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Charter Commission January 14, 2016 Page 3 89 Acting Chair Dahl stated that the Council had stated before that the proposed amendment would 90 not be compliant with the State statute and if that language were to meet the statute, the item 91 could be on the ballot. 92 93 Commissioner Turcotte stated that the City Council does not have a review of a proposed 94 amendment because they could then hold the item off the ballot. He noted that the Commission 95 does have the ability to review amendments proposed by the Council because they do not have 96 power to hold the item off the ballot. He stated that during the past year the Commission worked 97 on a proposed amendment to create wards, using models from Blaine and St. Paul. He provided 98 a brief overview of wards and their intent. 99 100 Commissioner Stranik stated that it appears that item was moved along the previous year and 101 then dead -ended because of the lack of legal counsel. He asked if a new action would be needed 102 at this meeting, noting that he is not sure that he would support wards. 103 104 Acting Chair Dahl stated that she had been given the direction at the last meeting to pursue the 105 services of the League of Minnesota Cities, if possible, for assistance in the amendment 106 language. 107 108 Commissioner Stranik asked if the Commission, as it stands today with the new members, would ^109 need to endorse the amendment before that could move forward. 10 111 Commissioner Devaney provided background information on the League of Minnesota Cities 112 and the dues that are paid annually by municipalities to the organization for their services. He 113 stated that perhaps the document should be further clarified to spell out the assistance that could 114 be given by the League outside of the $75 per hour charges. He also believed that the question 115 brought forward by Commissioner Stranik, regarding whether or not the action would need to be 116 voted on by the Commission membership as it stands today, is a good question and noted that 117 perhaps the League could provide clarification on that as well. 118 119 Commissioner Bretoi stated that the decision had been made by the Commission the previous 120 year that even though not all of the Commission members supported the ward amendment, the 121 item should still move forward and be placed on the ballot to allow the residents to make the 122 decision. 123 124 Commissioner Johnson asked the amount the Commission was paying Attorney Marty for her 125 services. 126 127 Acting Chair Dahl stated that Attorney Marty was charging $140 per hour but noted that she also 128 worked many unpaid hours as well. 129 130 Commissioner Storberg stated that the Commission only has a budget of $1,500 per year. She 31 stated that perhaps the group could do a consensus vote on whether or not they support the 132 action. 133 3