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MV City Charter Commission
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10 <br /> <br />(Mounds View Charter Commission By-Laws, Art. III, § 3.) Pursuant to the by-laws, if five of <br />the nine qualified and acting members of the Charter Commission attend a properly convened <br />meeting, it may conduct any legally authorized business. If there are fewer than nine qualified and <br />acting members, the Charter Commission may conduct all legally authorized business as long as <br />four charter commissioners are in attendance. The plain and unambiguous statutory language does <br />not require the presence of nine authorized members to conduct business.3 The unambiguous <br />language of the statute and the by-laws require the same outcome both when there are charter <br />commission vacancies and when qualified and acting members choose not to attend a meeting.4 <br />Notwithstanding the applicable quorum requirements, petitioner failed to meet its burden <br />of proving that respondent had anything to do with Charter Commission meeting attendance at any <br />time during his various tenures as a Charter Commissioner. In 2006-2009, when respondent was <br />not a Charter Commissioner, quorums were not met just as frequently as when respondent was a <br />Charter Commissioner. Since respondent’s most recent appointment, and the 2016 reduction in <br />authorized Charter Commission membership from 11 to 9, there was a quorum for 100% of Charter <br />Commission meetings. For most of these meetings, respondent was Charter Commission Chair. <br /> <br />3 Petitioner cites a League of Cities Handbook provision stating that the “commission should always contain its full <br />complement of members” to support its argument that a charter commission cannot legally operate without a full <br />complement of members. (Pet’r’s Final Argument, Aug. 12, 2019 at 4 & n.8 (citation omitted).) The League of <br />Cities’ stated aspirational goal of full membership falls far short of a legal opinion that full membership is required to <br />operate notwithstanding section 410.05, subd. 2 and the language of a duly adopted by-law that defines a quorum. <br />4 Petitioner also cites two Attorney General opinions from 65 and 69 years ago to support its argument that a Charter <br />Commission cannot legally operate absent a full complement of authorized Commissioners. (Pet’r’s Final Argument, <br />Aug. 12, 2019 at 3-5.) These opinions are of no assistance to the court. The statute was amended to add the provision <br />permitting charter commissions to establish operational rules after the Attorney General opinions were written. Act <br />of May 5, 1971, ch. 208, § 2, 1971 Minn. Laws at 412 (amending Minn. Stat. § 410.05, subd. 2). The plain and <br />unambiguous language of the statute as amended stands on its own and allows for no other reasonable interpretation. <br />The statute permits charter commissions to adopt rules regarding their “operations and procedures”, “including <br />quorum requirements.” Minn. Stat. § 410.05, subd. 2 (2018). The legislature delegated to charter commissions the <br />authority to establish a rule permitting charter commission operation under any circumstance in which a defined <br />quorum is present. The current Mounds View Charter Commission by-laws are perfectly consistent with the enabling <br />statute. A minority of charter commissioners cannot stymie charter commission operations by a mass resignation any <br />more than they can accomplish the same result by boycotting meetings. Business may proceed as long as a quorum <br />is present as defined in the by-laws.
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