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Charter Update Memo to Council - June 2016
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Charter Update Memo to Council - June 2016
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Mr. James Ericson <br />August 22, 2014 <br />Page 3 <br />in the absence of charter or statutory provision applicable, to the contrary, a <br />majority of a definite body, or of the governing body of the corporation, as the <br />board of directors, the board of alderman, the council, etc., consisting of a definite <br />number, when duly met, constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, and <br />the vote of a majority of those present (there being a quorum) is all that is <br />requisite for the adoption or passage of an ordinance or by-law or motion, or the <br />doing of any other act which the body has the power to do.... <br />4 McQuillan Mun. Corp. § 13:34 (3d ed.). Under this default rule, since Mounds View's charter <br />commission is to be composed of eleven members, six members would constitute a quorum. <br />Notwithstanding the above -cited definition, the Minnesota legislature has delegated to charter <br />commissions the authority to draft their own rules of operation, including the setting of quorum <br />requirements. Minnesota Statutes, Section 410.05, subd. 2. The Commission bylaws provide <br />that the quorum is a majority of qualified and acting members. Bylaws, Art. III, §3 (emphasis <br />added). It is not clear what the term "acting" means, but even if the Commission intended it to <br />mean only those who are participating in meetings, the Commission would not appear to be able <br />to set the quorum of the Commission at a number that constitutes less than the default rule <br />described above, i.e., a majority of the full complement of its members. If the Commission <br />could set the quorum requirement at a majority of those currently participating in meetings, then <br />a quorum of the current Commission membership would be three, and would conceivably drop <br />to a lower number if another member resigned. Such an outcome runs contrary to the above - <br />discussed implicit legislative intent behind the statutory requirements for setting the number of <br />members and the filling of vacancies. Thus, regardless of the number of commissioners <br />currently on the Commission, a quorum for the Commission should never fall below six <br />members. Cf. State ex rel. Peterson v. Hoppe, 194 Minn. 186, 260 N.W. 215 (1935) ("[w]here a <br />charter or statute provides that the vote of a majority of the members elected to the council shall <br />be necessary to pass a measure, the fact that there are vacancies in office due to death, <br />resignation, or other cause, does not diminish the number of votes necessary to pass such <br />measure.") <br />SJR:jms <br />Enclosures <br />448566v2 SJR MU210-4 <br />
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