Lino Lakes censures City Council member who praised anti-Muslim email

The Lino Lakes City Council voted 3-1 Monday to censure one of its members who praised an anti-Muslim email linked to a Muslim-focused housing development.

The council passed a resolution that disavows Council Member Chris Lyden’s email, calling it “inappropriate” and adding that it “reflects poorly on the City.” Mayor Rob Rafferty and Council Members Tony Cavegn and Dale Stoesz voted in favor of the resolution. Council Member Michael Ruhland voted against it. Lyden decided not to vote, according to city communications manager Meg Sawyer.

In remarks made prior to the council’s vote, Lyden defended the anti-Muslim email and his response to it — “Might be the best email I have ever received!”

Lyden wore a dark blazer and an American flag tie as he talked about choosing facts over image. He accused the Minnesota chapter of the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN) of bullying and intimidating council members the past several months over the proposed Madinah Lakes project, a Muslim-focused development that has attracted pushback from Lino lakes residents.

“I am not afraid of the facts. I’m afraid of people who are afraid of the facts,” Lyden said Monday after he held up a book titled, “QURAN IN ENGLISH.”

On August 6, Lyden used his city email address to respond to the lengthy email: “Might be the best email I have ever received! Thank you Sir!”

Lyden scolded other council members Monday for not doing “your homework” in reviewing the email for what he called “facts.”

“Best email only refers to the form of the email,” Lyden said. “Rare do I ever receive an email in which the author states a premise, and then actively supports that premise with 10 plus facts, demonstrating support [for] that.”

He then proceeded to ask city staff to show the resolution on TV screens so about 40 attendees could follow along as he went line-by-line and nitpicked language he said “does not pass the burden of proof doctrine.”

“I suggest you throw this in the wastebasket,” Lyden said of the resolution.

Council members did not address Lyden’s remarks defending the anti-Muslim email and his response to it.

Stoesz briefly said he opposed revising the resolution, because, “I think we’ve had plenty of time to discuss this.”

Several attendees at Monday’s meeting wore shirts that said “SLOW THE GROW,” which supports a moratorium the council passed in July that halted the proposed development for a year so city staff could work on a master plan for developing 900 acres of rural land, including the project site.

A few people at Monday’s meeting shared their feelings about the email resolution during the public comment period, including Salat Tuke, who expressed disappointment.

“It is sad; I don’t even have words,” Tuke said of Lyden’s email. “I have no confidence in you.”

Lino Lakes resident Elizabeth Larkin warned against “cancel culture.”

“I believe in holding each other accountable through constructive feedback as opposed to condemnation and negatively canceling the person,” she said.

Jaylani, CAIR-MN’s executive director, criticized Lyden for doubling down on the email and his response.

“You need to resign,” Jaylani said, pointing at Lyden. “The rest of you need to hold him accountable.”

CAIR-MN supports Madinah Lakes, and has characterized public pushback against the project as Islamophobic. The project proposes building more than 400 homes, businesses and a mosque on a 156-acre former sod farm, and has attracted anti-Muslim comments on Facebook.

Many residents have spoken out against Madinah Lakes at previous city meetings, citing concerns about increased density, overwhelming the water supply, increased traffic and harm to the environment. Some argued that the project developer, Zikar Holdings, is “inexperienced,” and that the project needs more studies before further approval.

Before voting for the resolution, Rafferty said that council members are held to a different standard when using their work email.

“That’s not a reflection of how… the city is trying to address some things,” he said of Lyden’s email.

Ruhland, who voted against the resolution, said he wanted more time to revise the resolution.

“I’m not opposed to scratching some of those items,” Ruhland said, referring to parts of the resolution. “Again, my biggest issue—what I feel he violated in the code of conduct—was his handling of personal opinions, personal business matters with city resources.”

Lyden, a longtime Lino Lakes resident, is serving his third term on the council. He previously served in other city roles, including on the Planning and Zoning Board.

Sawyer said the only other time the council has passed a resolution censuring one of its members was in 2017 when then-Council Member Melissa Maher posted a comment on Republican Congressman Tom Emmer’s Facebook page calling him a “coward” and warning him to avoid people who possess “deadly objects.”

The 2017 resolution said Maher’s message could be seen as “threatening,” and reflected “poorly” on the city.

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