Agenda Packets - 1991/04/15 - Laserfiche WebLink

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PAGE TWO REPORT NO. 91-5A APRIL 11, 1991 In talking with St. Paul staff, it is clear that they do not have an understanding of how suburban governments operate. They are quite used to and most comfortable with a form of government (and process) which does not exist in the suburban communities. Suburban communities, unlike St. Paul, are not bound to bow to the whims and pressures of large (and multiple) unions or powerful neighborhood power bases which often dictate policy. The proposed legislation is viewed by most suburban communities as St. Paul's last ditch attempt to find alternative ways of financing their tremendous overhead costs before the rug is pulled out from under them by redistricting. At yesterday morning's meeting of the Ramsey County cities (administrative staffs) , new language was suggested as an amendment to the proposed bill. We met again in the afternoon to finalize the language. The proposed changes are attached. Basically, the first paragraph has been changed to broadened the purpose statement, eliminate the "consolidation" concept and replace it with a call for study of "service delivery" . The change to Section (9) is amended language which would allow for an administrative committee to be selected by the Commission. It is this subcommittee which will provide vital input to support the suburban agenda. It was felt that the original narrative which followed Section (9) calling for the use of the planning staffs of the County and the City of St. Paul was not acceptable as these two entities do not have a clue about suburban governmental operations. After reviewing our changes, Commissioner Ruby Hunt made some changes of her own (which are also attached) . She would like to see more County representation on the Commission and changed the number of County representatives from 2 to 4 . The--final piece of this informational update is the summary of the meeting of Ramsey County cities which was held last week. At that meeting, a consensus had been that the suggestion would be made to the infamous St. Paul "Summit Group" that any study undertaken would be done in conjunction with the RCLLG. The St. Paul summit group met on Tuesday but failed to seriously consider the suggestion in light of Senator Cohen's proposal. Cohen's bill was heard this morning before the Senate Governmental Operations Committee. The bill must move out of committee today or it is a dead deal. It is almost certain to move out of the GO committee and head to the Senate Judiciary Committee. If the amendments are not incorporated into the bill today, we will have another opportunity to do so as the bill progresses through the Senate Judiciary Committee.