HomeMy WebLinkAboutEricson and KG Memos on Commission Membeship
Item No: 3
Meeting Date: October 6, 2014
Type of Business: Work Session
City of Mounds View Staff Report
To: Honorable Mayor and City Council
From: James Ericson, City Administrator
Item Title/Subject: Joint Meeting with the Charter Commission
Introduction:
Through the Mayor, the City Council has expressed a desire to meet with the Charter
Commission to discuss membership levels in light of the low number of appointed
participants. Members apply to and are appointed by the Ramsey County District Court,
however there haven’t been any applicants in some time for County consideration. The
intent of the joint meeting is to address the existing membership deficiency and to
formulate appropriate strategies.
Discussion:
The Charter Commission is authorized to have eleven members, however their number
has dropped to five, often with only three members attending a meeting. It has been
suggested that a Charter Commission, not unlike a City Council, needs to operate at full
capacity, with a quorum assuming full capacity (in other words, six members.)
Both the City Council and the Charter Commission have announced the openings during
their respective meetings; and despite advertisements in the newspapers, on the Cable TV
channel and the website, residents are not lining up to volunteer their time on the
Commission. Staff has also been in communication with the District Court regarding the
declining membership and asked if perhaps they had any pending applications (no) and if
they had any recommendations to address the declining membership. The Court declined
to provide any suggestions, indicating that it was not their role to do so.
Recommendation:
Staff recommends the Council discuss the issue of membership with the Charter
Commission and determine what actions, if any, can be taken to address the deficiency.
Respectfully submitted,
________________________
James Ericson
City Administrator
448566v2 SJR MU210-4
Kennedy 470 U.S. Bank Plaza 200 South Sixth Street Minneapolis MN 55402-1458
(612) 337-9300 telephone (612) 337-9310 fax sriggs@kennedy -graven.com http://www.kennedy -graven.com
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Graven
C H A R T E R E D
MEMORANDUM
Date: August 22, 2014
To: Jim Ericson, City Administrator
From: Scott J. Riggs, City Attorney and Doug D. Shaftel, Assistant City Attorney
Re: Authority of Charter Commission to act in absence of a full complement of
members
Pursuant to your request for review of the active membership numbers for the Mounds View
Charter Commission (the “Commission”), please note the following discussion and analysis.
As presently constituted, the Commission (the “Commission”) is to be composed of 11 members,
a number apparently fixed by judicial order, and referenced in the Commission’s Bylaws (the
“Bylaws”). Based upon your August 7, 2014 email regarding this matter, the Commission
currently is operating with only five members, however, at the last two Commission meetings,
only three members were present.
The following questions arise from your email regarding the Commission’s authority to act when
it lacks a full complement of its members:
1) What acts, if any, may the Commission perform?
Answer: Few, if any, official acts can be performed by the Commission unless and until it
has a full complement of 11 members.
2) How many Commission members constitute a quorum for the purposes of convening a
meeting?
Answer: Six members must be present at any meeting to have a quorum.
Authority to act without a full complement of members
There is no case law directly on point regarding this matter, but based upon a review of opinions
from the Minnesota Attorney General and the statutory process for filling vacant commissioner
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Mr. James Ericson
August 22, 2014
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448566v2 SJR MU210-4
positions, a charter commission’s ability to act is severely restricted when it lacks a full
complement of its body. Interpreting a since-repealed constitutional provision along with a
former version of Minnesota Statutes, Section 410.05, the Attorney General opined that a charter
commission may neither amend the charter nor approve a petition for amendment of the charter
when it lacks a full complement of its members, even if it does so with the approval of eight
members. Op. Atty. Gen., 58G, Sept. 28, 1950; Op. Atty. Gen., 58C, April 1, 1954 (copies
attached). In reaching this conclusion, the Attorney General noted that a simple and expeditious
process existed for filling commission vacancies by judicial appointment. The Attorney General
further noted that the requirement for a full complement of commission members to exist prior to
commission actions ensures that proposed amendments presented for review to the Council or
the voting public are the result of “studied consideration, discussion, debate and deliberate
judgment of fifteen resident freeholders of municipality.” Op. Atty. Gen., 58G, Sept. 28, 1950.
The Attorney General opinion suggests that the important work of revising a charter demands
substantial participation by representatives of the affected community.
The former constitutional and statutory requirements have been replaced by a statutory
framework that includes a detailed process for filling commission vacancies. Minnesota
Statutes, Section 410.05. This statutory requirement for filling vacancies suggests a legislative
intent that a charter commission always contain a full complement of its membership.
Minnesota Statutes, Section 410.05 now also permits the setting of the commissioners for a
charter commission at a number between seven and fifteen. A home rule charter city must either
have the number of charter commission members set by a judge, city council resolution, petition
of voters, or it may be set forth in its charter. Minnesota Statutes, Section 410.05, subd. 1.
Whichever process is used, once the number has been fixed, commission membership cannot
drop without triggering the statutory process set forth in Minnesota Statutes, Section 410.05 for
filling the vacancy.
The reasoning and conclusions set forth in the cited Attorney General opinions, that neither the
proposal of charter amendments nor approval of proposed charter amendments can be performed
in the absence of a full complement of commission members, when viewed in light of the
requirements of Minnesota Statutes, Section 410.05 for the filling of vacancies, appears to
continue to be valid.1
Authority to convene a meeting: how many members constitute a quorum?
The answer to the question regarding quorum requirements is related to the above conclusion.
The common law rule for the composition of a quorum is that:
1 The League of Minnesota Cities has similarly concluded that the “commission should always contain its full
complement of members.” League of Minnesota Cities, Handbook for Minnesota Cities, Part I Form and Structure
of the Minnesota City, Chapter 4: the Home Rule Charter City, pg. 4-8 (last revised 7/25/2007).
Mr. James Ericson
August 22, 2014
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…in the absence of charter or statutory provision applicable, to the contrary, a
majority of a definite body, or of the governing body of the corporation, as the
board of directors, the board of alderman, the council, etc., consisting of a definite
number, when duly met, constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, and
the vote of a majority of those present (there being a quorum) is all that is
requisite for the adoption or passage of an ordinance or by-law or motion, or the
doing of any other act which the body has the power to do….
4 McQuillan Mun. Corp. § 13:34 (3d ed.). Under this default rule, since Mounds View’s charter
commission is to be composed of eleven members, six members would constitute a quorum.
Notwithstanding the above-cited definition, the Minnesota legislature has delegated to charter
commissions the authority to draft their own rules of operation, including the setting of quorum
requirements. Minnesota Statutes, Section 410.05, subd. 2. The Commission bylaws provide
that the quorum is a majority of qualified and acting members. Bylaws, Art. III, §3 (emphasis
added). It is not clear what the term “acting” means, but even if the Commission intended it to
mean only those who are participating in meetings, the Commission would not appear to be able
to set the quorum of the Commission at a number that constitutes less than the default rule
described above, i.e., a majority of the full complement of its members. If the Commission
could set the quorum requirement at a majority of those currently participating in meetings, then
a quorum of the current Commission membership would be three, and would conceivably drop
to a lower number if another member resigned. Such an outcome runs contrary to the above-
discussed implicit legislative intent behind the statutory requirements for setting the number of
members and the filling of vacancies. Thus, regardless of the number of commissioners
currently on the Commission, a quorum for the Commission should never fall below six
members. Cf. State ex rel. Peterson v. Hoppe, 194 Minn. 186, 260 N.W. 215 (1935) (“[w]here a
charter or statute provides that the vote of a majority of the members elected to the council shall
be necessary to pass a measure, the fact that there are vacancies in office due to death,
resignation, or other cause, does not diminish the number of votes necessary to pass such
measure.”)
SJR:jms
Enclosures
MOUNDS VIEW CHARTER COMMISSION MEMBERS
(REVISED April 14, 2016)
Name Address Phone Term Expires
Brian Amundsen 3048 Woodale Drive 763-786-5699 10/31/16
Mounds View, MN 55112
Bill Doty 3049 Bronson Drive 763-786-3421 10/31/18
Mounds View MN 55112
Johnathan Thomas 8040 Groveland Road 763-784-5205 10/31/16
Mounds View, MN 55112
Jerry Peterson 8125 Red Oak Drive 612-607-3953 10/31/20
Mounds View, MN 55112
STAFF:
Jim Ericson, City Administrator 2401 County Road 10
City of Mounds View Mounds View MN 55112
www.ci.mounds-view.mn.us 763-717-4001
Teresa Warner , Chief Judge 15. W. Kellogg Blvd.
2nd Judicial District St. Paul MN 55102
Wendy Van Duyne, Court Operations Supervisor 15 W. Kellogg Blvd.
2nd Judicial District St. Paul MN 55102
Wendy.vanduyne@courts.state.mn.us 651-266-8250