Agenda Packets - 2022/12/12 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

•�' 0, Item No: 8H, I & J Meeting Date: December 12, 2022 Type of Business: Council Business City Administrator Review: City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Honorable Mayor and City Council From: Nyle Zikmund, City Administrator Item Title/Subject: Three Public Hearings to Amend the City Charter — Voting on Three Charter Amendment Recommendations. -Ordinance 994 — Amending City Charter Pertaining to Filing for Office -Ordinance 995 — Amending City Charter Pertaining to Vacancies -Ordinance 996 — Amending City Charter Pertaining to Vacancies Introduction/History: The Charter Commission has been working on addressing the process surrounding vacancies in elected office and at their September 20, 2022 meeting unanimously adopted three separate Charter Commission Resolutions recommending amendments to the City Charter. Charter Commission Resolution 2022-05 (Ordinance 994) was brought forward and advocated by Commissioner Brandon Clawson and cleans up language regarding term limits that is found in section 4.02 of the Charter. The resolution was adopted unanimously by the commission. Ordinance 994 addresses this issue by striking language related to term limits as the Minnesota Supreme Court has determined term limits violate the Minnesota Constitution. Charter Commission Resolution 2022-04 (Ordinance 995) provides a reference to the definition of a vacancy found in Chapter 2 of the charter. This amendment is recommended to increase readability. Charter Commission Resolution 2022-03 (Ordinance 996) clarifies the dates on which a special election can be held. Ordinance 996 make relatively minor changes to align the charter with the recent changes in state statute that specifies the dates on which special election can be held. The recommended amendment changes the requirement that a special election be held with 90 days of a vacancy to requiring that a special election be held at the next special election at which all legal requirements can be met. The Commission also debated whether or not to make a recommendation that would have amended the current requirement that if more than 365 days remain in the seat in which a vacancy exists, the Council must call a special to fill the seat for the remainder of the term. The Commission spent considerable time having in- depth discussion regarding changing that threshold but ultimately, on a unanimous vote, did not change that threshold. Process to Amend the Charter: Minnesota Statutes, section 410.12 details prescriptive processes to amend a charter that allow for change by residents (petition), the Charter Commission, or by Council. In all cases, there is an opportunity for the amendment to be placed before the voters, including by initial petition, request for referendum, or Commission or Council proposal. The Commission chose to send the proposed amendments to the Council to make the amendments by ordinance using the process under Minn. Stat. 410.12, subdivision 7. This process, as described further below, requires the Commission to recommend an amendment to the charter by ordinance and the Council approve the ordinance by an affirmative vote of all members. After receiving an affirmative vote of all members of the Council and publication, the amendment takes effect after 90 days if no petition for a referendum on the ordinance is received within 60 days. DOCSOPEN\MU210\4\838286.v3-11 /10/22