Blaine City Council censures member who allegedly publicly criticized city staffers’ work

The Blaine City Council formally censured one of its members Monday night for violating provisions of the council’s code of conduct.

The vote, which was an added agenda item at Monday’s meeting, came after an independent investigator substantiated parts of complaints filed by two city employees who accused Council Member Lori Saroya of mistreating them and publicly criticizing their work.

Meanwhile, Saroya — the council’s only Democrat, Muslim and woman of color — on Monday sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice and the Minnesota Inspector General asking both agencies to investigate allegations of mismanagement of taxpayer funds, conflicts of interest and retaliation against her for raising those concerns.

Saroya, who is up for re-election in November, issued a statement through her attorney questioning the timing of the censure and the substance of the city’s investigation, saying “it appeared to be a pretextual and politically motivated attack on Ms. Saroya’s campaign for re-election.”

Saroya has been a fierce advocate for Ward 1 residents in her first term and has raised concerns about how the city is financing a new sports and entertainment complex that includes a baseball stadium near 105th Avenue. Saroya and some residents have questioned whether Mayor Tim Sanders has a conflict of interest with the project and the developer.

Saroya also has raised concerns about the city spending $12 million to put in new turf fields containing PFAS at the National Sports Center. And after news that the city lost $1.5 million dollars in a scam came to light, Saroya referred to the loss during a June 3 council meeting amid discussion about giving the city manager a raise.

“Under this city manager, our city lost $1.5 million dollars. People do not know this in our community, and I have not been allowed to speak on this publicly, but we need to be transparent,” Saroya said that night.

A Blaine staff member filed a complaint based on Saroya’s behavior at an April 9 Planning Commission meeting in which Saroya is accused of using her position on the City Council to influence decisions about a development in her neighborhood. Saroya said she was speaking as a private citizen at the meeting.

But concerns about Saroya “existed for a much longer period of time,” according to the report from investigator Dyan Ebert with Quinlivan & Hughes.

Ebert’s report noted Saroya’s commitment to representing her constituents but said her repeated engagement on issues that had already been decided or fully vetted by city staff undermined the work of the staff, the report said.

“This, in turn, has resulted in the staff being apprehensive about appearing at meetings because they are concerned Council Member Saroya will ask questions which they are not prepared to answer, making them appear unprepared or not forthcoming with information,” Ebert wrote.

Saroya also claimed she had been intentionally excluded from city events and social media posts. Ebert’s report did not find that to be the case.

Under terms of the censure, Saroya is not to have any communication with any city employee other than the city manager. She also cannot represent Blaine at any city-sponsored public events and is directed to issue a written apology to city staff and Planning Commission members. The censure will be reviewed every three months to ensure Saroya is in compliance and to consider modifications, the resolution stated.

“It makes me sad we even had to get to this point,” said Council Member Jess Robertson. “The way our staff has been treated, it’s been very frustrating. There is no reason staff should have to write a complaint against an elected official.”

Saroya did not agree with the censure.

“Raising issues regarding evidence of malfeasance by the city, inappropriate and negligent management of taxpayer funds and other issues of obvious citizen concern that do not reflect well on city management has resulted in additional retaliation against me,” Saroya said in a statement.