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City of Lino Lakes September 8, 2008 Page 7 of 8 Kennedy Gr en 470 U.S. BankPlaia: O&ites m 200 South Sixth Sneer Minn oils := eap 55402. Saint Paul -(012)-337-9300 cekplwne (6121337410 Era St :Cloud hup/!www kenni:tiv zieo:eom Al�auvcAcuoe,`Equal_OAp? ky:EmPlo - - September.5 2008 Gordon Ileitke, City Administrator Julie Bartell,City Clerk.: City ofLino,Lakes: : 600 Town CenterParkway ._ _ Lino Lakes, MN 550141481. Re: : Charter .Coi'nniission Proposal Dear Gordon and:Julie: S`iEPI Burirk..= _ = Attorney at;Fa,J Diiec=pial(632) 331-9228 Emait: sbubul@kennedy-graven:rmm :: You report that -you received a °eommnunication ori_:-epteinber .4,'2008 from the chair of the lino Lakes Charter Commission, requesting the Council to approve ballot language for a charter amendment that the:. Charter Commission intends to approve at a meeting on September 10, 2008: You asked me to advise how the Council should respond to this request. In my view, the Council has no authority to place the proposed charter amendment on the ballot for the November 4, 2008 election. The : chairperson's letter acknowledges that the amendment is initiated by the Charter. Commission under Minnesota Statutes, Section 410.1.2, Subd. 1. That statute provides as follows: "Proposed charter amendments must be submitted at least 12 weeks before -the general election." The deadline for submission of amendments. under this subdivision waa Tuesday, August 12. Therefore, the proposed amendment was not timely submitted to the City Council: Further, as of the date of the City Council meeting on -September .8, the Charter Commission will not have approved the amendment (according to the chair's letter). This means that the:. Charter Commission has not actually "proposed" a charter amendment—the chair has simply provided advance notice of an amendment that the commission intends to consider. May the Council approve a ballot fonn (as it is required to do: under Minnesota Statutes, Section 410.12, subd. 4) in advance of receiving a formal proposal from the Charter Commission? I don't have a confident answer without further research,. but the question is moot even if such action were proper, the submittal would not be timely for the reason described above. I also observe that the amendment may not, alternatively, be construed as the Charter Commission's -response to the charter amendment that was initiated by the City Council on March 24, 2008 under Minnesota Statutes, Section 410.12, subd. 5. As required under that provision, the Council submitted a proposed amendment to the Charter Commission, which had 60 days for review and -comment plus an additional 90 days upon the Charter Commission's request. The Charter Commission requested 339370v1 SJB LN1 40-86