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HomeMy WebLinkAboutJuly 12 Letter_to_Judge_regarding_Charter_Commission Brian Amundsen July 11, 2019 The Honorable John H. Guthmann Chief Judge Second Judicial District Room 1470 Ramsey County Courthouse 15 Kellogg Boulevard West St. Paul, MN 55102 Re: Mounds View Charter Commission Membership Your Honor: The Mounds View City Council (the “Council”) by unanimous consent has directed me to ask for your help in considering the removal of Mr. Brian Amundsen from the Mounds View Charter Commission (the “Commission”) effective immediately. Mr. Amundsen’s term expires on October 31, 2020. The Council’s unprecedented request is based on a substantive effort over the past 16 months to achieve a full complement of Commission members in order for the Commission to address a number of important issues and concerns involving the Mounds View City Charter (the “Charter”). Unfortunately, after finally achieving a full complement of the Commission in January of this year, following the most recent Charter Commission meeting on May 21, 2019, the City received an abrupt resignation from the chair of the Commission and has notice from two more of the new members that their resignations are forthcoming as well. Additionally, a fourth member has now shared while they will not resign, upon conclusion of their term, they will not serve again unless changes are made. Thus, Council has received one resignation and has the equivalent of 3 pending for a total of 4 out of 9 commission members. The Council has reviewed historical data, emails, legal opinions, and the May 21, 2019 Commission meeting tape and minutes and subsequently discussed the situation at its June 4, 2019 Council workshop. It was a council agenda item at their June 11, 2019 meeting at which time substantive public input was given. Following the June 11, 2019 meeting, a subset of Council and/or the City Administrator met with 5 of the commissioners independently. At the Council workshop on July 1, 2019, the Council unanimously concluded that absent the removal of Mr. Amundsen, the Commission will continue on a path of high turnover resulting in a continuation of a dysfunctional and ineffective Commission. While possibly well-intended, the conduct and behaviors of Mr. Amundsen has indisputably delayed the Commissions progress towards its goals and resulted in Commission membership and quorums being unobtainable. The attached data details reductions in Commission membership, via a change in the Commission’s bylaws; from 15 to 11 members in 2003 which was insufficient to achieve a full complement for the Commission as well as a quorum. Similarly, from 2004 through 2016, a full Commission and quorum were seldom achieved, with the years of 2014, 2015, and 2016 exemplifying the situation, as out of 11 required Commission members, only 3 members remained. In the fall of 2016, as a result of recruitment efforts by the Council, two more Commission members were added bringing the total to 5. In 2017, the Commission again changed its bylaws, further reducing its membership from 11 to 9 members. Through extensive efforts by the Council and City staff, the Commission achieved 8 members by the end of 2018. In January of 2019, the Commission finally achieved a full complement of members, and for the first time in more than a decade, had a full Commission present for its 2019 meetings. I along with the Council were so hopeful that the Commission could finally address important issues facing the city. Unfortunately, the behavior of Mr. Amundsen at the May 21, 2019 Commission meeting followed a pattern of trying to undermine the newly elected chair. This resulted in the resignation of Chair Reyes-Johnson and the pending resignations of two more Commission members. I am fearful the Commission will revert to times past. Included with this correspondence is the unapproved minutes of the most recent Commission meeting. However, if so inclined, the video is available on the City’s web page at https://webstreaming.ctv15 .org/viewer.php?streamid=3589. The video arguably provides a more descriptive display of body language, voice modulation, and inflection of Commission members. The Council direction to the Charter Commission has consistently been a request to simplify the language resulting in a more user friendly document our residents could easily understand and use. The combination of Commission membership turnover, when combined with a focus on minutia, extreme formality, and substantive resistance to change/suggestions by Mr. Amundsen as well as repeated rejection of City Attorney advice, has/will have a compound negative impact. Attached is a document illustrating the current Commission membership revealing most members having minimal service. Effective public policy adoption and Charter updates simply fail as meetings are monopolized by reliving the previous Commission meetings. By way of example, annual reports submitted to the Court pursuant to Minnesota Statutes reveal that the Commission spent 8-plus years (69 meetings) discussing issues related to revising Chapter 8 of the Charter. The attached flow chart produced by the Commission for Chapter 8 illustrates both the minutia as well as the failure to create a Charter that is simple to read and easy to understand. Similarly, but less egregious, was the recent Commission task of reviewing Chapter 4 of the Charter (special election if a vacancy occurs) which covered an 18-plus month period (this review and proposed language revision is still ongoing). In both cases, as stated earlier the Council had advocated for a “simplification” of Charter language as a component of the Commission’s work product rather than a focus on extreme formality and drafting. The Council believes a focus on policy will result in a stronger Commission that will better serve our residents now and into the future. As a component of City Administrator Zikmund’s hiring in January of 2018, the Council established as one of their goals for him, to work with the Charter Commission to address the turnover, provide support towards simplification of language, and focus on policy. To that end, Administrator Zikmund was instrumental in convincing Marissa Reyes-Johnson to re-apply (she was not inclined to) and Mr. Brooks Staples applying. Chair Reyes-Johnson, with the assistance of Administrator Zikmund coordinated training for the new members (as well as existing). Lastly, City Administrator Zikmund supported and assisted Chair Reyes-Johnson in her team building efforts at the Commissions March 2019 meeting. This Council direction and support was met with resistance by Mr. Amundsen as evidenced by a statement to City Administrator Zikmund that he has “hidden or ulterior” motives with him vowing to watch his every move. Thus, in conjunction with the indifference and rejection of advice from the City Attorney (who is council to the Commission) the relationship with City Staff is less than desirable and in fact, difficult. All of the aforementioned manifested at the May 21, 2019 meeting during which Mr. Amundsen deliberately undermined the chair by introducing and insisting on an amended agenda without the benefit of a providing a printed version in advance to the Chair. Additionally, the amended agenda included items specific to furtherance of his importance as Secretary which resulted in the meeting being extended with several members questioning his motives. This lack of respect for others time, disrespect for the Chair, and dismissive attitude towards the Commission and City Attorney are the primary cause of the actual resignations and multiple pending resignations. The dysfunction and ineffectiveness of the Charter Commission for more than a decade continues to prohibit the Council and the City from realizing the necessary contributions of the Commission and the willing members that have stepped forward to serve the community. The Council’s analysis, observations, review and discussions lead it to the unfortunate but necessary conclusion that the removal of Mr. Amundsen is necessary for the success of the Commission and the City. The consequences of failing to take this action will result in a continuation of past Commission practice and dysfunction. The most recent events involving the Commission provide extreme clarity on this point. In closing, the Mounds View City Council has minimal desire to harm or criticize a long serving individual of the community and prefers to focus on the viability of a functioning Charter Commission body. The City’s Planning and Zoning Commission, Parks, Recreation and Forestry Commission, and Economic Development Commission are all fully staffed with community volunteers. In addition, we had twenty community volunteers serve on our Comprehensive Plan Task Force over the past two years. All have operated with stability, a high degree of functionality and productivity. This is critical to good government and policy making. Sincerely; ___________________________________ Mayor Carol Mueller Cc. Mr. Brian Amundsen Attached to this correspondence please find the following: Chart detailing the current membership of the Commission and their length of service. Chart detailing chair/secretary and membership of the Commission since 2002 which is the point in time both Mr. Amundsen and Mr. Thomas started serving together. This chart also provides detail on when the Commission went from 15 to 11 members (2003) and then 11 to 9 members in 2017. The chart further provides the number of meetings per year (monthly until 2015 then bi-monthly) as well as the times met despite absence of a quorum and the number of meetings cancelled due to lack of quorum. The chart also details the authorized Commission size along with the actual number of members as of December 31 of each calendar year. Email from Mr. Amundsen to Commission Members and City Staff with Mr. Amundsen giving clear direction to City Staff. Mr. Amundsen has no authority or permission to direct city staff. Email from Mr. Amundsen to City Attorney Scott Riggs giving clear direction again to undertake a specific task. Of note, this is in direct conflict with what was detailed at the Charter Commission meeting held May 21, 2019. A running history of significant events since 2002, again the point in time both Mr. Amundsen and Mr. Thomas started serving together. Copy of Charter which include Chart/graph produced by the Commission to aid in understanding Chapter 8 of the Charter. (Chart needed to understand – illustrates complexity and lack of simple language in understanding the charter. Transcripts of phone calls between Mr. Amundsen and Mr. Zikmund. Copy of letter sent to Charter Commission Members on July 12, 2019 Unapproved Minutes of May 21, 2019 meeting.