Lakeville Faces Possible Defamation of Character Lawsuit in Heritage Center Flap

The Lakeville City Council met in a special closed session Wednesday to discuss what was presented as a performance evaluation for Lakeville Senior Center Coordinator Linda Walter. The executive session was called for by Mayor Mark Bellows at the regularly-scheduled Sept. 19 City Council meeting after Bellows had said he felt as if Walter had lied about unspecified issues surrounding the city’s recently approved project.

The allegations came as a surprise at the end of the Sept. 19 meeting and after Bellows had said that ”further information has come to light” since the project was approved.

“I feel like we’ve been lied to by a staff member,” Bellows said.

After requesting an executive session to discuss the matter, Bellows was procedurally required to divulge the staff member about whom the closed session involved. Bellows then named Walter.

Christopher Heinze, an attorney with Libby Law Office in St. Paul, told Lakeville Patch that he had been retained earlier this week by Walter.

“We’re exploring the potential of a lawsuit against the city for the statements made by the mayor during the September nineteenth meeting,” Heinze said prior to the closed session.  “My client’s intention is not to bring a lawsuit and get a lot of money. She just doesn’t want her name dragged through the mud.”

Heinze said there was a possibility of a defamation of character suit but said he hadn’t had time as of Wednesday to review all of the details involved. He did say Walter was interested in either a retraction or apology for the public comments.

Details of the allegations have been shrouded in silence since the Sept. 19 meeting and neither city officials nor Walter have publically stated what the allegations stem from.

After calling Wednesday’s special meeting to order at 3:30 p.m., the council immediately voted to close the meeting to the public. They also voted to allow Walter and Heinze sit in on the meeting, a gesture Walter had requested but the council wasn’t obligated to do. Both votes were unanimous.

A few senior center members also showed up for the meeting in an effort to support Walter and try to learn more information surrounding the issue. But they were left with just as many questions as when they arrived after being told the meeting would be closed to the public.

Judy Pease, a 15-year senior center member, said she was “very surprised and shocked” upon hearing of the allegations surrounding Walter and was curious to know what the charges stemmed from.

“If there was some blatant thing going on that we didn’t know about, that would be a different story, but I find that hard to believe,” said Gary Schlegel, another senior center member in attendance to support Walter. “This just doesn’t make sense at all.”

In addition to Bellows and the full council, City Attorney Roger Knutson, City Administrator Steve Mielke and representatives from the human resources department were also present at the table for the discussion when the meeting was closed. Walter and Heinze remained as observers to the discussion.

“I think you could say we’re happy with the outcome,” Heinze commented shortly after the approximately two-hour meeting was over. “Our defamation suit is still ongoing as it relates to the central issue, but at least as it concerns the meeting today, we’re happy with it.”

Statements concerning the closed session will be read into public record at the council’s next regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, Oct. 3 as required by law. It’s unclear what those statements are at this point but city officials confirmed that those statements were already an agenda item for the Oct. 3 meeting.

“She (Walter) has been doing this (coordinating Lakeville’s senior center) fifteen years,” said Heinze. “It’s unfortunate that near the end of her long career that she would become embroiled in what seems like personal politics at this point.”

Lakeville Patch will have more details on this story as information becomes available.