Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-18-1979 . MOUNDS VIEW CHARTER COMMISSION MINUTES WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 1979 I. Meeting called to order by Chairman, Bill Doty, at 7:35 P.M. II. ABSENT MEMBERS: William Werner Dave Notaro Duane McCarty Curt Schmidt TARDY: Don Hodges (arrived at 8:45 P.M.) III. Correction of Minutes of meeting of March 21, 1979: Page (3) - VIII. Report of Committee Chairmen: addition of date, time & place of meeting Committee # 4 - General Provisions, the Plan of Government, the Council and Legislation Met March 21, 1979, at 6:30 P.M. at City Hall. • Committee # 5 - Nominations, Elections, Initiative, Referendum & Recall Met March 7, 1979, at 7:00 P.M. at City Hall. Committee # 6 - Administration, Taxation and Finance Met March 21, 1979, at 6:00 P.M. at City Hall. Howard Nelsen asked that the City of Blaine be checked to verify that they did, indeed, have a Ward system. (Secretary to check. ) Thereupon, a motion was made by Neil Loeding and seconded by Milan Illig that the Minutes be approved, as corrected. Motion carried. One (1) abstention. IV. Suggestions to Committee Chairmen by Neil Loeding on presenting Committee Reports: "Each committee should prepare its report in the form of Sections and Articles of a Charter, following the Model Charter. Enough copies of each Committee Report should be run off to give each member of. the Commission a copy. These copies should be in the hands of members before a Commission meeting." 410 Mounds View Charter Commission - Minutes - (continued) Page (2) V. Report of Committees: Committee # 5 - Nominations, Elections, Initiative, Referendum & Recall The committee met on 4/4/79 at 7:00 P.M. at City Hall. Duane McCarty was absent from the Commission meeting,' but did submit a written report, which was read by the Secretary. (copy attached) Thereupon, a motion was made by Jim Wills and seconded by Neil Loeding that item No. 1, referring to Initiative and Referendum, be amended to read "15 percent of those who voted in the last regular election", and that item No. 3, referring to Recall, read "must be at least 20 percent of the number of voters who cast their ballot in the last-- general astgeneral city election." Upon discussion, a motion was made by Howard Neisen and seconded by Carol Ziebarth to amend the motion of Jim Wills to have the percentage figures increased to 20% and 25% respectively. • ' Upon further discussion, the motions of Jim Wills and Howard Neisen were withdrawn, with the proviso that the Committee be instructed to investigate the percentages, such as reviewing other city charters, and make a recommendation to the Commission members. Committee # 6 - Administration, Taxation, and Finance Committee meetings were held in City Hall at 9:00 A.M. on 3/31/79 and at 6:00 P.M. on 4/9/79. Committee member, Bill Doty, read the committee's recommendations for "Duties of the Clerk-Administrator" position. (Copy attached). Complete Committee Report to be presented at the next Commission meeting - May 16, 1979. As a follow-up to the Committee Report, Neil Loeding passed out a written report on proposed revisions to "Duties of Clerk-Administrator" to follow some suggestions made by Councilmember Rowley. These proposed revisions are as follows: 411 • • Mounds View Charter Commission - Minutes - (continued) Page (3) V. Report of Committees: (cont'd) Committee # 6 - Administration, Taxation and Finance - (cont'd) These proposed revisions are as follows: (3) In conjunction with Municipal department heads, coordinate the preparation of an annual fiscal budget and capital improvement plan for submission to the Council. Maintain financial guidelines for the Municipality within the scope of the approved budget and capital program. (5) Attend all Council meetings and provide input to the Council. Attend at his discretion or by invitation other committee and commission meetings. (11) Prepare news releases, develop and discuss public relations material with all concerned as required. Maintain, along with the rest of the Staff, good public relations with the general public. • (The words underlined are the only suggested changes. ) Committee # 4 - General Provisions, the Plan of Government, the Council and Legislation. A meeting was held in City Hall on April 4, 1979, at 8:30 P.M. Members present were Hodges, Loeding and Neisen. Report given by Chairman Hodges. (Copy attached) Motion made by Howard Neisen and seconded by Carol Ziebarth that the Commission recommend a change in our city government from Mayor-Council form of government to Council-Manager form of government. By Roll Call vote, motion failed. (9) Nayes: Doty, Loeding, White, Illig, Nygaard, Lykke, Wills, Skiba, Hodges. (2) Ayes Neisen, Ziebarth Committee # 7 - Local Improvements, Special Assessments, and Eminent Domain. Chairman Curt Schmidt absent. Neil Loeding reported that a meeting was held at City Hall on 4/4/79 at 7:00 P.M. He indicated that the primary question before the.committee was what latitude the Charter Commission might have in • deviating from State Statutes in the areas of local improve- ments and special assessments. Curt Schmidt agreed to research concerns of committee members. • Mounds View Charter Commission - Minutes - (continued) Page (4) V. Report of Committees: (cont'd) Committee # 8 - Franchises, Public Utilities, & Miscellaneous Matters. Chairman Wills stated the committee did not meet; however, he indicated that his committee will be meeting the second Wednesday of the month. Motion made by Jim Wills and seconded by Howard Neisen that the question of committee appointments be reopened, and that Carol Ziebarth be added to his committee on "Franchises, Public Utilities and Miscellaneous Matters". Carried unanimously. VI. Jim Wills excused from meeting @ 9:50 P.M. VII. NEW BUSINESS 1. Chairman Doty outlined to the Commission his objectives for Committees: • a) Rough drafts in by May 16, 1979. b) Completion of drafts by June or July, 1979. c) Legal Search August or September, 1979. d) Vote of citizens by November, 1979. 2. Chairman Doty requested that all Committee Reports be completed and out in sufficient time to all Charter Commission members prior to regular commission meetings. 3. .Previous actions of the Commission should be binding upon committees; however, the committees should feel free to make alternative proposals in their respective areas of concern. 4. It was suggested by Neil Loeding that committees should be viewed primarily as research bodies, rather than as decision makers. Accordingly, Committee Chairmen should also present a minority view in their report, when requested, whenever an unresolved conflict occurs within the committee. VIII. Motion made by Howard Neisen and seconded by Wally Skiba that the meeting be adjourned. Carried unanimously. Meeting adjourned at 10:05 P.M. • air ' Ruth te, ecretary ATTACHMENTS - (4) • MEETING: April 4, 1979 @ 7:00 P.M. @ City Hall Recommendations of the Charter Commission Committee on Nominations, Elections, ,itiative Referendum and Recall. It is recommended for Nominations and Elections that: 1 . Elections be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in even numbered years. 2. The City Council act as the elections canvassing board. 3. The canvassing board shall meet within two days after the final count of votes (ballots) to determine eligibility of winning candidates. 4. Newly elected candidates shall take office at the first regular meeting of the office to which they were elected after their eligibility has been confirmed by the canvassing board. 5. The general laws of the State of Minnesota pertaining to elections shall apply to municipal elections except as otherwise noted above. Initiative, Referendum and Recall-- it is recommended that: 1 . An initiative or referendum shall be initiated by a petition signed by registered voters of the city equal in number to 10 percent of those who voted in the last regular election. 2. . ach petition shall be sponsored by a committee of five voters whose names and addresses shall appear on the petition on file in the city clerk' s "(floe. 5. Each signer shall sign his/her name and give his/her street address. Each seperate page of the petition shall have appended to its certificate, verified by oath by the petitioner, that each signature is the genuine signature of the person whose name. it purports to be. 4. Immediately upon receipt of the petition, the city clerk shall examine the petition as to its sufficiency and report to the council within 20 days. Upon receiving the report, the council shall determine by resolution the sufficiency of the petition. 5. If the council determines that the petition is insufficient or irregular, the city 'clerk shall deliver a copy of the petition, together with a written statement of its defects, to the sponsoring committee. 6. The committee shall have 30 days in which to file additional signature papers and to correct the petition in allother particulars. Recall 1 . Any five electors may form themselves into a committee for the purpose of bringing about the recall of any elected officer of the city. 2. The committee shall file a certificate with the city clerk naming the officer whose removal is sought, a statement of the grounds for removal and their intention to bring about the officer's recall. The number of signers of the recall petition must be at leastpercent of the number of voters who cast their ballot in the last generalit cy election. DUANE MC CARTY, CHAIRMAN • CHAIRMAN DOTY: On the subject of Special Elections, our Committee recommended that a vacancy in office should be filled by Special Election if the vacancy occurred with more than 6 months left in the term of office vacated. However, this seems to be somewhat controversial, and we may have had a "cross-over" of duties in this area with Don Hodges' committee. Therefore, it may be prudent to hold this subject for more input from the entire commission. To hold it over is my own personal recorrmiendation, as I hadn't time to discuss it with my committee. If this is not acceptable, then I would report our recommendation as the committee decided with the 6 month requirement for a Special Election. You might ask Mr. Werner and • Mr. Notaro for their opinions on this matter. DUANE MC CARTY • • 5.02 OF THE MUNICIPAL CODE: DUTIES OF THE CLERK-ADMINISTRATOR Subdivision 2. Other Duties - As Proposed (1) Coordinate the administration in conjunction with heads of departments as a group as provided by Council action, state and federal statutes. (2) Participate with affected Municipal department heads in the preparation of reports and summaries relating to contemplated municipal projects and/or improvements and submit them with recommendations as may be required to the Council for study and subsequent action. (3) Participate with Municipal department heads in the preparation of an annual fiscal budget and capital improvement plan for submission to the Council. Maintain financial guidelines for the Municipality within • the scope of the approved budget and capital program. (4) Participate with the Municipal treasurer in the preparation of the annual financial statement. (5) Attend all Council meetings. Attend by invitation other committee and commission meetings. (6) Coordinate municipal programs and activities as authorized by the Council. (7) Participate in the submission of quarterly reports to the Council on the financial condition of the Municipal accounts. (8) Supervise the conduct of local elections in accordance with the pre- scribed laws and regulations. • -2- 411 (9) Coordinate the activities of all Municipal department heads in the administration of Municipal policy. May advise the Council in de- cisions affecting the employment or removal of department heads. (10) Work in cooperation with the Council's appointed attorney and engineer. (11) Participate in the preparation of news releases and public relations material. Maintain, along with the rest of the Staff, good public relations with the general public. (12) Consult as directed by the Council with appointed officials and with other public or private agencies as may be required. • (13) Be fully informed regarding federal, state and county programs which affect the Municipality. (14) Participate with affected Municipal department heads in advising the Council on the terms and conditions of employee labor contracts for presentation to the Council. (15) Perform all duties required of him by ordinances or resolutions adopted by the Council. 1 a . COMMITTEE REPORT Meeting: 4/4 on Government Structure Attended: Niesen, Loeding, Hodges Chapters 1 and 2 were discussed of the Model Charter (100a.5) . We will need at least one or two more meetings before a final report will be submitted to the Charter Commission. Chairperson, Don Hodges .