Alleging intimidation, Rochester City Council censures member

ROCHESTER – The Rochester City Council on Monday censured one of its council members for allegedly intimidating her colleagues and city staff over the past two years.

Under the censure, Council Member Molly Dennis can only meet with city staff in virtual meetings through the remainder of 2023 and can only meet with department heads as well as City Administrator Alison Zelms and City Attorney Michael Spindler-Krage. She must also refrain from negative interactions with other city staff and council members in the future.

The council introduced the resolution to reprimand Dennis about a half hour into its meeting Monday night after a brief recess. Council Member Patrick Keane, who brought the censure forward, said he wanted to publicly address the issue to improve council relationships and to reduce potential risks to the city. He called Dennis' actions "erratic and confrontational, caught in an endless loop of personal grievance that never resolve."

"The relationships with council, with staff and with the public leave many feeling bullied or threatened," Keane said.

The council voted 4-1-1 to censure Dennis, with Dennis voting against the measure and newly elected Council Member Norman Wahl abstaining. Council member Mark Bransford was absent.

In comments that lasted more than 13½ minutes, Dennis said she was blindsided by the censure and accused council and staff of retaliating against her for her sometimes-contrarian views.

She accused city administration of violating state law by allowing elected officials to pocket frequent flier miles on official travel for personal use. Dennis also said she was being targeted because she has attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD), which causes her to communicate differently than others and at times get distracted, or repeatedly hammer on the same point.

"I'm sorry that I offend people," she said. "It was never my intent. … I've never threatened, I've never meant to be" threatening.

Dennis, elected in 2020, is serving her first term on the council.

City spokeswoman Jenna Bowman said Tuesday morning Zelms was unavailable for comment. Bowman also said the city has reviewed issues surrounding frequent flier miles in consultation with the League of Minnesota Cities and found itself in compliance with state law.

"The city wholly rejects the suggestion that the city is misusing public funds," Bowman said in an email.

Dennis has had tense exchanges with other council members during public meetings on a variety of issues.

Things came to a head at a work session Feb. 27 when the council discussed strategic priorities. The open meeting was held at the Plummer House, outside of the usual council chambers, and wasn't electronically recorded, which Dennis objected to. The meeting devolved into an argument among Dennis, council members and staff.

Dennis said Tuesday morning she believes parts of the censure, such as communicating with staff via writing, may violate her ADHD accommodations because she processes information verbally. She said she was also concerned she could violate the censure if she spoke with a police officer or friends who work for the city.

"I'm being set up to fail," she said.

Wahl said he was disappointed he wasn't informed about the council's resolution prior to the meeting and said he was very uncomfortable with the censure.

"She just processes things differently," Wahl said.

Council President Brooke Carlson said the censure comes after years of effort to try to address concerns over Dennis's behavior toward others.

"There are obligations of us as council that if we feel our staff is being harmed, it is our responsibility to take action," Carlson said.

The City Council has censured members three other times over the past three decades.