First Champlin Council Meeting Recap

By Andrew Richter

Well last Monday I attended my first Champlin City Council meeting and came away with a few takeaways.

There were many positive things to say. The council chamber is small and cozy so it’s quite a nice and inviting atmosphere. It’s not some overbuilt nonsense like in Ramsey or Apple Valley. Everyone said hello to each other and staff and council members seemed friendly. The meeting was largely without fireworks. There were several presentations to grant winners who got their picture taken with Mayor Nelson. It’s interesting how different they run the meetings than Crystal ie: the announcements are at the beginning and the consent agenda is later. Oh well, I’ll just have to get used to it.

If there was a somewhat negative on the night, it was probably the presentation by the Champlin Police Chief David Kolb. I’ll say straight out that I had a very negative impression of Chief Kolb stemming back from 2012 where he testified (in my opinion borderline falsely) about an 2nd amendment bill. You can see more about the criticism of him HERE and HERE. As a resident of Champlin for 2 1/2 weeks I’m trying hard not to pre-judge things, but I have to say that the Champlin police are thought of very negatively by most residents I’ve talked to. Of course their opinion may be biased from one thing or another but the universal complaining is something I’ve never encountered before.

I have to say the Police Chief didn’t do or say much to change that impression. Kolb seems very sensitive to any criticism mentioning “social media” THIRTEEN times in about a 15 minute speech. His annoyance at constituent’s complaints was obvious. Mr. Kolb ought to remember that he is a public servant and we aren’t his subjects and like it or not if they have a bad experience social media is often a place to vent. And as citizens we have to remember that the police are carrying out city policy, not deciding what laws they are going to enforce or not. It’s a two-way street.

The city council seems to back their police officers but then again, what else can they publicly say? I have noticed a large police presence at Andrews Field where I play softball and on Dayton Road where the speed limit should be 45 or 50 but its 30 instead. I saw THREE cop cars there Saturday morning ALONE, so clearly that’s a speed trap. Once again, I’m not pro or anti law enforcement and I’m willing to reserve judgment for now. Either way, their chief didn’t make the best first impression.

I will say this; it was much better than the first Crystal city council meeting I attended!!! Tonight it’s the planning commission meeting!