Several councilors and the mayor offered words at a June 1 Chaska City Council meeting, following the death of George Floyd in custody of Minneapolis police.

Mayor Mark Windschitl:

“Tensions are high and I hope that we can be who we are. We’re Chaska. We’re a strong community. We’re a community known for helping each other and being good neighbors to each other and I hope that we can continue that.”

“Thank goodness we can all sit here and take a big sigh of relief and (be) happy that all things have remained calm and we’re good here,” he said, of the unrest in the Twin Cities.

Councilor Taylor Hubbard:

“I commend those students for stepping up and taking that action,” she said of organizers of a May 31 virtual protest. “I think that there are a lot of people of color who are scared.”

“I want to let those people (of color) know, that are hurting that I see you. I hear you. I am listening. I am willing to have these difficult conversations. I am willing to roll up my sleeves and be a part of this solution and I just want to make this place a better place for my son and for everybody else.”

Councilor Mike Huang:

“It was a horrible, atrocious act that was committed and, you know, certainly the destruction across Minneapolis has been just terrible and heartfelt for a lot of people. And I think we’ll be feeling that aftermath of that for generations and generations in terms of businesses that are lost and you know, the people affected by this that will be seeing this for a very long time.”

“We need to hopefully shift gears as a community, as the Twin Cities, and to move into a healing mode as we transition out of the traditional anger that’s out there and move into a world where we can start rebuilding bridges and start righting those wrongs or making corrections so that way we can move forward as a society.”

Councilor McKayla Hatfield:

“(We) absolutely need to foster spaces where we celebrate people of color and we acknowledge them and we stand by them.”

“It’s our duty. It’s my duty to make sure all those voices, especially the ones that have been historically oppressed, are heard. There’s basically no reason to be uneducated at this point.”

“I just think we’re in a really cool moment of change and the only way to continue to do that is to continue to be conscious.”

Councilor Jon Grau:

“During the day, the number of images of people cleaning and sweeping with brooms and cleaning up; in Chaska itself by donating food and supplies is important for if you’re having those conversations with your kids about looking for those helpers,” he said, following a quote about “looking for the helpers” by Fred Rogers (“Mr. Rogers”).

“Also remember as adults, we’re the helpers. So the quote’s great. It’s great to tell that to your kids and understand that, but it’s also a call to us. Because we’re adults now and we need to be the help and the support to that … Thoughts and prayers with our community.”