NISSWA
— After hearing from five residents and four council members, a four-person Nisswa City Council agreed to review the council code of conduct to possibly seek a vote of no confidence or to censure Mayor Jennifer Carnahan.
Carnahan did not attend the Thursday, Dec. 10, special meeting specifically called for “discussion regarding the conduct of Mayor Carnahan.”
Council member Jesse Zahn said change must start with requesting Carnahan consider resigning as mayor. In a statement emailed after the meeting, Carnahan said she would not resign.
Zahn later asked City Attorney Tom Pearson what options the council had.
Jennifer Carnahan
Contributed
Pearson said when similar issues arise elsewhere, options are a vote of no confidence or censure. Neither can be done on the fly; rather, the council would need a resolution based on what code of conduct provisions Carnahan violated, he said.
He said if he’s asked to prepare a resolution, the council needs to tell him what to include in it.
The council agreed to continue this topic at the regular meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 16, when the council could vote whether to have Pearson draw up a resolution.
London’s three fellow council members agreed when London said: “I definitely think that this matter as a whole needs to be addressed, and as soon as possible; and it calls for another special meeting or whatever to take up this resolution. We want to go about it the right way and do the best that we can in the best interest of our community.”
The Dec. 10 meeting was called after an incident between Carnahan and Nisswa resident Sophie Foster came to light in which
Carnahan accused Foster of assaulting her
.
Foster had previously sent an email to Carnahan, asking her to apologize to Zahn after Foster said she, a couple other employees and customers at Main Street Ale House heard Carnahan and a group of friends loudly discussing Zahn at the Nisswa restaurant, which Foster considered unprofessional.
Foster then tried to talk to Carnahan outside the Pickle Factory during the City of Lights event Nov. 28, after she said she overheard Carnahan make a derogatory comment toward her.
Carnahan declined to talk to Foster, but reported the incident to Nisswa police and asked to press charges against Foster for assault, saying Foster used her forearm to push into Carnahan, the police report said.
After receiving the police report, the city’s prosecutor, Severson Porter Law in Brainerd, declined to charge Foster with assault, according to a Dec. 2 memo.
After another witness came forward for Carnahan, the case was reopened. Another police report was sent to the city prosecutor, who again declined to pursue charges, according to a Dec. 9 memo.
Also at issue for the four council members are posts Carnahan has made on social media, specifically Nextdoor and Facebook.
Hall said the meeting was set to discuss Carnahan’s conduct and recent circumstances in town.
London summarized Foster’s email to Carnahan and the incident at the Pickle Factory. He cited the police report, which said Carnahan told the officer that Foster’s email said she was a “piece of crap human” and that she shouldn’t be mayor. London said he found no words to that effect in the email.
From left are Nisswa City Attorney Tom Pearson and council members Mark Froehle, Bruce London, Jesse Zahn and Joe Hall on Dec. 10, 2025.
Nancy Vogt / Echo Journal
He said in the past year the city has lost its administrator and clerk, and two interim administrators left within a matter of weeks.
“During the past year, we have had a great deal of drama and conflict. We need to resolve it. We need to move forward into the new year and put an end to this toxic environment,” London said. “Nisswa deserves better.”
The city hall council chamber was nearly full, and five residents chose to speak.
Fred Heidmann, a former mayor whom Foster said was at the Main Street Ale House table with Carnahan, said he felt the Dec. 10 meeting was inappropriate and felt like a witch hunt.
“In the end, the city wants a united team,” he said, adding the council should work out differences behind the scenes.
Sandra Potthoff respectfully disagreed with Heidmann, and said she thought it was inappropriate for Carnahan to respond to Potthoff’s response to a post on Nextdoor that for transparency Potthoff should say she is related to council member Mark Froehle.
“I, as a private citizen, have a right to voice my opinion without it being put out there for transparency who I may be related to,” she said, adding she wished Carnahan was at the Dec. 10 meeting.
Josh Gazelka said he was there for Foster, and that what happened to her in the last few weeks was unacceptable.
“I think our community values openness, honesty and being able to come and present concerns when you have them instead of have them shut down,” he said.
“What we saw was a resident expressed a concern. She saw unprofessional behavior, and she raised that concern through the appropriate channels, and was faced with first silence, then she was cussed out in public, and her reputation was smeared online,” Gazelka said. “She was accused of assault. That’s something that most people couldn’t stand up against. It’s completely unacceptable.
“We give a lot of grace to our leaders, but that crossed a line. We need to have a community where people feel like they can stand up, speak, say something when they see something,” he said.
Troy Scheffler,
who filed a lawsuit against the city and Carnahan
claiming violation of the First Amendment and the state Data Practices Act, spoke against Carnahan.
Cindy Carnahan, Nisswa Mayor Jennifer Carnahan’s mother, speaks at the Dec. 10, 2025, Nisswa City Council meeting.
Nancy Vogt / Echo Journal
Last, Carnahan’s mother, Cindy Carnahan spoke. She wanted to read an email she sent to council members but said she couldn’t do that in the 2 minutes allotted.
“We need to remember there are two sides,” she said.
She said only one council member responded to her email, saying he’d be disappointed to hear that her daughter suffered bigotry in Nisswa. She then shared two incidents she said occurred when her daughter was campaigning for mayor.
Froehle said he’s not on social media, so he can’t attest to what people are saying about social media posts.
“I was a little shocked when I read the email from Sophie as to what had transpired,” he said. “I was shocked that a council member would be in public discussing with constituents how to remove another city councilman from their seat. That’s up to the elections and individuals.
“There have been some tumultuous times this year,” Froehle said.
That change must start with formally requesting that Mayor Carnahan consider her immediate resignation.
Jesse Zahn, Nisswa City Council member
Zahn said when Carnahan was elected mayor, he welcomed her and embraced her push for transparency, unity and fiscal conservatism.
When she ran for a vacant state Senate seat in April, he supported her with a handwritten letter with support from two other council members and a personal donation of $10,000 to her campaign.
He said when she wasn’t elected, her sentiment toward the council turned negative and she showed “an overwhelming desire to maintain control of the city’s council and its staff at all costs.”
“City projects and initiatives have fallen to the wayside as this council has routinely been left dealing with the aftermath of our mayor’s conduct, whether it be online or on the street,” he said. “The role of a public official is not to politic, but to officiate and facilitate.”
Zahn said there’s been no power grabbing.
“This council has never displayed acts of sexism, racism or bigotry to any other fellow member of this council or member of this community. This council is not a good old boys’ club,” Zahn said.
“We have earnestly attempted to embrace, collaborate and respect our elected mayor’s leadership since she took office. The conduct of the mayor and the public has yet again shown that the feelings are not mutual towards this council and perhaps even the city,” he said.
Zahn cited routine, blatant and proven public slandering and defamation of character of other elected officials, saying misconduct is something he’s never experienced.
“Coming into Nisswa for a fresh start is a promising endeavor, but the shackles of the past still seem to be lingering, and now have brought this council down into a stalemate and a city into divide via misinformation and lies,” he said. “The smearing and negative rhetoric is not constructive, and I ask that it again stop.
These incidents reveal a pattern of conduct that is not comparable with the dignity of the mayoral office.
Joe Hall, Nisswa City Council member
“Let us work together, people and elected officials, once again to solve our collective challenges at hand. We are one team. The ego and victimization must be replaced with decorum and stout leadership. It is time for the city to reset, and that must start now,” he said.
“That change must start with formally requesting that Mayor Carnahan consider her immediate resignation,” Zahn said.
Hall said as an elected official he’s committed to making this behavior stop, saying it’s gone on too long with too many people. The council is done with the drama, the turmoil and the constant conflict that has plagued the city on so many levels, he said.
Regarding the incident at Main Street Ale House, he said: “A mayor and a former mayor, the conduct just is not appropriate at any level. That being said, our community deserves better. Our community deserves leadership rooted in honesty, respect and integrity.
“These incidents reveal a pattern of conduct that is not comparable with the dignity of the mayoral office,” he said.
Hall also said people should not believe everything they read on social media.
“I have no time or tolerance for this. I’ve got better things to do today than be here and, once again, mediate yet another situation with the mayor and the community or the staff, as I have done throughout the past year,” he said.
Leaders must encourage humility and respect of each other and of the community, Hall said. The council has to work together with respect and the best interests of the city in mind, but don’t have to always see eye to eye.
He cited an analogy: “Jennifer has squeezed the toothpaste out of the tube. You can’t put the toothpaste back, but we are left here to deal with the mess that is created by that, and that’s what we’re dealing with. We are dealing with the mess of this.”
Both London and Hall said they’d hoped Carnahan would be at the meeting to have an opportunity to speak.
After the meeting Dec. 10, she submitted the following statement to the Echo Journal.
I was elected by the voters of Nisswa, not by this council. I will not resign, I will not be bullied, and I will not stop doing the job voters sent me here to do.
Jennifer Carnahan, Nisswa mayor
“This morning, I chose not to attend the special council meeting because it appeared clear from the start that it was just going to be political theater. What unfolded confirmed exactly that: a coordinated effort to use official city business as a platform for political retaliation against me as the Mayor who has consistently fought to protect taxpayers from unnecessary tax increases and wasteful spending.
“No evidence of wrongdoing was presented. No specific code violations were identified before the meeting was called. No due process was offered. Instead, residents and council members aired personal opinions and political disagreements under the guise of official concern.
“This sets a dangerous precedent: the council is punishing an elected official for reporting to police that she was physically pushed. By praising the person who physically pushed me as ‘courageous’ because of her political alignment, they have signaled that accountability is secondary to political loyalty.
“The contrast is telling. When code violations occurred in the past, there were no special meetings or public spectacles. However, when I raised oppositional concerns about a concerted push to cost our residents more money by advancing a 1/2% local option sales tax — which the business community has also largely opposed — or questioned budget expansion and spending transparency, suddenly there’s an urgent need for a public reckoning.
“If this were truly about accountability, the council would have identified specific code violations before calling a special meeting — not adjourned to search through the code afterward after the city attorney advised them it was necessary for a censure. Dragging this out to another meeting under the pretense of ‘further discussion’ proves this is a political exercise, not legitimate governance.
“I was elected by the voters of Nisswa, not by this council. I will not resign, I will not be bullied, and I will not stop doing the job voters sent me here to do. Any censure will be exactly what it is: a political stunt with no impact on my commitment to serve.
“I’m proud to fight for fiscal responsibility, transparency, and accountability — even when it means standing alone. While it’s predictable yet unfortunate the city council has chosen this path, I will keep working alongside the citizens of our wonderful city to lower costs, protect taxpayers, and provide principled, transparent leadership.”
Hall said something positive came out of the Dec. 10 meeting.
“Today, moving forward, as we all walk out this door in this town, this sort of behavior is not going to be tolerated. It’s going to be done. I am not going to waste more time calling a special meeting, coming up here and dealing with crap like this,” he said.
“So as you go out in the town, spread the word this is done. We have lots of great things going on in this town, great people, great events,” he said.
Find recordings of Nisswa City Council meetings on the city’s YouTube channel.
