06-01-2009 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION June 1, 2009 APPROVED 1 There was discussion among council members about whether or not the information piece 2 done by the city was opinionated. It was pointed out that the piece was approved in its 3 entirety by the city's attorney. 4 5 On the issue of data practices, Mr. Doherty suggested that it will be a policy issue 6 whether the city takes on the responsibility(under contract)to maintain the commission's 7 data. If so, there needs to be a clear understanding of how the practices will occur and 8 responsibilities. The commission has the same obligation as the city to appoint a 9 responsible authority and follow data practice law. It was pointed out by a council 10 member that it may be difficult for a volunteer group to respond to public requests for 11 data. 12 13 A council member suggested that the result of the audit should be to move toward 14 improvements but not to be punitive—a positive outcome should be the goal. 15 16 A council member noted three issues that the council should deal with: 1) if there are 17 issues of inappropriate activities, they should be addressed because wrong is wrong; 2) a 18 system should be developed to review expenditures to ensure they are appropriate; and 3) 19 data practice of the commission is an issue and it needs to be clear how data will be 20 properly handled in the future. These matters should be put on a future council agenda 21 for discussion. It was suggested that a process for expenditures could be: a) commission 22 approval; b) council approval; c) expense can be incurred. 23 �— 24 Charter Commission member Rosemary Storberg was present. She suggested that city 25 hall also did everything wrong that attorney Doherty said the commission has done. The 26 commission was simply defending the existing charter. 27 28 A council member clarified that the city's piece was found to be neutral by the city 29 attorney. 30 31 A council member noted that the city didn't write the rules but if something was done 32 wrong, it needs to be dealt with. The council has an obligation to deal with the findings 33 of the independent audit. 34 35 At the request of a council member, Mr. Doherty confirmed that the law offers the 36 commission no authority to present an opinion. He further explained that the way the law 37 works for individuals and government entities is different—individuals can do something 38 unless the law says it is prohibited; government entities can only do things that are 39 specifically designated by state law. The commission has no authority to contract except 40 for attorney services and charter printing services. It was clarified that individual 41 commission members, as well as council members, can do advocacy as long as they don't 42 purport to represent the group. 43 3