Woman embroiled in dispute with city picked to Riverdale City Council spot
Photo supplied, City of Riverdale
Karina Merrill is sworn in to a spot on the Riverdale City Council on Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2022. She was picked to fill out the term of Braden Mitchell, elevated by voters to mayor from the City Council last November.RIVERDALE — Karina Merrill, who is currently embroiled in a simmering legal dispute with Riverdale, has been picked to fill a vacancy on the Riverdale City Council.
Merrill unsuccessfully ran for a council spot in elections last November, spurred by her dispute with the city over a wedding operation she ran on her property. Given what she said was the unwillingness of some officials to help her sort through the situation, she campaigned last fall saying she would listen to constituents if elected.
On Tuesday, the city council picked Merrill over seven others to serve out the council term of Braden Mitchell. Mitchell was elevated to mayor in last November’s voting. She’ll serve the last two years of Mitchell’s city council term, 2022 and 2023, and said Wednesday that her message from last year still holds.
“I’m a leader who will listen,” she said.
On the final vote Tuesday by the four-member council to fill the vacancy after the field of eight had been narrowed to three, Merrill tied with Jodi Brown — each getting two votes. The tie breaker established by the city called on the two finalists to pick from a deck of cards, with the hopeful selecting the higher-valued card winning.
Brown drew a three and Merrill picked a four, enough to propel her to the city council. She was sworn into office after that.
City officials filed charges against Merrill on Sept. 24, 2019, in Riverdale Justice Court, accusing her of operating a business without a license and failing to get a building permit. Merrill maintains her innocence, and has said that despite her efforts to comply with city guidance on resolving the dispute over the wedding operation, city officials weren’t sufficiently helpful.
“It was a Catch-22,” she said. She was trying to address the situation, she claimed, but city officials didn’t reciprocate.
The dispute apparently stems from differing views over what sort of activity is allowed on her property. Steve Brooks has said city officials did try to assist Merrill, but he didn’t immediately respond to a query from the Standard-Examiner on Wednesday seeking comment on the matter.
The charges are listed as misdemeanors, but Merrill — still fighting them — says city officials indicated they would be reduced to infractions. A bench trial is scheduled for Jan. 27 before Riverdale Justice Court Judge Paul Olds, according to online court records, but Merrill said that date will probably be moved.
