Minutes - 2000/05/08 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mounds View City Council May 8,1999 Regular Meeting Page 9 • City Attorney Long stated the Council requested legal staff to examine a matter that is set forth in State Statutes, Chapter 410.12, Subd. 5. He advised that there is a provision in State law, which allows City Councils to propose amendments to the Charter by preparing a proposal and submitting it to the Charter Commission for review and ultimately, on to the ballot. He stated staff was directed to commence the process if drafting the necessary amendments that would modify the Charter from the current City Clerk Administrator form of government to a City Manager form of government. He explained that one method for accomplishing this is to abandon the Charter in entirety, and put in its place a Statutory Plan B form of government, however, in this case, the direction was to work with the existing Charter language and include the City Manager form of government. City Attorney Long advised that this process would require the revision of a number of provisions within the Charter that reference the City Clerk Administrator, however, the primary change, as indicated in the draft ordinance before the Council would begin with the deletion of Chapter 6 of the Charter, which is the Chapter that pertains to the City Clerk Administrator form of government, and replacing it with a new Chapter 6, which is the new City Manager language that legal staff has prepared. He explained that this language was drawn from model Charters that his office has dealt with, one of these being from the city of Albert Lea, which has the City Manager form of government in its Charter. He indicated some cities have simply adopted Statutory Plan B City Manager form of government, and they have no City Charter. He pointed out that Mounds View would be in the hybrid of cities with a Charter that designates a City Manager, if they decide to proceed with this matter. City Attorney Long advised that this matter would not call for a first and second reading as would the adoption of an ordinance, as it would actually be the preparation of language to go on the ballot, therefore, if this is the direction desired, staff could come back before the Council at their next meeting in May, at which time, staff could have the ordinance in complete form, with all of the changes in the Charter that would implement the City Manager form of government. He noted these changes are referenced in the memorandum provided by City Attorney Scott Riggs. He indicated that if the Council desired to proceed with the matter at that point, they could approve the forwarding of the ordinance to the Charter Commission. City Attorney Long advised that under State law, the Charter Commission would initially have 60 days in which to review the Council's proposal, after which time, they could come back with comments, proposals to amend, or request an additional 90 day period for review. He explained that they could not be certain regarding the Charter Commission's response at that point, however, this would set the process in motion for the Charter Commission review. He pointed out that legal staff did not wish to proceed in further detail until they were certain that the Council was comfortable with their interpretation of the direction. He requested the Council discuss this matter, to determine if this was the proper direction. Council Member Marty requested clarification regarding Section 6.04 of the proposal, which • indicates "The other officers of the city are the City Clerk, and the other officers subordinate to the City Manager created by the Council by ordinance or resolution. The clerk is responsible for keeping the city records and under the direction of the Manager, the general administration of the