09/08/2009 Council Packet (2) - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Search

MARTY LAW FIRM, LLC 3601 Minnesota Drive Suite 800 Bloomington, MN 55435 June 1, 2009 Caroline Dahl Chair, Lino Lakes Charter Commission 600 Town Center Parkway Lino Lakes, MN 55014 Dear Ms. Dahl: Telephone: 952 -921 -5859 e -mail: kmarty @ix.netcom.com Fax: 651- 294 -1026 Thank you for the opportunity to review the opinion rendered by Mr. Michael G. Dougherty, regarding an audit he performed of the Charter Commission expenditures. He concludes that the Lino Lakes Charter Commission has only those powers granted by statute, no "inherent" powers, and that the Charter Commission apparently overstepped its limitations when it expended funds encouraging citizens to retain the current charter rather than repeal one portion of it. In support of his conclusions, he cites no case law other than a district court decision (which is neither published nor binding on any other judge or court), and opinions by two state departments, which likewise are not binding on any court. Regarding the suggestion that the Charter Commission is limited to the powers granted by statute, Mr. Dougherty is only partially correct. A charter commission has both the powers granted by statute, and also those which " are implied as necessary in aid of those powers" expressly granted by statute. Welsh v. City of Orono, 355 N.W.2d 117, 120 (Minn. 1984). In Welsh, the court was discussing the power of a statutory city, but the point remains the same: an entity created under statute has the powers necessary to accomplish its work as specified in the statutes. Mr. Dougherty relied upon decisions relating to the City of Eagan's failed attempts to adopt a charter. Eagan was and is a statutory city, without the powers of a home rule charter city. Its charter commission had only one goal: the adoption of a charter. That failed, and the charter commission had no other purpose for existence. Lino Lakes successfully adopted a charter in 1982. Once a city adopts a charter, it has much broader authority than a statutory city. Nothing says the city may not empower its charter commission to do matters beyond those specified in state law. See Lino Lakes Charter Section 1.02. Statutory cities have only the power granted to them by the legislature. Charter cities have all the power of the state legislature, except where the legislature has withheld that power. Put another way, the legislature has told statutory cities "you can do only those things I say you can do." The legislature has told charter cities "you can do anything you want, except for those things I say you cannot do."