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HOLMES & GRAVEN <br /> CHARTERED <br /> Attorneys at Law <br /> 470 Pillsbury Center,Minneapolis,Minnesota 55402 <br /> ROBERT A.ALSOP (612)337-9300 ROBERT C.LONG <br /> RONALD H.BATTY LAURA K.MOLLET <br /> STEPHEN J.BUBUL Facsimile(612)337-9310 BARBARA L.PORTWOOD <br /> JOHN B.DEAN JAMES M.STROMMEN <br /> MARY G.DOBBINS JAMES J.THOMSON,JR. <br /> STEFANIE N.GALEY LARRY M.WERTHEIM <br /> CORRINE A.HEINE BONNIE L.WILKINS <br /> JAMES S.HOLMES WRITER'S DIRECT DIAL GARY P.WINTER <br /> DAVID J.KENNEDY <br /> JOHN R.CARSON 337-9209 DAVID L.GRAVEN(1929.1991) <br /> WELLINGTON H.LAW - OF COUNSEL <br /> CHARLES L.LEFEVERE ROBERT C.CARLSON <br /> JOHN M.LEFEVRE,JR. ROBERT L.DAVIDSON <br /> ROBERT J.LINDALL T.JAY SALMEN <br /> September 7, 1994 <br /> Mayor Jerry Linke and <br /> City Councilmembers <br /> City of Mounds View <br /> 2401 Highway 10 <br /> Mounds View, MN 55112-1499 <br /> RE: Proposed Charter Amendment Re Term Limits <br /> Dear Mayor Linke and Councilmembers: <br /> It is my understanding the Mounds View Charter Commission has proposed an <br /> amendment to the city charter to read as follows: <br /> Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, no person <br /> may file to be a candidate for election to a term that would cause the <br /> person to serve more than eight total years in the office of Mayor or <br /> eight total years in the office of City Council. <br /> You have inquired as to what the City Council's role is in the proposed charter <br /> amendment. <br /> Minnesota Statutes, Section 410.12 allows the Charter Commission to propose <br /> amendments to the charter. Any such amendments shall be submitted at the next <br /> general election occurring within six months after delivery to the City Council of the <br /> draft amendment. The form of the ballot must be fixed by the City Council. In a <br /> typical situation, the City Council's sole role regarding a proposed amendment <br /> submitted by the Charter Commission is to fix the form of the ballot. (There is <br /> another procedure for amending the charter under which the City Council would <br /> propose an amendment by ordinance, but that option does not apply in this situation <br /> because the Charter Commission has chosen to propose the amendment itself.) <br /> The second question that has been asked is whether the city should place the matter <br /> on the ballot in light of a 1981 attorney general's opinion that a charter provision <br /> imposing a limitation on consecutive terms would not be valid. In addition, in an <br /> opinion dated June 28, 1994, the attorney for the Mounds View Charter Commission <br /> concluded that he could find no authority for a charter amendment creating term <br /> limits. <br /> JJT75668 <br /> MU125-11 <br />