New Rochester council gets training this week, looks at potential location change for study sessions

ROCHESTER — A pair of Minneapolis-based attorneys with expertise in municipal law will provide the Rochester City Council with a deeper understanding of their roles.

“The session aims to equip council members with a deeper understanding of the complexities of serving as public officials and the unique legal frameworks that govern their roles,” Jessica Schuler, the city’s management analyst, wrote in a report ahead of the Jan. 15 study session. “Participants will gain practical tools and knowledge to navigate these responsibilities effectively.”

With four of the seven council members in the initial weeks of their first term, attorneys from Kennedy & Graven Chartered will provide insights into transitioning from candidate to elected official, collaborating on an elected body and with staff and best practices for communication.

While similar training sessions are common after new elected officials join the council, the upcoming presentation by Rachel Tierney and Pamela Whitmore follows council tensions that resulted in the 2023 censure of former council member Molly Dennis, a related lawsuit filed by Dennis and Dennis’ ejection from three council meetings in 2024.

Tierney will bring more than 20 years of experience in local government law to the presentation, with experience as an assistant city attorney and most recently as Saint Paul’s deputy city attorney.

Whitmore also offers more than two decades of experience in local government law, municipal litigation and conflict management services. She serves as city attorney for the cities of Mankato, Marshall, Wells, West St. Paul and Olivia.

The training session shifts the regular council session from Monday to 3:30 p.m. Wednesday to accommodate the presenters, and the location will move to room 104 in City Hall.

While the move to the City Hall council room is due to the nature of the meeting, similar study session relocations could be more common in the future.

“It is helpful to sit around a table when you are having a study session,” City Administrator Alison Zelms told the council during its first meeting of 2025.

The council currently holds all formal meetings and study sessions in council chambers due to a local requirement that they be broadcast live through city cable channels. Zelms said the requirement adopted by the City Council in 2019 has proved challenging since it requires relying on outside technology.

“Oftentimes, (the cable box) is the box that creates the problem,” she said. “It either dies or needs to be reset, and only (cable company staff) can do that.”

Council member Shaun Palmer pointed to ongoing updates in the City Hall conference room, which allow for livestreaming of meetings and posting video on the city’s YouTube channel, He said it gives the council options for meeting locations.

Zelms said it would require an update to council rules, but a change could be proposed later this month.

“If overall there is no major objection to that, we can bring something back, probably at your next City Council meeting,” she said.

Meetings scheduled to be held during the week of Jan. 13 include:

Rochester

• Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Commission, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in room 104 in City Hall, 201 Fourth St. SE.

• Charter Commission, 4:30 p.m. Tuesday in room 104 of City Hall, 201 Fourth St. SE.

• City Council study session, 3:30 p.m. Wednesday in room 104 in City Hall.

• Library Board, 4:30 p.m. Wednesday in the first floor meeting room of the Rochester Public Library, 101 Second St. SE.

Olmsted County 

• Sheriff's Civil Service Commission, 8 a.m. Wednesday with the location to be posted at olmstedcounty.primegov.com/public/portal.

Rochester Public Schools

• School Board study session, 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in the boardroom of the Edison Building, 615 Seventh St. SW.