05/29/2012 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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P18 CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION May 7, 2012 DRAFT 121 that the tax exempt zone section is actually covered within the proposed amendment that 122 has been forwarded to the Commission for their review. Community Development 123 Director Grochala added that the removal of tax exempt zone language alone is not 124 recommended. 125 Regarding the Charter Commission budget request, the mayor clarified that the council's 126 request to the commission is for their review of an amendment. A council member said 127 he understands the request for an attorney to review but he has a concern about the costs 128 not being contained. The council heard from Finance Director Rolek that the 129 Commission has not yet submitted any payment requests for their $1500 annn l budget 130 for 2012. The council concurred that the commission has budgeted funds available for 131 their expenses. 132 Community Development Director Grochala noted that staff has had discussions with the 133 Charter Commission Chair about having city staff and attorney Steve Bubul provide 134 infoiruation to the commission on the amendment. Mr. Grochala received the council's 135 authorization for staff and Mr. Bubul to present to the commission. 136 7. Monthly Progress Report — Administrator Karlson reviewed the two items on 137 the progress report. In regard to labor negotiations, he requested that the council meet in 138 closed session after the next regular council meeting for further discussion. 139 8. Transparency 140 (requested by Council Member Roeser and Mayor Reinert) 141 The mayor noted that he and Council Member Roeser have been speaking about the 142 possibility of instituting additional transparency measures within city government. 143 Council Member Roeser noted that he'd like the council to have discussion on some 144 ideas. He isn't aware of specific problems but would like to keep a good level of 145 openness and honesty. He suggests that all meetings regarding contracts with the city 146 could be recorded and available to the public within a certain period to keep all the 147 information clearly in view. Also for city boards and commissions, any group that 148 receives funding from the city could provide minutes to the city clerk within a established 149 period of time. Also candidates for city offices should be voting permanent residents of 150 the city. Additional contracting rules should be instituted to avoid unfair consideration to 151 former employees or relatives. These are general suggestions, not specific and are offered 152 only for discussion purposes. The mayor recommended that the list of ideas be given to 153 the city administrator and others should feel free to add ideas for better transparency. A 154 council member noted that ideas need to be crosschecked with laws to ensure the city's 155 authority. The council concurred that the transparency issue will continue to be 156 discussed. 4