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Mayor Niedfeldt-Thomas thanked Mr. Spooner for coming in and applying for this position. She noted City <br />Clerk Spangrud would be in touch with further information on how the Council was moving forward. She <br />explained the next person to be interviewed was Lin Brown. <br />Councilmember Abdulle asked Ms. Brown to provide the Council with a brief history on her background and <br />community involvement. <br />Lin Brown explained she had several volunteer positions that she has done. Currently, she sews baby items for <br />the Bundles of Love organization in New Brighton. She noted she worked at the Federal Reserve Bank <br />downtown and she served on the green team and worked to improve recycling efforts. She commented years <br />ago she volunteered with her daughter's girl scouts troops. <br />Councilmember Allen asked what motivated Ms. Brown to serve on a City Commission. <br />Ms. Brown indicated she moved to New Brighton five years ago and she was now looking to become more <br />involved in the community. She stated she has always been interested parks and recreation. She commented as <br />a kid she visited parks. She explained she has not taken any classes through the New Brighton Community <br />Center, however she was interested in doing this. She noted she just received her book and she understood all <br />classes can be signed up for online. She stated she was really interested in the environment, climate change <br />and understood PREC addressed environmental concerns. <br />Councilmember Axberg stated each Commission is tasked with making recommendations to the City Council <br />that comply with policies, rules or ordinances already adopted by the City Council. She asked Ms. Brown <br />what she would do if she disagreed with a policy or ordinance already in place. <br />Ms. Brown explained she has a long history as an analyst. She discussed the research she does in her job and <br />explained she would take this same approach if there was a concern she had with a policy or ordinance that she <br />did not agree with. She indicated she would make a suggestion to the Commission and see if they wanted to <br />give it a go. <br />Councilmember Dunsworth requested Ms. Brown to speak to the City's biggest opportunity and biggest <br />challenge in addressing inclusion in New Brighton. <br />Ms. Brown stated the Commissions were becoming more and more important. She indicated diversity in these <br />groups would be important, along with different walks of life. She anticipated it would be a challenge to <br />getting a diverse group of people to know about the opportunities that are available. She noted she heard about <br />this position through the NextDoor app which led her to the City's website and she learned about the different <br />commissions. She explained she appreciated the information she received on the NextDoor app. She <br />encouraged the City to continue to reach out to the public through apps and social media. <br />Mayor Niedfeldt-Thomas thanked Ms. Brown for coming in and applying for this position. She noted City <br />Clerk Spangrud would be in touch with further information on how the Council was moving forward. She <br />explained the next person to be interviewed was JoAnn Lindman. <br />Councilmember Abdulle asked Ms. Lindman to provide the Council with a brief history on her background <br />and community involvement. <br />JoAnn Lindman explained she was involved in girl scouts for 10 years when her daughter was younger. She <br />described the work she did with the girl scouts organization helping with camps. She stated before COVID <br />started, she volunteered to help organize the gala event for the Smile Network at Union Depot. The year before <br />