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Charter Commission March 30, 2017 Page 4 135 Commissioner Devaney stated that while he would like to meet the potential attorney he is 136 sensitive with the fund restraints the Commission has. He noted that the Commission has 137 already approved Chair Dahl executing the agreement and therefore was unsure that an additional 138 meeting to ask the potential attorney questions is necessary. He stated that if the potential 139 attorney is going to charge to attend the meeting he did not want to use the funds in that manner. 140 141 Commissioner Johnson stated that the potential attorney is well established and agreed that at this 142 point the Commission needs someone competent and the Commission should be smart about 143 their spending. 144 145 C. Other 146 Commissioner Johnson stated that he reached out to Roger, who is the head of the Tax 147 Committee at the legislature and therefore is very busy right now. He stated that Roger 148 mentioned that they discussed the topic at the legislature in the past and the topic is not as easy as 149 it seems. He stated that because this would be a change in State Statute that would increase the 150 minimum amounts, there would most likely be opposition. He explained that the Statute sets a 151 minimum amount that cities must provide to Charter Commissions but cities are able to provide 152 additional funds as desired. 153 154 Commissioner Storberg asked if there has been a response from the letter Chair Dahl submitted 155 to the City Council asking for additional funding. 156 157 Chair Dahl stated that the City Manager responded to her and had stated that the Council would 158 discuss the topic at the second meeting in March but followed up with her to state that the Mayor 159 wanted additional time with the Council to discuss the topic and therefore the Council would be 160 discussing the topic at their first worksession in April. 161 162 Commissioner Stranik stated that at the last meeting there was a comment that perhaps the City 163 elections should be bundled with the national elections in order to increase voter participation. 164 He stated that following the last meeting there was a Councilmember present that approached 165 him after the meeting and stated that he believed there would be support for the change in voting 166 cycles for City elections to match the national cycle. He noted that would save the City funds on 167 election costs and could be a good opportunity for the Charter Commission to pursue. He noted 168 that the action would be separate from the warm amendment. 169 170 Chair Dahl stated that she believes there are past sets of minutes that address that topic. 171 172 Commissioner Stranik stated that while that would provide history, the question would be 173 whether the Commission would like to pursue that action now. 174 175 NEXT MEETING DATE 176 Chair Dahl noted the next meeting date is to be determined. She stated that she will follow up 177 with the Commission members to determine the next meeting date. 178 4