Residents packed into Brooklyn Center City Council chambers Dec. 19 for a special meeting held on short notice. The sole item on the agenda was City Manager Reggie Edwards\u2019 contract \u2014 and within an hour, his employment was terminated by a 3-2 vote.<\/p>\n
The process leading up to Edwards\u2019s termination has not been open to the public. His biannual permanence review was conducted during a closed session in late November, and on Dec. 15, another closed session was held to further discuss his contract.<\/p>\n
Mayor April Graves cautioned her council colleagues to not \u201clead from suspicion\u201d or “drift into punishment rather than stewardship” at the Dec. 19 meeting. She also requested the addition of a public comment period, to which three council members simply said, \u201cno.\u201d<\/p>\n
Members of the public then echoed the mayor\u2019s request. \u201cIf we can\u2019t speak, shut it down,\u201d the audience chanted in unison. \u201cIf we can\u2019t speak, shut it down!\u201d<\/p>\n
The minutes-long chant was eventually quelled with a vote to open a public comment period. Council Member Laurie Ann Moore was the sole vote against the motion.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you feel so good about your decision, why can’t we let 15 minutes of public comment happen? You can still vote exactly how you want,\u201d Graves asked. \u201cYou don’t think the community deserves to have their voices heard in this process?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have spoken, they have provided feedback to council members [inaudible]. They don’t need to here,\u201d Moore replied.<\/p>\n
A total of the seven residents took to the podium during the public comment period \u2014 all of whom voiced support for the city manager.<\/p>\n
\u201cDr. Edwards is one of the most qualified people to be in this seat, and unfortunately, what I saw in my time is that education didn’t matter,\u201d Former City Council Member Marquita Butler said. \u201cWhen people get educated, other people are intimidated. But Dr. Edwards, I want to keep your head up high\u2026 history will show who is on the right side.\u201d<\/p>\n
Julie Bourque, a member of the Brooklyn Center Parks and Recreation Commission, highlighted Edward\u2019s status as one of the few city managers across the country with a PhD. \u201cHe\u2019s also one of only 3% of Black city managers in the United States,\u201d she said. \u201cWhy does that matter? Because representation matters. We are one of the most diverse cities in the state.\u201d<\/p>\n
Once the public comment period closed, Council Member Teneshia Kragness gave her account of the circumstances that led to the special meeting.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring the closed session in which the city manager’s performance evaluation was discussed, statements were made by members of this council regarding potential termination of his contract,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
According to Kragness, Councilmember Moore expressed her desire to oust Edwards after he fired the city\u2019s director of finance, Angela Holm, in early December.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt that time, I raised the concern that terminating the city manager for taking a personnel action related to staff performance could constitute retaliation, which is not permitted under law or council policy,\u201d Kragness said.<\/p>\n
Kragness also highlighted multiple alleged comments made by her council colleagues during the performance review process.<\/p>\n
\u201cCouncil Member Dan Jerzak stated that the finance director \u2018had to be probed, but she was ultimately forthcoming with information.\u2019 I want to reiterate that the council policy requires council members to interact with staff through the city manager,\u201d Kragness said.\u2029\u201dAny deviation from that structure raises serious governance concerns, abuse of power and risk undermining established checks and balances.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kragness continued: \u201cCouncil Member Kris Lawrence-Anderson did not complete the city manager’s performance evaluation, stating, I quote, \u2018It was not worth my time.\u2019 This raises serious questions as to why a council member who assisted in creating the city manager evaluation process would choose not to participate, while simultaneously expressing dissatisfaction with the city manager’s performance, yet declining to meet with him one-on-one or to complete the evaluation designed to assess that performance.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI did say that. I would like to place it into context,\u201d Jerzak replied, which elicited a reaction from the audience. \u201cI want the record to show that it’s out of context.\u201d<\/p>\n
Following Jerzak\u2019s comments, Moore made a motion to terminate the city manager\u2019s contract immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would like to know, and I think the public deserves to know, your reasoning,\u201d Graves said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do not have to give a reason,\u201d Moore replied.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn advice of our city attorney, I am not making a comment,\u201d \u2029Lawrence-Anderson said. \u201cAnother council member had received that information. I\u2026 I don’t need an explanation. I do not.\u201d<\/p>\n
Graves gave one more comment before the motion came to a vote.<\/p>\n
\u201cAcross multiple meetings, I’ve seen heightened and repetitive scrutiny that’s been directed towards certain professional staff, including Dr. Edwards,\u201d she said. \u201cIt often takes place in the form of repeated requests for justification or explanation after information has already been provided, questioning that explicitly challenges professional expertise or credibility, escalation over time without a corresponding record of documented performance failure, and by contrast, in the police and finance items, they more frequently reflect deference to professional judgment, fewer follow up challenges once information is presented and questions framed around implementation rather than legitimacy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis has governance implications. Oversight is a core responsibility of us as council members.\u2029However, when oversight becomes uneven or escalates without clear process, it can undermine council manager-governance norms, create instability for staff and contracted partners, erode trust within the organization, signal inequitable standards regardless of your intent. Effective governance requires not only accountability but consistency, clarity of expectations and respect for professional roles.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe separate scrutiny, particularly when directed toward leaders and partners serving prevention, community, health and non-law-enforcement functions, has equity implications. The impact is magnified when those leaders are disproportionately Black professionals or community-based organizations.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven absent of explicit bias, patterns of deferential treatment can reinforce inequitable outcomes, including burnout nutrition among qualified leaders, chilling effects on innovation and prevention work and reduced confidence among our community partners. The public record shows an increased questioning and escalation towards specific staff and partners. It also shows an inconsistent application of oversight norms across departments. So, I am just putting that on the record and letting you know that the public record does show that \u2014 and I have more proof that I will be bringing up later.\u201d<\/p>\n
Graves and Kragness voted against the motion to terminate the city manager\u2019s contract, while Jerzak, Moore and Lawrence-Anderson all voted in favor.<\/p>\n
Following the vote, Edwards was invited to give his own remarks. He largely focused on thanking residents and staff for the opportunity to serve the city \u2014 though he also touched on the circumstances of his departure.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn Monday, I received an annual performance review from the city council, where I was rated as having exceeded expectations. It is therefore unfortunate, on the heels of such a positive evaluation, that my contract is not being renewed. I carry the honor of being the only city manager of African American descent in the state of Minnesota, among 834 approximately cities, and only two in the history of Minnesota.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis distinction afforded me the chance to inspire hope for those who have been historically marginalized, and the opportunity to share my personal experiences and my stories with youth as promising future civic leaders. It pains me to think that the momentum that we worked diligently to build, the vision of a new, empowered Brooklyn Center, may be dwarfed by short sightedness and divisiveness. While this chapter is ending prematurely, my resolve remains unchanged. The work we did was never about one person, never about me, but about the people of Brooklyn Center. I leave this position with my head held high, knowing that I served with integrity and dedication, that we moved the needle forward for justice, transparency and good governance. It has been a great honor, the greatest of my professional life, to serve the people of Brooklyn Center.\u201d<\/p>\n
Edwards previously served as Brooklyn Center\u2019s deputy city manager. In April 2021, he took over as acting city manager the day after Daunte Wright was shot and killed by Brooklyn Center police. He was hired to the role on a permanent basis later that year.<\/p>\n
The Sun Post has reached out to city officials regarding the circumstances surrounding Edward\u2019s termination and what will be done in his absence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
City Spokesperson Joe Cardoza said leadership coverage is in place to ensure continuity of city operations. “As with all personnel matters, details related to individual employment decisions are confidential,” he noted.<\/p>\n
The city also issued a statement on the matter: “Following a special meeting, the Brooklyn Center City Council took action regarding the City Manager\u2019s employment contract, consistent with the Council\u2019s responsibilities. The City Council voted to terminate the City Manager\u2019s contract. The City remains focused on continuity of operations and providing services to the community. City services will continue as normal. Questions related to the City Council\u2019s decision may be directed to the Mayor, who is serving as the Council\u2019s spokesperson on this matter.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Residents packed into Brooklyn Center City Council chambers Dec. 19 for a special meeting held on short notice.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":79392,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[39477,39465,98,39456,39463,39461,39478,100,99,39473,39466,39457,29032,39474,39459,39460,39470,39468,39469,1603,39476,39475,39462,39454,39464,39467,39471,1092,5800,39479,9,24,63,39455,39458,39472,901],"class_list":["post-79391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-acting-city-manager","tag-april-graves","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-center-city-council","tag-brooklyn-center-council","tag-brooklyn-center-parks","tag-brooklyn-center-police","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-center-parks-and-recreation-commission","tag-city-attorney","tag-city-manager","tag-council-member","tag-dan-jerzak","tag-daunte-wright","tag-deputy-city-manager","tag-director-of-finance","tag-director-the-finance","tag-edward","tag-finance","tag-finance-items","tag-julie-bourque","tag-kris-lawrence-anderson","tag-laurie-ann-moore","tag-lawrence-anderson","tag-manager-evaluation-process","tag-marquita-butler","tag-mayor","tag-minnesota","tag-mne","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-reggie-edwards","tag-teneshia-kragness","tag-the-sun-post","tag-united-states"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79391"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79391\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}