The Minnetrista City Council has appointed Council Member Anne Hunt as mayor to replace Cheryl Fischer, who angrily resigned last week after 14 years.

Hunt will serve until the end of this year, and voters will elect a new mayor in November. Hunt did not intend to serve in her council seat beyond this year.

The council also moved to advertise for candidates to fill the now-open council seat, and to interview them and appoint a new council member May 19.

In resigning, Fischer asserted the council had been conducting business without including her, circumventing the open meeting law and belittling staffers. At Monday's council meeting, a group of citizens aired many similar grievances during a comment period.

The council later spent nearly an hour discussing data practices law in light of recent requests for City Council communications, and the amount of time that staff members have been spending in complying with the requests.

The council ultimately decided to have the city supply each of them with a phone for public business.

Bill McAuliffe