A request by Emily resident Donna Sutton asking for a voluntary resignation by Emily City Council member Jan Mosman was heard by a full house during Tuesday night's city council meeting. Sutton alleged that Mosman was in fact not a resident of Emily, but instead claimed a permanent homestead in Eden Prairie.
Attorney Mark Severson spoke on behalf of Sutton, stating that, "tonight it is not our intent to ambush or attack Jan Mosman, but for her to follow state law and to respectfully request that she voluntarily resign."
According to public records, Mosman filed an affidavit of candidacy with Emily in 2010 as a candidate for Emily City Council and as a resident of Emily. It was revealed however that during this time, Mosman was actually a resident of Eden Prairie.
In order to qualify as candidate for Emily City Council, candidates must be a qualified city voter and resident of Emily for at least 30 days before the election, which Sutton states Mosman was not.
“If Jan Mosman is claiming residence in Emily, she is claiming fraudulent ‘seasonal’ tax reduction in Crow Wing County,” said Sutton in a written statement distributed to the council. According to records, Mosman lists her primary residence as Eden Prairie and her cabin in Crow Wing County as seasonal/recreational and a non-homestead.
Severson asked that no action be taken tonight by council members and instead would like to re-approach the topic during the April 10 city council meeting and "allow for Ms. Mosman to review the information presented and prepare an appropriate response."
In light of the information, one Emily resident, who asked to not be named, publicly responded, "We are taken advantage of by our national government and I don't want that to be happening in my city. I feel taken advantage of and hurt and really deceived by you (Mosman)."
Following the meeting Mosman said: “I know I am covered and legit with all of my records and I plan on following up with a personal letter.”
Mosman’s term as city council member is set to expire in 2014.
JESSI PIERCE may be reached at 855-5859 or jessi.pierce@brainerddispatch.com. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/jessi_pierce (@jessi_pierce).
Comments (6)
Add commentSounds like Miss Sutton has an axe to grind
and instead of having a backbone, chose to go with a lawyer. As for the one resident, if you are going to make a public response, then remove the yellow streak down your back, and tell everyone what your name is, coward!
How great that new blood
How great that new blood wants to move to small towns. Out out the welcome mat instead of driving them away.
Mosman running for brainerd council next?
The issue is did Jan Mosman illegally run for an office? It should be easy for Jan to bring forth the documents to the council if she is a resident, if not, then one must ask if she is qualified to represent the citizens of Emily on the city council. It is a core value of government, to have representation of the people. Decisions made by the council must be based on the opinions and ideas of the voters who elected the council to office. Does Jan represent small town Emily or the greater metro area in which she spends "some of her time for personal reasons" and where her homestead is located? The issue at heart is, did Jan Mosman meet the requirement to be a citizen of Emily to run for city council or did the law become compromised by her candidacy and seat on the council? We will know the truth on April 10th. By the way- which city does she truly reside in and what location is she a registered voter? One, both, or many?
What about the issues Jan voted on in the past ?
Will the council have to go back and open up past issues that were fraduently voted on by Jan ?
yes, let new blood come to small towns.
Yes, let new blood come to small towns. We SHOULD welcome them. However, we should not have to put up with someone deceiving the people and fraudulently running for city council. Jan Mosman's home and job are in Eden Prairie. The home in Eden Prairie is not for sale. Jan has ulterior motives and does not represent the people she is on the council to represent. I sure hope she does the right thing and resigns or the council does the right thing and votes her off.
MN Homesteading - know the law?
Okay - so the Suttons and their merry band want to try to publically embarrass a sitting elected official.
Did they 'try to talk with her ahead of time' to try to understand?
Or did they come to a public meeting and try to give an appearance that they 'knew something'?
Well, talk about wasting money, the Suttons et al are wasting theirs on the lawyering, since the MN Statues read:
Taken verbatim from existing MN law – see (3) and (4) specifically:
"273.124 HOMESTEAD DETERMINATION; SPECIAL RULES
(e) In the case of property owned by a property owner who is married, the assessor must not deny homestead treatment in whole or in part if only one of the spouses occupies the property and the other spouse is absent due to: (1) marriage dissolution proceedings, (2) legal separation, (3) employment or self-employment in another location, or (4) other personal circumstances causing the spouses to live separately, not including an intent to obtain two homestead classifications for property tax purposes. To qualify under clause (3), the spouse's place of employment or self-employment must be at least 50 miles distant from the other spouse's place of employment, and the homesteads must be at least 50 miles distant from each other."
That is the law, and this is a bunny chase . . .
So, whomever 'answered the phone in Hennepin County’ is misleading people, and should know better, as should the lawyer who is propping-up the Suttons. Odds are, the question was improperly phrased, just as information can be ‘misconstrued’ at other times. So maybe, we don’t blame Hennepin County?
So again, what is the real issue - now that we KNOW Ms. Mosman is legally elected? Why the tempest around her? Why attack one Councilor?
Look at the other posts 'attacking her' and it seems pretty clearly to be character assassination to "win" on some other issues?
Wow - Because she asks penetrating questions? Because she pushes for an answer, rather than let the "spinners" trot out rehearsed answers? And what about "timely" dialogue - why did Suttons NOT have their petition 'submitted' in time This “school building refurbishing item” has been on the docket since last summer - as budgets were being discussed? Why the "late ambush"? Why ANY AMBUSH?
My little community is better than this - and we need to progress smartly, and with timely and respectful petition to the Council.
I hope the vitriol can now subside.