02-24-2025 CC Agenda Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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27-CV-25-2808 Filed in District Court State of Minnesota 2/15/2025 12:08 PM 81. That is what Minn. Stat. § 412.02, subd. 2a provided for when Claire Berrett was appointed to the remainder of Matt Johnson's term, and that is what then -Mayor Walsh did by appointing her in 2024. 82. Likewise, the Attorney General has opined on several occasions that the council filling a vacancy for the remainder of a term is not "overreach," but rather a normal and lawful course of filling vacancies in municipal offices. Dickey Aff. Ex. O (Op. Atty. Gen. 471M, March 2, 1962) (opining that village mayor's appointment was authorized under statute permitting that "in case of a tie, the mayor shall fill the vacancy by appointment for the unexpired term...." (quoting Laws 1961, Chapter 230, § 1, Subd. 2)); Dickey Aff. Ex. P (Op. Atty. Gen. Oct. 18, 1951) (interpreting Minn. Stat. § 212.34 (1949), stating "where a vacancy has occurred it is incumbent upon the council to fill the same for the remainder of the term."). 83. Upon the appointment of Ms. Berrett to Mr. Johnson's vacated seat, there ceased to be a vacancy on the Orono City Council. 84. Ms. Berrett is thus the current "incumbent" of the seat to which she was appointed. See Clark v. Pawlenty, 755 N.W.2d 293, 308 (Minn. 2008) ("The dictionary definitions of `incumbent' include `[a] person who holds an office' and `[c]urrently holding a specified office.' The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language 889 (4th ed. Houghton Mifflin 2000)"); State ex rel. Loring v. Benedict, 15 Minn. 198, 201 (1870) ("an `incumbent' of an office; that is to say, to a person in possession of an office. Bouv. Law Dict. tit. "Incumbent;" Worcest. Dict.; Webst. Dict.") (emphasis original)); see also Imsdahl v. Weeks, 197 N.W. 973, 973 (Minn. 1924) ("The MV 73