013-03-04 Regular Meeting

Agenda:  OATH OF OFFICE by Judge Thomas Poch to Council Member Bart Davis

2022/23 Lakeville City Council Documents

2022-11-28 Work Session
Agenda:  City Council Vacancy Process

Document: Cover sheet with 2013 Resolution attached

Minutes: City Council Vacancy Process

2022-12-22 Special Meeting
Agenda: None found
Minutes: Review 10 candidates, consensus to interview Pat Kaluza, Jenna Majorowicz, Dan Wolter (These minutes were not available on the council web page, but were found through manual drill-down of the city Laserfiche system).

There is evidence of the announcement of the meeting on the council, but Henderson confirms one did exist.

2023-01-03 Special Meeting
Agenda: Meet to interview candidates for city council vacancy
Minutes: “Not yet available”

Note: Neither of the above special meetings is referenced in the agendas or minutes of any other council meeting over the past 30 days.

Note: the 2022-12-22 minutes and 2023-01-03 agendas have file creation dates of 2022-12-22. The minutes were added to the website: 1/5/2023 9:23:38 AM. The agenda appears to be added to the website but not confirmed: 12/29/2022 2:51:19 PM (the folder in the Laserfiche has that creation date, but the main webpage uses a different link to it).

City Code:

https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/lakevillemn/latest/lakeville_mn/0-0-0-121

1-5-2-1: NOTIFY PUBLIC:

It is the policy of the City Council that all of its meetings shall be open to the public. A schedule of the regular meetings of the City Council shall be kept on file at City Hall. If a meeting is recessed or a continued session of a previous meeting, and the time and place of the meeting was established during the previous meeting and recorded in the minutes of the meeting, then no further published or mailed notice is necessary. (Ord. 390, sec. 1, 10-2-1989)

https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/lakevillemn/latest/lakeville_mn/0-0-0-121

1-5-2-2: SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS 1 :

Special meetings of the City Council may be called by the Mayor or by any two (2) members of the City Council by writing filed with the City Clerk who shall then mail a notice to all the members of the time, place and agenda at least three (3) days before the meeting. The City Clerk shall also post written notice of the date, time, place and purpose of the meeting on the bulletin board at City Hall. The notice shall also be mailed or otherwise delivered to each person who has filed a written request for notice of special meetings with the City. The notice shall be posted and mailed or delivered at least three (3) days before the date of the meeting. (Ord. 390, sec. 2, 10-2-1989)

Finalists LinkedIn Profiles 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennamajorowicz/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/djwolter/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/patkaluza/

Board Members LinkedIn Profiles

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lukehellier/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/johngbermel/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuadleemed/

Michelle Volk profile not found, campaign site returns “not found”
Facebook page, last updated 2018 https://www.facebook.com/VolkForCityCouncil/

Candidate LinkedIn Profile 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-henderson-42a7124/

ISD 194 News Release

Vacated Board of Education seat to be filled by application and appointment process, October 27, 2021

Televised interviews of applicants for appointment, November 17,2021

Resumes of applicants (provided to the League of Women Voters Dakota County by the ISD 194 board).

Lakeville City Calendar

https://www.lakevillemn.gov/calendar.aspx?month=1&year=2023&day=3&CID=0&Keywords=&startDate=&enddate=&

NOTE: I have date and time-stamped PDFs stored locally

 Note: some of the items on the live Lakeville City Council webpage were added after my 1/10/2023 interview with Hellier when I told him that certain official documents were missing from the site and/or listing of recent meetings. 

News coverage in Lakeville Sun ThisWeek

Letters to the Editor in Lakeville Sun ThisWeek

News coverage in Burnsville Sun ThisWeek

Iowa beckons Daniel Wolter home again Aug 1, 2019

Dan Wolter tweet on Hellier, which led to looking up their addresses:

All four members of the city council were asked by text on 01/12/2023:

This is Chuck Smith-Dewey. Thanks for our conversations this week. 

Can you tell me how long you’ve known each of the three finalists and the circumstances where you first met them?

I am asking this of all the council members. Sent from my iPhone

LEE: I only know the candidates professionally. So the first time I met them was in their capacity serving the city 

VOLK: Pat Kaluza I’ve known many years, I believe I met him as a high school graduate.  Dan and Jenna, I don’t know well.  I met them each when they interviewed with the city to be appointed as a commissioner on a city commission.  Probably 3 years or less. 

On 1/13/2023 I followed up with Bermel and Hellier:

Hi Luke, my deadline is approaching. Are you able to give me an answer to this question or would you like me to put you down as no comment? 

Also if there is any other information you’d like to share I am always happy to have your thoughts. I can also be reached by phone.

NOTE: When I hear back from Bermel and Hellier I may add this info to story if relevant

These are the raw notes I kept while working on this article. Many more council documents were examined that what is shown here. The source for those is: http://la-img.ci.lakeville.mn.us/WebLink/Browse.aspx?isTimeout=1&dbid=0&cr=1

Richard Henderson (candidate)
VoteRichardHenderson@gmail.com
https://voterichardhenderson.com

John Bermel (city council member)
jbermel@lakevillemn.gov
612-709-0180

Note: I first talked with Bermel as a constituent, at that time I was not planning to write an article. However, we were talking in his official capacity and I called hm twice to clarify information he’d given me.

Luke Hellier (Mayor)
612-237-2551
lhellier@lakevillemn.gov

Michelle Volk (city council member)
952-270-7125
mvolk@lakevillemn.gov

Joshua Lee (city council member)
763-245-3677
jlee@lakevillemn.gov

Judy Keliher (ISD 194 Chair)
Judy.Keliher@isd194.org
(952)-232-2054

Numerous Lakeville residents either named in this story or interviewed on background

NOTE: Most of the documents following are saved as time-stamped PDFs to show the information as it was when this story was written.

Lakeville City Council official website and Lakeville Government Facebook page

https://www.lakevillemn.gov/428/City-Council (saved in archive)

https://www.facebook.com/CityOfLakeville (saved in archive)

Related, but not necessarily helpful

https://www.facebook.com/lukehellier

https://www.facebook.com/VoteJoshuaLee

https://www.facebook.com/johnbermelforlakeville

https://www.facebook.com/VolkForCityCouncil

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100054481719997

Search for posts on “Lakeville city council” https://www.facebook.com/search/posts?q=lakeville%20city%20council

2013 Lakeville City Council Documents

2013-01-07 Regular Meeting
Agenda: Declaring Vacancy
Resolution: Declaring vacancy
Minutes: City Council Vacancy

2013-01-07 Work Session 
Minutes: City Council Vacancy

2013-01-22 Regular Meeting
Minutes: Noting upcoming close of applications

2013-01-29 Work Session
Agenda: City Council Position Application Review

Memorandum: Announcing interview dates and spreadsheet of all applicants

Minutes: Detailed account of rest of the process, determination of who would be interviewed by name.
 Notes: any applicant named by more than one board member was granted an interview.
Interview, final selection and swearing in-dates set 2012’s outgoing mayor Doug Anderson participated in the process.

2013-02-04 Work Session
Minutes: Council interviewed candidates Bart Davis and Scott Kelly

2013-02-05 Work Session
Minutes: Council interviewed candidates Karen Wentworth, Donald Kurta, Craig Manson, and Judy Jordan

2013-02-12 Work Session
Minutes: Council interviewed candidate Bob Boerschel

2013-02-19 Regular Meeting
Agenda: Appointment of a Council member

Minutes: Appointing Bart Davis to City Council

2013-03-04 Regular Meeting

Agenda:  OATH OF OFFICE by Judge Thomas Poch to Council Member Bart Davis

2022/23 Lakeville City Council Documents

2022-11-28 Work Session
Agenda:  City Council Vacancy Process

Document: Cover sheet with 2013 Resolution attached

Minutes: City Council Vacancy Process

2022-12-22 Special Meeting
Agenda: None found
Minutes: Review 10 candidates, consensus to interview Pat Kaluza, Jenna Majorowicz, Dan Wolter (These minutes were not available on the council web page, but were found through manual drill-down of the city Laserfiche system).

There is evidence of the announcement of the meeting on the council, but Henderson confirms one did exist.

2023-01-03 Special Meeting
Agenda: Meet to interview candidates for city council vacancy
Minutes: “Not yet available”

Note: Neither of the above special meetings is referenced in the agendas or minutes of any other council meeting over the past 30 days.

Note: the 2022-12-22 minutes and 2023-01-03 agendas have file creation dates of 2022-12-22. The minutes were added to the website: 1/5/2023 9:23:38 AM. The agenda appears to be added to the website but not confirmed: 12/29/2022 2:51:19 PM (the folder in the Laserfiche has that creation date, but the main webpage uses a different link to it).

City Code:

https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/lakevillemn/latest/lakeville_mn/0-0-0-121

1-5-2-1: NOTIFY PUBLIC:

It is the policy of the City Council that all of its meetings shall be open to the public. A schedule of the regular meetings of the City Council shall be kept on file at City Hall. If a meeting is recessed or a continued session of a previous meeting, and the time and place of the meeting was established during the previous meeting and recorded in the minutes of the meeting, then no further published or mailed notice is necessary. (Ord. 390, sec. 1, 10-2-1989)

https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/lakevillemn/latest/lakeville_mn/0-0-0-121

1-5-2-2: SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS 1 :

Special meetings of the City Council may be called by the Mayor or by any two (2) members of the City Council by writing filed with the City Clerk who shall then mail a notice to all the members of the time, place and agenda at least three (3) days before the meeting. The City Clerk shall also post written notice of the date, time, place and purpose of the meeting on the bulletin board at City Hall. The notice shall also be mailed or otherwise delivered to each person who has filed a written request for notice of special meetings with the City. The notice shall be posted and mailed or delivered at least three (3) days before the date of the meeting. (Ord. 390, sec. 2, 10-2-1989)

Finalists LinkedIn Profiles 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennamajorowicz/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/djwolter/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/patkaluza/

Board Members LinkedIn Profiles

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lukehellier/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/johngbermel/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuadleemed/

Michelle Volk profile not found, campaign site returns “not found”
Facebook page, last updated 2018 https://www.facebook.com/VolkForCityCouncil/

Candidate LinkedIn Profile 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-henderson-42a7124/

ISD 194 News Release

Vacated Board of Education seat to be filled by application and appointment process, October 27, 2021

Televised interviews of applicants for appointment, November 17,2021

Resumes of applicants (provided to the League of Women Voters Dakota County by the ISD 194 board).

Lakeville City Calendar

https://www.lakevillemn.gov/calendar.aspx?month=1&year=2023&day=3&CID=0&Keywords=&startDate=&enddate=&

NOTE: I have date and time-stamped PDFs stored locally

 Note: some of the items on the live Lakeville City Council webpage were added after my 1/10/2023 interview with Hellier when I told him that certain official documents were missing from the site and/or listing of recent meetings. 

News coverage in Lakeville Sun ThisWeek

Letters to the Editor in Lakeville Sun ThisWeek

News coverage in Burnsville Sun ThisWeek

Iowa beckons Daniel Wolter home again Aug 1, 2019

Dan Wolter tweet on Hellier, which led to looking up their addresses:

All four members of the city council were asked by text on 01/12/2023:

This is Chuck Smith-Dewey. Thanks for our conversations this week. 

Can you tell me how long you’ve known each of the three finalists and the circumstances where you first met them?

I am asking this of all the council members. Sent from my iPhone

LEE: I only know the candidates professionally. So the first time I met them was in their capacity serving the city 

VOLK: Pat Kaluza I’ve known many years, I believe I met him as a high school graduate.  Dan and Jenna, I don’t know well.  I met them each when they interviewed with the city to be appointed as a commissioner on a city commission.  Probably 3 years or less. 

On 1/13/2023 I followed up with Bermel and Hellier:

Hi Luke, my deadline is approaching. Are you able to give me an answer to this question or would you like me to put you down as no comment? 

Also if there is any other information you’d like to share I am always happy to have your thoughts. I can also be reached by phone.

NOTE: When I hear back from Bermel and Hellier I may add this info to story if relevant