Meeting With Woodbury GOP Lawmakers Gets Heated

“I would love to see that kind of interest in my library listening sessions,” Rep. Andrea Kieffer said.

The Woodbury Republican was referring a public meeting at that at times got a little testy.

Area lawmakers on Thursday held a “Reform 2.0” meeting to gather feedback from residents and business owners about major issues facing Minnesota.

Instead, the meeting included an audience member being asked to leave (he didn’t), yells of “that’s a lie” from those in attendance, and a generally combative atmosphere throughout.

Mark Deziel, a tax preparer from Lake Elmo, was the most vocal of those who came to Thursday morning’s meeting.

He blasted the lawmakers for pushing a GOP agenda and said they were propagating myths about the Minnesota tax system.

House Majority Leader Matt Dean asked Deziel to leave, but he didn’t and said he would simply sit down. Things quieted a bit after that, but Dieziel continued to hold up signs during the discussion.

Woodbury Patch obtained an email sent out by District 56 DFL leaders that asked members to attend the meeting. “Let's show up and be heard,” it said.

“Our goal is to fill Woodbury City Hall with progressive voices willing to ask the difficult questions and hold these legislators accountable,” reads the email. “We want to Occupy Woodbury City Hall for the day.”

Alberder Gillespie, District 56 DFL chair, told Patch that area Democrats were irked that the event was billed as nonpartisan yet the GOP lawmakers involved didn’t do enough to inform the public about it.

“If it’s going to be a listening session, you need to publicize it,” she said.

Without an opposing voice there, it would be easy enough for the legislators to report that the public supports their ideas, Gillespie said.

“You need to bring everyone to the table,” she said. “The rest of us didn’t even know that these meetings were occurring. I don’t think that’s helpful.”

The word “occupy” was used in the email to catch people’s attention at a late date, Gillespie said, adding that the first some local DFL officials heard of it was via Woodbury Patch.

Keffer said she wasn’t personally offended by any of the outbursts: “I don’t care, it’s a public forum.”

“It’s just part of the job,” she said.

But she said the meeting wasn’t meant to be a debate and she wished it could have been more constructive.

“For the most part, people are passionate and can lose their composure a bit,” said Kieffer, who represents the bulk of Woodbury in the state House.

The meeting was attended by several area business owners, along with Rep. Kathy Lohmer, Sen. Ted Lillie, Woodbury Mayor Mary Giuliani Stephens, Rep. Denny McNamara, Rep. Rep Pat Garofalo, County Attorney Pete Orput, County Commissioner Lisa Weik, District 833 Superintendent Mark Porter and Woodbury City Administrator Clint Gridley.