(VIDEO) Hopkins Bids Longtime Councilmen Farewell

Tuesday marked the last time Councilmen Bruce Rowan and Rick Brausen will sit through a meeting as elected officials, and fellow council members sent them off with heartfelt—and occasionally humorous—goodbyes.

Voters elected Rowan to the council in 2001. He served on the Zoning and Planning Commission prior to joining the council. Rowan that his decision to leave the council is a personal one—provoked in part because he wants to spend more time with grandchildren who weren’t even born when he was first elected.

Brausen leaves after 10 years on the council and eight years on various boards and commissions. His path to the council was an unusual one that included two elections and two appointments. Brausen, a self-employed landlord who owns three rental houses, said his business has kept him increasingly busy and that he just feels it’s time to move on.