A council member asked what a contract costs. Lehner said that's a closed meeting. The statute says it isn't.
On August 6, 2026 a council member asked to examine the cost of the city's economic development contract before the levy was set. The administrator said that would be "a performance discussion" for a closed meeting. The Open Meeting Law says a body may close for an evaluation, not that it must, and the cost of a contract is public business.
Kenyon's economic development work is contracted. Todd Kieffer, an employee of the Community and Economic Development Associates, staffs the city's Economic Development Authority two days a week under a contract the council renewed in December 2025 at $55,053 a year. On July 14, 2026, when council member Deanna Gard asked for a breakdown of contracted and outside services, she named that contract as an example of a cost to examine 1:17:56. Jessi Sturtz of Abdo said outside services were "mainly CEDA."
The question
On August 6, with Mary Bailey presiding as acting mayor, Gard returned to it during the budget item. She asked whether another budget meeting was needed before September to look at items such as Kieffer's position and to understand what each department does.
The last time we met we talked about Todd's position on the EDA. We just talked about that, we brought it up but we didn't really discuss it. Do we really need it.Deanna Gard, August 6, 2026, 54:46.
The administrator, Scott Lehner, answered that any discussion of a specific person's performance would be a closed meeting, and that he was not prepared to talk about it in an open setting; he offered to meet with her individually 55:09.
What the statute says
Minnesota Statute 13D.05, subdivision 3(a), provides that a public body "may close a meeting to evaluate the performance of an individual who is subject to its authority." Three words in that sentence matter here. "May" is permissive; nothing requires a council to close. "Evaluate the performance" is narrower than "discuss the cost." And "subject to its authority" describes the council's own employees; Kieffer is CEDA's employee working under a contract, and the cost of a city contract is public business by any reading of the Government Data Practices Act. Gard did not ask whether Kieffer was doing a good job. She asked whether the city needed the position at that cost, a question the council answers every December when it renews the contract in open session.
The council did not press the point. Members agreed instead that hearing from department heads directly, at least quarterly, "would let them understand the spending rather than trusting it" 54:17. Lehner had already announced that from September 8 the fire chief, police chief, public works superintendent and the KMU superintendent would give brief in-person updates; a council member asked that Kieffer be added, and Lehner agreed 20:19.
If you're wanting to have another meeting so you can discuss something like that, then that's going to be a performance discussion. That's going to be a closed meeting... you can schedule some time with me and we can talk about that... I'm not prepared to talk about it in an open setting like this.Scott Lehner, Aug. 6, 2026, 55:09, source
The record CEDA was asked to keep
The question Gard raised has a history. On January 9, 2024, when the council renewed the CEDA contract 5-0, members "stated that they would like to receive quarterly reports on CEDA's projects and services." No quarterly CEDA report to the council appears in any later packet; the only quarterly reports in the record are the EDA's own financial statements. When the newest council member asked in 2026 what the contract delivered for its cost, she was asking for the report the council had requested two and a half years earlier and never received.
Minutes later, at 56:53, Bailey said aloud what the exchange had shown: "sometimes I think we're just kind of trusting that you know what you're doing and we don't know what you're doing." She sits on the EDA board. The same evening Lehner reported the general fund reserve at 17 percent of expenditures against a 40 percent policy, with little at year end to build it 1:10:49. A council that cannot ask what a contract costs in open session is not in a position to fix that.
Before and after
- Jan. 9, 2024Renewing CEDA 5-0, council members say they "would like to receive quarterly reports on CEDA's projects and services."
- Dec. 9, 2025The contract is renewed at $55,053 a year for two days a week.
- July 14, 2026Gard asks for a breakdown of contracted and outside services and names the CEDA contract.
- Aug. 6, 2026, 54:46Gard asks to discuss the position: "what is this, and do we really need it?"
- Aug. 6, 2026, 55:09The administrator answers that it would be "a performance discussion" and "a closed meeting."
- Sept. 8, 2026Department head updates begin; the EDA report by Todd Kieffer is first on the list.
What the statute says
A public body may close a meeting to evaluate the performance of an individual who is subject to its authority.
The word is "may," the subject is performance, and the individual must be subject to the council's authority; a contract's cost meets none of the three.
All meetings, including executive sessions, must be open to the public
Open is the rule for a city council; closing is the listed exception.
All government data collected, created, received, maintained or disseminated by a government entity shall be public unless classified by statute
What the city pays a contractor is government data, and nothing classifies a contract price as private.
People in this story
- Deanna GardCouncil member, appointed April 14, 2026
- Scott LehnerCity administrator since December 2024
- Todd KiefferEDA coordinator, an employee of CEDA under contract
- Mary BaileyCouncil member, acting mayor on Aug. 6, 2026, and EDA board member
- Jessi SturtzManager of Abdo's team for Kenyon, presenting by Zoom
Sources
- City of Kenyon recording, August 6, 2026, at 20:19, 54:17, 54:46, 55:09, 56:53, 1:10:49; meeting page.
- City of Kenyon recording, July 14, 2026, at 1:17:56.
- Minnesota Statute 13D.05, subd. 3(a).
- Minutes, January 9, 2024, CEDA renewal and the request for quarterly reports; minutes, December 9, 2025, CEDA renewal at $55,053.
More from the record
Two months after the council approved the TIF, staff told the developer the number doesn't hold up.
"We don't know what you're doing." Said by the council member who sits on the EDA.
Abdo's manager, on the record: the fire levy line is wrong and our invoices were coded to the wrong department.
All 27, in order · The open letter · Every packet and recording