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To: Bill Doty, Chairman Mounds View Charter Commission From: Jeffrey Nelson, City Administrator Date: August 22, 1979 This response is intended to make constructive criticism of the initial draft submitted to me for review by the Charter Commission. The contents of this particular paper is centering on Chapters 4 thru 11 . The paper will attempt to confine remarks to those areas which will affect the operation of the City; those items which are ambiguous or redundant; and those areas which maybe illegal or improper. For the most part the resources are used in the evaluation of the Charter as submitted will be the League of Minnesota Cities, Model Charter, the St. Louis Park Charter, and appropriate Minnesota Statutes. Other comments that are made were an attempt to stay within the confines of the fundamentals of good government. Chapter 4: Nominations and elections, section 4.01 The two major concerns in this section are found in the last sentence. First, there is no allowance for a challenge to the elections results. Secondly, the newly elected official takes office immediately after the election allowing no time to be brought up-to-date on issues. Under the provisions of Chapter 209 Minnesota Statutes subsection 3, a contest of an election must occur within seven days of a election. Thus , under the language of 4.01 a person could be sworn into office and then face a challenge to the election. This may cause any action taken by the Council be invalided if the sworn in officer is removed from office because of improper election. The other issue of immediate assumption of office appears to be very im- practical . It does not provide an opportunity for the newly elected official to be brought up to speed on issues or even begin to learn the fundamentals of the position of which he was elected. This does not seem to be a good position to place a newly elected Councilman or is it a good position to place the public. . The present time span between the first week in November and the first week in January is still relatively short in the education of an elected official . It maybe advantageous for the Commission to consult with either Mayor McCarty, Don Hodges, or Charlotte Forslund to quiry them about their education in being a Councilman. Mr. Hodges can certainly provide the Commission with good historical perspective on the change and the demands on a Councilman in the community from the time he has been in office until now. Mayor McCarty can explain to the Commission the constant and on going education process that must occur to be an effective Mayor. Charlotte Forslund can reiterate the same information as can the other two Councilpersons.