Council member Molly Dennis ejected from city council meeting
By Brandon Cote
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ROCHESTER, Minnesota (KIMT) — Council President Brooke Carlson kicked Molly Dennis out of Monday night’s meeting after interrupting city staff several times.
Dennis attempted to ask city staff if they track unpaid parking tickets numerous times during a discussion about collections on unpaid parking tickets.
Dennis brought up how she herself previously paid a parking ticket at City Hall, despite having the correct label and marking on her car. She was offered to avoid paying the fine, but ultimately decided to pay the fee.
Then, City Attorney Spindler-Krage explained it is sometimes allowed to avoid paying the ticket under certain rules.
However, Dennis continued to disrupt him with her own questions.
During these questions, Carlson warned the Ward 6 council member about not disrupting others when she does not have the floor.
The city attorney pointed out to President Carlson that she could remove her for not following city council rules.
After the third time of calling Dennis out, Brooke Carslon asked her to leave.
While the council member exited the chambers, she left saying “I will leave, but I feel targeted.”
KIMT News 3 caught up with her outside the Government Centet. She says this censorship stems from council members and Mayor Norton fixing parking tickets for friends.
“We need to know whose connections are dismissing tickets. If someone has the authority, we should have that on record. If we hide things behind close doors, we are hiding government and that is a huge issue for democracy.”
15 minutes later, Dennis reentered the council chambers to retrieve her belongings. She interupted the meeting once again to ask if she was kicked out of the whole meeting.
The city attorney clarified she was ejected from the entire meeting. She then proceeded to say, “So you can dismiss tickets of your friends? Transparency is trust.”
President Carlson said her accusations are false and is one of the many claims the city is trying to dismiss in Dennis’s lawsuit.
Dennis tells KIMT News 3 she is filing a complaint against Carlson to the city’s ethics board. Dennis is claiming Carlson kicking her out is a ‘blatant abuse of power’.
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