We're very excited to have newly appointed and hired chief.”

Mayor Franke

The city of St. Paul Park has a new police chief, and his name is Scott Whiteford. Coming to the city from Plymouth, Minnesota, Whiteford replaces Jessica Danberg, who resigned last year.

Sworn in at the March 2 Council meeting along with new firefighter Lance Thurstin, Chief Whiteford was invited by Mayor Keith Franke to share more about himself and priorities for the St. Paul Park Police Department moving forward.

“We're very excited to have newly appointed and hired chief,” Mayor Franke said. “It's big times for the city.”

Whiteford then stepped to the podium to introduce himself.

“Thank you,” he said. “First of all, to the Personnel Committee, the city council, mayor, as well as the officers of St Paul Park Police Department, I'm very blessed and grateful for the trust and faith you've put in me to lead and serve the department. So thank you for that. I come from 21 years of policing, 29 and a half, starting as a high school police explorer, the last 21 years as an officer with the city of Plymouth, they're doing many duties, supervision, supervisory duties, including patrol sergeant, patrol commander, Criminal Investigation supervisor, SWAT hostage and crisis negotiation team leader, already spent 16 years on that team, A member of the city's emergency management team as well. I'm an adjunct criminal justice faculty member at in burials college with a total of 13 years total teaching academically in criminal justice. I've got a Master's Degree in Public Safety Administration. I have my degree from Northwestern University School of staff and command as well as attended the FBI Executive Leadership Institute and command Leadership Institute. Also, I'm the founder and past president of the crisis negotiators association of Minnesota, and served on the National Board for crisis negotiations as we set standards for negotiators across the country. Thank you to my family for being here 21 years in this in this line of work and all the work that goes through it, you know to to be this position. Very grateful for and blessed. So thank you for my family from Plymouth and my new family from Washington County, my new family from St Paul Park, those folks have been my mentors, and could not be here with without the folks from from Plymouth and my new mentors from Washington County, they're an extension of my family. So for the folks of St Paul Park officers, they are now an extension of your family in there to mentor you or be there anytime you need it. So they will pick up the phone for you anytime. To my son, Ty that couldn't be here today, he's actively serving in the US Air Force overseas. So very grateful for his support as well. I'm excited for the future of this department. I have an excellent bunch we have an excellent bunch of officers here that as we learn more and more, I'm very proud of their service to this department. Over the next month, we're going to be building the future culture and mission of this department that will serve this city for the next many generations. So very excited for that. Our mission, which we're going to be developing together, is enhancing the quality of life for this community, and it's going to be done through excellence in policing people. First mission always. So very excited for that so again. Thank you very much for the trust again that you've put in me for this position, and I look forward and very excited to what we have to come here. Thank you.”

Present for Chief Whiteford’s swearing in Monday were Cottage Grove Public Safety Director Pete Koerner with staff members, Grey Cloud Town Board members Phil Dupree and Dick Polta, Washington County Sheriff Dan starry, Stillwater Chief Brian Mueller, once again, Public Safety Director Pete Kerner and some of his staff and Washington County Board Chair Karla Bigham.

Next approving the minutes of the Feb. 2 council meeting, discussion turned to concerns on Third Street, with Frank Sershen of Woodbury speaking in public comment.

“Mayor, Council, my name is Frank Sershen,” he said. “My address in Woodbury, 6245 Crackleberry Trail. I own a shop down on the south end of town. I've been down there since 1989 I've got a lot of friends and relatives that live in the community, and I guess I've become a little concerned after watching all the construction on Third Street last year, the bulldozers and excavators and backhoes going to town all summer, not really thinking what the outcome is going to be. And then all of a sudden, the overlay and the curbs go in, and all of a sudden it's snowing. Well, now when I drive down that road just about every day, I think about and I know you guys have rehashed this and okayed it, but I'm looking at the long term effect of what this road is going to do. It's narrow, it's dangerous. It's an exposure for the city. I believe it's going to be a lawsuit at some point in time, no matter how much you guys worked it over. It's hard to believe that an engineering firm would sign off on this, it really is. I've got a number of pictures I want to show that I just happen to take when I drive down. And I might drive down that road every other day, but I see an accident waiting to happen…how your 25 mile an hour speed limit is going to affect that. I don't know. But when you have traffic going on there, and we haven't seen any traffic yet from the big trucks from gray cloud, that would be my biggest concern. I'm saying I don't think it's a matter of if someone gets hurt, but someone but when someone's going to get hurt.” Sharing several pictures and saying it was an accident waiting to happen, Sershen said other business owners were hesitant.

“I’ve asked other business owners if they wanted to be up here tonight, but they don’t want to burn any bridges,” he said.

Franke said anyone with similar concerns should make their voices heard to the city.

“I guess I would just say anyone with similar concerns, make your voices heard to the city,” he said. “I would greatly appreciate it. The more we know, the better.”

Also speaking in support of Sershen was local resident Richard Burke.

“Good evening,” he said. Mayor and city council, a young man from Woodbury must have read my mind…I’ve been on Park since December 1, 1950 and I come down here also to whoever initiated the idea of ruining Third Street and whoever voted in favor of in my opinion, it was wrong. Burke pointed out that cars coming from the north and parking on the east had 23 inches from the center line, raising the possibility for an accident.

“It's a terrible design,” he said. “And now in front of the post office, they put up a no parking sign. Now, I don't know who has authority to put up no parking signs, please, the county, whatever, but the whole design of Third Street, to me, was a terrible idea. I don't think I mean, there was no reason for it to make a boulevard 10 foot wide. I walked that sidewalk twice a day during the school months from 1951 to 59 kind of dates me. But you know, there was nothing wrong with Third Street for 100 years.”

Making additional remarks on a broken water line at 10th and Dayton, the takeaway was that Third Avenue design was wrong.

Speaking on Heritage Days meanwhile was Tony Flanders, active with the Heritage Days Committee. Flanders said the Committee had met with Park and Recreation and invited council members to reach out with concerns they might have.

“We just wanted to follow up from our last meeting,” he said. “We talked to you guys at your last meeting on a couple of requests that we had in the parks. We met with Park and Rec, and we have another special meeting with Park and Rec again to discuss a couple of things next Monday. And along with that, if anyone else had questions or concerns or anything, feel free to reach out to us, or we're meeting down there at Heritage Park at five, 5:15 on Monday, if you wanted to. To ask anything or discuss anything. And the other thing is, we appreciate your patience and your helping and supporting of it, and I think that's it. But if you have any questions, come look us up next Monday.”

Next up was the consent agenda. Along with approval or disbursements or “pay the bills” as it was said, were the following consent items:

Approve dates and times for the regional open book meeting for Washington County.

April 2, 2026 at the college Grove service center from five to seven.

April 16, 2026 at the Woodbury central service center from five to 7pm

April 22 2026 Washington County Government Center from two until 7pm

Approve purchase of laserfiche cloud storage

Approve a gambling permit for Ducks Unlimited

Approve a GAC filter replacement at the water treatment facility, Purchasing a new police chief squad

approve extension of the lawful gambling permit for Hope Christian Academy on August 15, 2026

The motion carrying 5-0, it was into council updates.

Council member Jeff Haggerty gave the update for public works.

“We have a public works commission meeting tomorrow, march 3 here at just right outside here, that's City Hall,” he said. “It'll be at six o'clock, and we still need one more member. So if you're interested in becoming on the Public Works, please come down and and submit your application. Love to have you. Thank you, the best commission, by the way.”

Franke then turned to Council member Jeff Swenson for the public safety update.

“Thank you, Mayor,” Swenson said. “I think council member Haggerty meant second best, because the first best, of course, is public safety, which meets this Thursday. It's meeting week here at St Paul Park, and we are meeting at six o'clock. Come on in and visit and with the new chief that we just installed today. Otherwise, nothing new to report from the Public Safety Commission, other than the fact that we also could use two members. Thank you. Thank you council member, Haggarty, and that's all I have, Mayor.”

Council member Tim Conrad was next with a short update from the planning commission.

“The last planning meeting was canceled, so the next planning meeting is March 9, 7 p.m. here at City Hall,” he said.

“Thank you council member Conrad,” Franke said.

Council Member Charlene Whitbred-Hemmingson gave the parks update next.

“We did have a meeting, and our garden event is on May 9, from 11 to two,” she said. “We'll have crafters, crafts for the kids, a jump house, hot dogs, cookies. So please stop in and help us plant and look at our community garden.” Whitbred-Hemmingson shared as well that the next meeting is March 19 at six o’clock, with Bunco planned for Friday, March 27.

“Bunco is going great,” she said. “Thanks everyone for coming. We've met new friends, and we also need a couple members, but I think we have, I think we have two or three people signing up this week.”

Mayor Franke closed with an update on things looking forward.

“I've just been working the phones and meeting with people around a bunch of changes around the city, and then also at the Capitol, trying to get forward some of the bills we're proposing about the studies for 70th Street and other things that I've been working on up there,” he said. “And I guess at this point I'll just I have a couple comments, so we'll just move on to item number seven, council comments or requests. Anybody have anything this evening? All right, I would just like to add that I'm very excited for us and for this city, from where we were last year to where we are now. Yes, we have all of our department heads in place. I'm very optimistic and very excited. We have Hugo, we have Don, we have Tony in Public Works and Scott now in the Police Department, and I just want to thank the Council for the hard work that we've all done, and I'm very excited to see what we do moving forward, and stay tuned. So with that, that's about all I have this evening. Thank you. This meeting is adjourned.”