July 12 Letter_to_Judge_regarding_Charter_Commission Brian Amundsen

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In the fall of 2016, as a result of recruitment efforts by the Council, two more Commission members were added bringing the total to 5. In 2017, the Commission again changed its bylaws, further reducing its membership from 11 to 9 members. Through extensive efforts by the Council and City staff, the Commission achieved 8 members by the end of 2018. In January of 2019, the Commission finally achieved a full complement of members, and for the first time in more than a decade, had a full Commission present for its 2019 meetings. I along with the Council were so hopeful that the Commission could finally address important issues facing the city. Unfortunately, the behavior of Mr. Amundsen at the May 21, 2019 Commission meeting followed a pattern of trying to undermine the newly elected chair. This resulted in the resignation of Chair Reyes-Johnson and the pending resignations of two more Commission members. I am fearful the Commission will revert to times past. Included with this correspondence is the unapproved minutes of the most recent Commission meeting. However, if so inclined, the video is available on the City’s web page at https://webstreaming.ctv15 .org/viewer.php?streamid=3589. The video arguably provides a more descriptive display of body language, voice modulation, and inflection of Commission members. The Council direction to the Charter Commission has consistently been a request to simplify the language resulting in a more user friendly document our residents could easily understand and use. The combination of Commission membership turnover, when combined with a focus on minutia, extreme formality, and substantive resistance to change/suggestions by Mr. Amundsen as well as repeated rejection of City Attorney advice, has/will have a compound negative impact. Attached is a document illustrating the current Commission membership revealing most members having minimal service. Effective public policy adoption and Charter updates simply fail as meetings are monopolized by reliving the previous Commission meetings. By way of example, annual reports submitted to the Court pursuant to Minnesota Statutes reveal that the Commission spent 8-plus years (69 meetings) discussing issues related to revising Chapter 8 of the Charter. The attached flow chart produced by the Commission for Chapter 8 illustrates both the minutia as well as the failure to create a Charter that is simple to read and easy to understand. Similarly, but less egregious, was the recent Commission task of reviewing Chapter 4 of the Charter (special election if a vacancy occurs) which covered an 18-plus month period (this review and proposed language revision is still ongoing). In both cases, as stated earlier the Council had advocated for a “simplification” of Charter language as a component of the Commission’s work product rather than a focus on extreme formality and drafting. The Council believes a focus on policy will result in a stronger Commission that will better serve our residents now and into the future. As a component of City Administrator Zikmund’s hiring in January of 2018, the Council established as one of their goals for him, to work with the Charter Commission to address the turnover, provide support towards simplification of language, and focus on policy. To that end, Administrator Zikmund was instrumental in convincing Marissa Reyes-Johnson to re-apply (she was not inclined to) and Mr. Brooks Staples applying. Chair Reyes-Johnson, with the assistance of Administrator Zikmund coordinated training for the new members (as well as existing). Lastly, City Administrator Zikmund supported and assisted Chair Reyes-Johnson in her team building efforts at the Commissions March 2019 meeting. This Council direction and support was met with resistance by Mr. Amundsen as evidenced by a statement to City Administrator Zikmund that he has “hidden or ulterior” motives with him vowing to watch his every move. Thus, in conjunction with the indifference and rejection of advice from the City Attorney (who is council to the Commission) the relationship with City Staff is less than desirable and in fact, difficult.