Columbia Heights city councilmember asked to resign by council

COLUMBIA HEIGHTS, Minn. (FOX 9) - The Columbia Heights city council voted unanimously to censure fellow council member KT Jacobs Monday evening, after Jacobs was accused of racial discrimination.

Jacobs’ colleagues stripped her of the ability to serve on commissions or boards, before also requesting that she resign. Jacobs declined the request, despite public pressure to do so.

"I will not resign," Jacobs told the council, a response which garnered several boos from the two dozen community members in attendance.

"Formally asking her and making sure its taken down in our minutes that we’ve all requested her to remove herself needed to be done," said Columbia Heights Mayor Amada Marquez Simula. "Otherwise it would have left it open to interpretation, ‘does the council support her’ and we don’t."

Jacobs was the center of an investigation, after city council candidate Justice Spriggs claimed the council member made several offensive comments during a phone call this summer. Namely, Spriggs said Jacobs questioned whether he was bi-racial.

Jacobs originally claimed it was a family member who made the phone call, but an outside investigation found evidence to the contrary.

While Jacobs term does not end until January 2025, according to Marquez Simula, community members could force a recall if they receive enough resident signatures.