Columbia Heights City Council Member Kt Jacobs’ petition to halt the recall election for her position was denied Nov. 20.
The election, scheduled for Feb. 13, will proceed as scheduled unless there is further court action. Jacobs’ attorney, Gregory Joseph, said an immediate appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court is planned.
Anoka County Judge Karin McCarthy ruled on Nov. 20 that Jacobs’ petition was denied in its entirety, and the recall election shall proceed.
The whole effort to recall Jacobs from her city council seat goes back to July 24, 2022, when a phone call was placed to city council candidate Justice Spriggs that he says questioned his ethnic background. Jacobs denied making the call, although a city investigation said a preponderance of evidence indicated she did and that her actions did not meet the city’s code of conduct.
Since then, the City Council has twice asked Jacobs to resign her position, but Jacobs has resisted those requests. The council also stripped her of any committee assignments.
On May 30 this year, a group of citizens began circulating a petition to recall Jacobs, and on June 28, they presented the petition to the City of Columbia Heights. It was first rejected for not having enough signatures but was accepted on July 17 when more signatures were added.
On July 24, the council accepted the petition and set the special recall election for Feb. 13. Jacobs filed her own petition with the county court to halt the election because “both the recall resolution and the petition on which it was based were defective.”
Judge McCarthy ruled that the state statute on which Attorney Joseph was basing part of his case only applied to a state officer, not a city officer.
Jacobs’ petition also said that she was not guilty of any malfeasance, as is required for a recall election. The judge also spent time in her decision defining malfeasance under the law, and in the end determined that Jacobs’ actions were sufficient for a recall.
“Based on the record submitted by the parties, the court finds that plaintiff’s actions are sufficient to constitute a finding of ‘malfeasance.’ ”
Joseph filed an “accelerated appeal” to the Minnesota Supreme Court on Nov. 27. He said, “We have very solid and well-developed arguments on at least three issues right now.” He said that they are confident the Supreme Court will stop the election.