Northfield mayor withdraws from lawsuit

Hours before a City Council meeting, Lee Lansing said he would withdraw as a plaintiff from a lawsuit against the city, its administrator and three council members.

By Sarah Lemagie, Star Tribune

Last update: November 1, 2007 - 10:36 PM

Northfield Mayor Lee Lansing said Thursday he is withdrawing as a plaintiff from a lawsuit that he brought last month against the city, its administrator and three council members.

The suit contends that city officials violated state open-meeting and public-records laws this year during discussions about two downtown Northfield properties. The council had considered one site, owned by the mayor's son, David Lansing -- also a plaintiff in the suit -- as the new location for a municipal liquor store.

Hours before a special City Council meeting Thursday night, the mayor said he was withdrawing. He had called the meeting to discuss several issues facing Northfield, including how the suit would affect city leadership.

At the meeting, Council Member Scott Davis brought a resolution before the council calling for Lansing to step aside as the presiding official at City Council meetings while the suit is pending. After the council considered it Thursday night, the resolution was withdrawn.

The resolution had called for the Mayor Pro Tem, Kris Vohs, to take over that duty, as well as the mayor's responsibility for setting preliminary council meeting agendas with the city administrator. It had not called for Lansing's resignation.

"It wouldn't be fair to expect anybody to operate in an unbiased manner," Davis said before the meeting, noting that the suit, which names only three of the seven council members, has exacerbated tensions among city officials. "It's not good for the city."

Northfield's charter and ordinances don't allow the council to force the mayor to step aside, city attorney Maren Swanson said before the meeting. The mayor's dual position as city official and legal adversary "creates an uncomfortable situation," she said.

However, asked what the city should do, she said, "I don't think it's a legal question. I think it's a judgment call for the mayor and council to make."

Lansing said before the meeting that he would not agree to step aside even if the council had adopted the resolution, but added that he thought removing himself from the lawsuit would make the issue "a moot point."

Not so, said Davis, who thought the suit would have to be resolved for the mayor to resume his duties. "That's just words on a piece of paper," he said before the meeting.

Lansing said that his son would remain a plaintiff in the suit, which calls for the removal from office council members who are found to have broken the law. Council Members Noah Cashman, Jon Denison and Jim Pokorney are named as defendants, along with City Administrator Al Roder.

Sarah Lemagie • 612-673-7557

Sarah Lemagie • slemagie@startribune.com

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