Amundsen Ltr to Court Aug 2019 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Attachment 1 — Response to City Letter of July 11, 2019 Case File 62-CV-19-4965 The following pages are submitted in response to the City of Mounds View letter (Letter) signed by Mayor Carol Mueller, dated July 11, 2019. The phrases in quotes are taken verbatim from the Letter. My responses are the bullets below the quoted phrase or para-phase of the Letter. Paragraph 1. The Letter is requesting the Court's "help in considering the removal" of me from the Mounds View Charter Commission (Commission). Response • Removal of a charter commissioner is listed in MN Statute 410.05 (Attachment 4). • MN Statute 410.05 Subd. 2 lists removal reason criteria as: "Any member may be removed at any time from office, by written order of the district court, the reason for such removal being stated in the order. When any member has failed to perform the duties of office and has failed to attend four consecutive meetings without being excused by the commission, the secretary of the charter commission shall file a certificate with the court setting forth those facts and the district court shall thereupon make its order of removal and the chief judge shall fill the vacancy created thereby." • No certificate has been presented by the Commission's secretary to the Court with the required statement of facts for considering removal. • I have performed my duties and attended Commission meetings. In fact at the May 21 meeting I was seeking clarification of the Secretaries duties, which were being changed without amending the Bylaws. • Statute 410 established the charter commission as a separate body with its purpose and authority specified in statute, which included authority to limit distribution of administrative and mayor powers in 410.18 and 410.19 respectively. These establish a hierarchy of commission control of city powers and does not provide Council or administrative control of the Commission. • 1 agree my current appointment is through October 28.2020. Paragraph 2. The Letter states this is "unprecedented." • I agree this request appears to be unprecedented. • I disagree that the request should be allowed because no criteria for removal has been met. • In my opinion if the request, based on information stated in the Letter, is granted it might have ramifications to future Commission membership in Mounds View and potentially to other charter commissions throughout the state. The Letter states there was effort "to achieve a full complement of Commission members ... to address important issues involving the Mounds View City Charter (Charter)" • I disagree with the premise of the statement. • The Letter's statement lays a premise for the Court to agree that only a "full complement" is a requirement for the Commission to function and address amendment requests. However, 410.05 states: o "The charter commission, within 30 days after the initial appointment of the commission, shall make rules, including quorum requirements, with reference to its operations and procedures." Page 1 of 13