HomeMy WebLinkAboutCharter Commission Issues May 2019
Charter Commission History/Issues 2002 to Present (July 2019)
February 7, 2002 – K & G Memo (Riggs) to Commission Chair Thomas regarding review of Chapters 10, 11, 5.08, 12.13 and 6.02
October 10, 2002 – Charter Commission minutes reflect Amundsen appointed to Commission. Note – Commission consisted of 15 members at this point in time.
November 14, 2002 – Amundsen elected as Secretary
2003 – February 13th, March 13th, April 10th, July 10th, and December 11th meetings adjourned due to lack of quorum (5 of the 12 meetings scheduled)
June 12, 2003 – Commission approves Bylaw change reducing number of Commission members from 15 to 11.
November 24, 2003 Council – Discussion on Commission ability to change number of members without Council knowledge or approval.
December 6, 2003 – Chair Thomas response to City Council comments of November 24, 2003. Specifically issue of quorum (Thomas states/cites Bylaws that require a majority of members in
order to establish quorum) and Changing membership of Commission from 15 to 11
May 6, 2004 – K & G Memo (Riggs) to Administrator Ulrich regarding Commission resolution 2003-05 addressing Chapter 5 – recall.
May 19, 2004 – K & G Memo (Riggs) to Administrator Ulrich regarding Interpretation of Charter Section 7.10 addressing city indebtedness and need for election prior to issuance of bonds.
June 9, 2005 – Review of Section 7.03 – System of Taxation and Finance introduced under new business
2006 – January, February, March, August, September, October, November, December meetings did not meet quorum requirements (5 or less in attendance)
June 13, 2006 - Adopted resolution 2006-06 submitting amendments to Charter Section 7.03 for a ballot question.
July 11, 2006 – Reconsiders Resolution 2006-06
July 20, 2006 – Special Meeting with Attorney Riggs and Administrator Ulrich to discuss Section 7.03 and ballot question.
October 31, 2006 – Amundsen term expires and was not reappointed.
November 7, 2006 – Voters approve ballot measure on 2% plus inflation but never more than 5%.
2007 – 12 meetings held, minutes reflect no more than 5 members were present at 1 of those meetings (January)
2008 – 9 meetings held, minutes reflect no more than 5 members present at any of the 9 meetings.
2010 – 12 meetings held, minutes reflect only 5 members present at May and August meeting thus no quorum. Annual report to Court states the July meeting was cancelled due to scheduling
conflicts, however, minutes show a meeting was in fact held at which 6 of the 11 members were present.
2011 – 12 meetings scheduled, 5 were cancelled due to insufficient quorum. Of the remaining 7, Commission met three times with less than a quorum (5); April, June, and November.
2012- 12 meetings were scheduled, none were cancelled. Of the 12, there were 8 times the commission did not have a quorum.
2013 – 12 meetings were scheduled, 3 were cancelled due to insufficient quorum. Of the remaining 9, Commission met 8 of those with less than a quorum (3, 4 and 5 members)
2014 – 12 meetings were scheduled, 4 were cancelled due to insufficient quorum. Of the remaining 8 meetings, none of them met the quorum (three meetings with 4 and 5 meetings 3). Amundson
to Chair, Thomas to Secretary. Battin and Jean Miller resigned.
August 22, 2014 – K & G Memo (Riggs) to City Administrator Ericson regarding Charter Commission meeting quorum requirements opining that a minimum of 6 constitutes a quorum.
2015 – Commission moved to 7 meetings with 4 cancelled; January, February, May and November and the remaining 3 meeting, but without a quorum. May and September had 3 members and July
had 2 (Thomas and Amundsen which the Annual report details it as a work session).
October 22, 2015 – K & G Memo (Riggs) to Council regarding compatibility of office (Council members serving on Charter Commission).
February 10, 2016 – K & G Memo (Riggs) to Administrator Ericson revisiting compatibility of Council member serving on Charter Commission.
February 10, 2016 – K & G Memo (Riggs) to Administrator Ericson regarding quorum required for Charter Commission meetings. Reaffirms October 22, 2015 memo.
2016 – Seven meetings were scheduled with 1 appearing to transition into a joint meeting with Council (October 3). Of the remaining 6, none met the quorum requirements (3 with 3, 1
with 4, 2 with 5). Jerry Peterson and Don Johnson join the commission. Greg Oberg and Dennis Erickson both show up in the November minutes. Commission discusses K & G February memo
at the May, July and September meetings and change their bylaws specific to makeup going from 11 to 9 members.
November 10, 2016 – Bylaws amended/adopted to change commission makeup from 11 members to 9 members.
2017 – Six meetings scheduled, all six met quorum. Reyes-Johnson and Lamarouix join commission, D. Johnson resigns.
2018 – Seven meetings scheduled with all having a quorum present (given reduction to 9 members). Oberg and Doty done at end of October. Staples, Warren and Klander appointed along
with Reyes Johnson
January 29, 2019 Commission Meeting. All 9 present. Officers elected; Reyes-Johnson Chair, Thomas Vice, Clawson 2nd Vice, Amundsen Secretary.
February 2019 – Training for Commission Members by S. Riggs and N. Zikmund
March 19, 2019 – First meeting sin 17 years (2002) that either J. Thomas or B. Amundsen is not the chair. Established guiding principles, shared reason for serving, discussed logistics.
Debriefed training.
May 16, 2019 – 2:20 PM Initiated call to Brian A as a result of a call from the Commission Chair and Mayor, both who had received calls from Mr. Amundsen (see documentation) and were
troubled/concerned by those conversations.
May 16, 2019 – 3:45 PM – Amundsen email to Commission members, Nyle, Jenny Nelson (receptionist) and Vanessa (AV). Email includes documents, directs Jenny to place items on web page
and print copies for Dennis Erickson (note – Brian has not been given any authority to direct city staff), request I email him draft minutes in word format and finishes with explanation
of why he is sending out same/similar documents that Chair Reyes-Johnson had Nyle send out. Also indicates he had attempted to discuss these issues but has been ignored or dismissed.
This is a false statement as the call from Reyes-Johnson included her stating she attempted to set up a meeting with Mr. Amundsen who agreed but shortly after (15 minutes) called her
back and informed her that after speaking with his wife Val, they decided he should not meet with her.
May 16, 4:00 pm – Call from Chair Reyes-Johnson to speak to me about the Amundsen email which I had not seen but then read and we discussed. During this conversation I shared that I
would forward onto Attorney Riggs and get back to her with our advice which occurred the next day and included not engaging in some an email exchange but rather just wait until the
meeting to address as attorney Riggs would be present.
May 20, 2019 – 2:23 PM – Word version of minutes emailed to Brian.
May 21, 2019 – 7:49 AM – email to Reyes-Johnson and Attorney Riggs sharing Mayor received call from Amundsen during which she affirmed her strong support of the chair and Administrator
Zikmund’s actions. Advised them of other details.
May 21, 2019 – 2:42 PM – email from Amundsen to Zikmund thanking for minutes and advising/questioning data and process on website for commission materials.
May 21, 2019 - 7:00 PM to 9:20 PM – Charter Commission Meeting. See minutes.
May 21, 2019 – 9:40 PM to 9:55 PM – Debrief with Chair Reyes-Johnson
May 21, 2019 – 10:51 PM – Reyes-Johnson emails commission and copies Attorney Riggs and Administrator Zikmund informing all she has resigned from the Commission and Chair.
May 22, 2019 to May 28, 2019 – All council members inquire of Administrator Zikmund what happened/transpired with Chair Reyes-Johnson. Zikmund suggested they all watch tape of meeting.
May 28, 2019 – 10:33 AM - Amundsen email to Riggs requesting his review of Chapter 4 Draft language. Note – I had indicated at the May 21 Commission meeting that Mr. Riggs would be
consulting that document but would in fact be drafting to council request of a “simplified” Chapter 4 that includes the 18 month decisions.
May 28, 2019 – Administrator Zikmund brings Reyes-Johnson resignation/membership issue up under staff reports at Council meeting seeking council wish/direction. Consensus is to have
item placed on June 3, 2019 workshop for in-depth discussion.
May 29, 2019 – Thomas email to court advising Reyes-Johnson resignation and seeking information.
June 1, 2019 – Council packets distributed and agenda and packet material put up on web.
June 3, 2019 – Council workshop, 60+ minute discussion on charter commission membership. Starts at 2:36 mark of the tape.
June 4, 2019 – 9:30 AM – Administrator Zikmund and Finance Director Beer place call to Brian Amundsen advising him of council request to resign and council intent to petition court for
removal absent resignation
June 4, 2019 – 10:00 AM – Follow up email to Amundsen on phone conversation that just occurred; request resignation, establish parameters, advise council will discuss on at June 10,
2019 meeting
June 4, 2019 – 10:01 AM – Administrator and Finance Director place call to Jonathan Thomas and leave message on voice mail.
June 4, 2019 – 10:04 AM – Draft minutes from May 21 Charter Commission meeting sent out to Commission members via email.
June 4, 2019 – 2:50 to 3:30 PM – Mayor Mueller calls to advise she received call from Amundsen but let to go to VM, she traveled to city hall and she played message (please call him,
he has concerns) which she did in my presence. (See documentation). We then called Jonathan Thomas on speaker phone and asked him to consider resigning (See documentation).
June 5, 2019 – 10:39 AM – Email council update on calls with Amundsen and Thomas.
June 5, 2019 – 10:46 AM – Email to Jonathan following up on phone conversation advising same as Brian, deadline of Friday, council discussion Monday.
June 6, 2019 – 9:09 AM Email from Thomas to Commission, Council and Zikmund regarding phone call, advised all he watched tape of June 3, 2019 workshop and shared his disbelief, stated
it was a kangaroo court, and advised process. He then relayed process and finishes email with Bible Verse and quote from Shakespeare that is religious in nature. NOTE – Attorney Riggs
opined the email is a clear violation of the open meeting law and both Riggs and Zikmund feel the religious components are absolutely inappropriate and have not place in charter commission
correspondence of any kind.
June 9, 2019 – Email from Amundsen to Commission (provided to Zikmund by Brooks Staples on June 9, 2019) sharing his concerns and apologizing to them if he offended anyone and Attorney
Riggs informing them he apologized to Riggs after the meeting.
June 10, 2019 – City Council Meeting (see minutes). Brian Amundsen and wife Val spoke during public Comment. Jonathan Thomas along with his wife, daughter Barbara, Son Paul, former
Commission member Mori, current Commission member Peterson, and several others spoke on Jonathan’s behalf. Council discussed under staff reports and motion to reach out to Reyes Johnson,
Staples and Klander to determine if they would be willing to meet with Amundsen and Thomas.
June 11, 2019 – 7:44 AM – Zikmund emails Reyes-Johnson, Staples and Klander asking them to call.
June 11, 2019 – 9:30 AM – Phone conversation with Staples who clearly states he has no desire to meet with Amundsen or Thomas and in fact, never wants to be in the same room with them
ever again in his life. Agrees to meet with Bergeron, Mayor and myself to share why he too wants to or will be resigning. NOTE – meeting set for June 18, 2019 at 2:00 PM
June 12, 2019 – 9:51 PM – Email from Reyes Johnson giving permission to share that she is unwilling to meet or have anything to do with the Charter Commission.
June 12, 2019 – 10:50 Pm – Email from Klander informing he was on vacation and available to call talk on June 13, 2019.
June 18, 2019 – 1:30 PM to 6:30 PM – Meetings with Commission members Klander, Staples, Thomas, and Amundsen.
June 25, 2019 – Meeting with Commission member/Acting Chair Clawson
July 1, 2019 Workshop – Hour discussion at end of workshop with unanimous consensus to send letter to Judge seeking assistance in removal of Amundson from Commission and second letter
to Acting Chair detailing councils deliberations, actions and future expectations.
July 8, 2019 – Draft letters distributed to council for approval.
July 10, 2019 – Acting Chair Clawson cancels July 16, 2019 Commission meeting
July 11, 2019 – Letters sent to court and acting chair Clawson