| 3/11/2009 4:29:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article | Commissioner dismisses lawsuit
Derrick Knutson
Review staff
Maplewood has faced several lawsuits in the recent past, but the most recent one didn't even make it to court.
Frederica Musgrave, a member of Maplewood's Environmental and Natural Resources Commission, filed a lawsuit Feb. 18. The suit alleges that her comments were routinely censored and kept out of ENRC meeting minutes; subcommittees of the ENRC met without telling other members, which constituted a violation of the Minnesota Open Meeting Law; and the city attempted to remove her from the commission "based on her political beliefs, contained in the minority viewpoint, that she attempts to share with the ENRC and the City Council."
Last week, Musgrave's attorney, Bradley Kirscher, dismissed the lawsuit. Phone calls made to Musgrave by the Review were not returned.
All of the City Council members and former interim city manager Chuck Ahl are named in the dismissed suit, but it focuses on a memorandum written by Council member John Nephew to the rest of the Council. In the memorandum, Nephew wrote "Ms. Musgrave repeatedly derails the commission with minutiae of procedure, consuming a considerable amount of commission time, when it's clear that no one else on the commission shares the same concern." Nephew's memorandum also alleges that Musgrave made "baseless and inappropriate attacks on the professional integrity of the city's hired consultants."
The memorandum also details an altercation that occured on Feb. 3.
"After arguing with the city attorney's legal advice concerning the Open Meeting Law, Ms. Musgrave got up and left the ENRC meeting ... she did so stating that she intended to deprive the commission of a quorum," Nephew wrote.
At least four out of seven ENRC members have to be present to have a meeting.
At the end of the memorandum, Nephew requests that Musgrave be removed from her volunteer post on the ENRC.
The Council was set to discuss possible removal of Musgrave during its Feb. 23 meeting, but was unable to do so because of the pending lawsuit. On that date, Nephew attended a Second Judicial District court hearing at the Ramsey County Courthouse. The hearing was to determine if Musgrave could obtain a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the City Council to keep her on the ENRC. District Court Judge M. Michael Monahan denied the motion for the TRO. In the decision, Monahan wrote that Musgrave's claims against Nephew were of a "wholly speculative nature" and that she had "not suffered, and has not demonstrated that she is about to suffer, any legally recognizable injury, irreparable or otherwise."
In an interview following the dismissal, Nephew said that the lawsuit was "frivolous."
He added that a member of the ENRC wrote a letter to the City Council requesting that Musgrave be removed, and other members of the commission made verbal complaints to him about Musgrave's conduct during the meetings.
Musgrave maintains a blog called "The Citizens' Reporter," and a response to the dismissal was posted on that Web site.
The blog post reads: "Dismissal without prejudice does not mean defeat for the underdog or a celebrated win for the 'pack dogs.'"
The post also says that Nephew was "out of line intimidating Commissioner Musgrave," and that he should make a public apology to her.
Nephew speculated that Musgrave dropped the suit because it didn't have any merit and her chances of winning were slim to none.
He added that he thinks she is still a disruptive member of the ENRC for the reasons he detailed in his memorandum.
"I agreed with those members (of the ENRC) who said she was disruptive and harms their ability to get their work done," Nephew said. "Clearly, we need to have a discussion as a council on how to deal with problems on our commissions."
Derrick Knutson can be reached at dknutson@lillienews.com or at 651-748-7825.
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