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Recognizing Peter Warner’s career with the City of Saint Paul and congratulating him on his retirement.
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WHEREAS, Peter Warner grew up in Fargo, North Dakota and was raised in Glendive, Montana and White Bear Lake, Minnesota. He is a proud graduate of Mariner High School, the University of Minnesota, and William Mitchell College of Law (now Mitchell Hamline); and
WHEREAS, Peter started his legal career as a Bailiff and Law Clerk in Ramsey County District Court, later becoming a law clerk for the Honorable Edward D. Mulally, transitioning to work for the City of Saint Paul in 1987, as an Assistant City Attorney originally assigned to the Criminal Division of the City Attorney’s Office; and
WHEREAS, upon joining the Civil Division, Peter often reflects that he had to learn via ‘’on-the-job training’’, with Jerry Segal handing him his legal texts on a Friday before having to position himself in the seat of counsel for zoning and planning matters on the following Monday; and
WHEREAS, Peter focused his career on all matters related to zoning, land use, comprehensive planning, variances, historic districts and heritage preservation, real estate, and environmental review, all while supporting staff in the Departments of Planning and Economic Development and the Department of Safety and Inspections, providing legal wisdom to many a city planner, zoning inspector, preservationist, zoning and planning administrator, department director, and fellow city attorney; and
WHEREAS, Peter has also served the City in supporting the City Council; and
WHEREAS, Peter always brought a steady and careful approach in counseling planners seeking to successfully shepherd through a legally-sound zoning application, zoning study, or permit approval; and
WHEREAS, Peter often provided guardrails to City boards and commissions, including the Planning Commission, Board of Zoning Appeals, and Heritage Preservation Commission, many times steering overzealous board members away from questionable conclusions and conditions of approval and keeping the City afloat based on sound, defensible reasoning, avoiding a shipwreck of public decision-making that might end up at the bottom of a dark ocean that is known as costly civil litigation; and
WHEREAS, Peter described supporting ‘’his people’’, always ready to lend an ear and to offer sound counsel, whether it be of the legal or avuncular variety, and doing so with wisdom and humor, with such support often times mixing in pithy observations and truths alongside his legal advice from a perspective he characterized as that of ‘’just a lowly Assistant City Attorney”, ever with the caveat that certain difficult decisions before staff were policy calls; and
WHEREAS, it has been said that for a guy who came to St Paul via North Dakota and Montana, he knows this city better than many natives. He has been a loyal and dedicated Assistant City Attorney and he has worked hard for the City of Saint Paul; and
WHEREAS, Peter is an active cyclist with multiple bicycles in various conditions of greatness, which has informed his perspective as it relates to urban bicycle recreation and infrastructure aimed at serving this endeavor; and
WHEREAS, Peter’s list of project assignments has continued to grow over time given his expertise, to the point where he now serves as counsel for many departments at the same time;
WHEREAS, Peter contributed to building the City Attorney’s Office by sharing his experiences and mentoring new attorneys with great dedication, reflecting that he would gladly assist in this capacity for one dollar; and
WHEREAS, in retirement Peter will be able to spend more time with his wife, their children, his dad, and numerous nieces and nephews; and
WHEREAS, Peter enjoys the outdoors and believes the experience outdoors must be supported by better-than-adequate equipment and infrastructure; since Peter will have more time to enjoy cycling and, canoeing, he may also potentially resume his part-time gig at REI to be able to continue to acquire his better-than-adequate equipment - at a discount; and
WHEREAS, after 36 years with the City of Saint Paul, Peter is bringing his public service career to a close; and
Now Therefore be it RESOLVED, the Saint Paul City Council thanks Peter Warner for his many years of dedicated public service to the people of Saint Paul; and be it also:
RESOLVED, In honor of Peter’s years of public service to the City of St. Paul, January 30, 2024, will be known as Peter Warner Day in the City of St. Paul and be it
Finally RESOLVED, the Saint Paul City Council congratulates Peter Warner on his entrance into the next chapters of his life where he will be able to enjoy the fruits of his many years of labor with his loving family.