Agenda Packets - 2000/05/22 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mounds View City Council May 8, 1999 Regular Meeting Page 15 Council Member Marty stated he was in agreement with this, and has stated so in the past. Council Members Thomason and Quick agreed. Mayor Coughlin requested the record reflect that Council Member Marty is also a member of the Charter Commission. Mayor Coughlin stated there was partial consensus to proceed in this regard. City Attorney Long stated staff would bring this item back to the Council in the form of a full ordinance at their next meeting, with all of the revisions that are required to be in place, as well as language reflecting the measure referenced by Mayor Coughlin. He advised that the matter would be scheduled for a first reading at that time. Council Member Quick stated discussion had taken place several years earlier with a different Council, and this Council had also lightly touched upon that discussion which pertained to terms of office. He explained that at that time, former Mayor Linke had raised the point that a two-year Mayoral term was hardly adequate time to make a meaningful statement. He stated he would like the City Attorney to examine a means to amend the term of office for the Mayor and the Council. He indicated he believed there should be a four-year term for the Mayor, and a six-year term for Council Members. He advised that longer terms of office would increase the stability and due diligence of the Council, and this would certainly be beneficial to the community and the individual voter. Mayor Coughlin inquired if legal staff could obtain a survey from the League of Minnesota Cities to provide a sense of the average Council term lengths, and report on this matter. City Attorney Long stated he was not aware of six-year terms of office, however, he was aware that there were two and four-year term differences between Councils. Council Member Quick indicated his primary concern was with regard to the stability of the Council. Mayor Coughlin stated he would agree to have legal staff research this issue and conduct a survey for discussion and informational purposes, if nothing else. Council Member Marty stated he would like to see statistics in this regard. Council Member Stigney stated this would be acceptable if the elected official was properly representing the public, however, if not, and that individual was elected to a four or six-year term, the City would be stuck with them until the electoral process could change that situation. He stated he favored the terms of office as the currently are. Council Member Quick pointed out that the City could recall an elected official. Council Member Stigney stated a recall would only be warranted in a very drastic situation, however, if