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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025 03-18 Joint CC Approved MinutesMounds View Joint Charter Commission and Council Minutes — APPROVED Tuesday, March 18, 2025 1.Call to Order. Special joint meeting came to order at 6:30 PM. 2.Roll Call. Present: B. Amundsen, E. James, M. Meehan, K. Mills, J. Peterson, G. Quick, R. Scholl, A. Urlacher, R. Warren Excused: Absent: Also present: Council members Z. Lindstrom, J. Clark, S. Gunn, G. Meehlhause, K.A. Smith, City Administrator Nyle Zikmund, City Attorney Joe Sathe 3.Approval of Agenda and Minutes . A. Approve Agenda. Chair R. Warren introduced the Preliminary Agenda. Discussion was requested. MOTION made, by R. Scholl, and seconded, by G. Quick, to approve the agenda as presented. Motion Adopted 9-0 4.Citizen's Comments from the Floor. None presented. 5.Joint Business. A. Self Introduction of each member . Each member of the council and commission introduced themselves, how long they have resided in the city, and community involvement they've had in the past. B. Discussion of city charter and Chapter 4 Nominations and Elections – 4.05 Vacancy appointment allowance . (The following notes highlight general discussion and are not a transcript of what was said.) Chair R. Warren requested that the secretary provide status of this issue. B. Amundsen reviewed the Commission actions of 2024 and the decision to hold further discussion at this joint meeting, along with additional items from the city administrator. B. Amundsen then turned to city attorney J. Sathe to review memos previously sent. City Attorney J. Sathe reviewed two memos from March 18, 2025, about comparison of our ordinance process to statute and on the charter amendment process. City Administrator N. Zikmund spoke about the charter's dual public notice for an ordinance and about street levy exception from levy limit as policy issues. Chair R. Warren then reviewed the reason for looking at vacancy appointment and asked legal to review the legal problem with the 2024 amendment language. City attorney J. Sathe referenced his memo of September 19, 2024. Those items were regarding: a.) a code issue conflict with a planning commissioner being on council, b.) the statute duties of the mayor, in particular the emergency duties, c.) clarification of who is reaching out to a potential appointee, and d.) a suggested improvement that the elected person on a November ballot be immediately appointed, rather than waiting for January, in case of vacancies at a November election. The commission and council then had various discussions about the language proposed. In a discussion of what is “reasonable” amount of time for an appointee response, the city attorney described “reasonable time” as a result of considering the totality of the situation and also the discretion of the person reaching out to the potential appointee. Discussion occurred about what happens if the mayor vacancy is appointed, can another council member run meetings? The city attorney said he can write language to accomplish that direction as long as it is understood that the appointee assumes the mayors emergency duties, due to statutes. There was discussion of alternative vacancy filling methods: 1) could the acting mayor be permanently elevated to mayor and then have the seat until the next mayoral election date, or 2) if an Page 1 of 2 Mounds View Joint Charter Commission and Council Minutes — APPROVED Tuesday, March 18, 2025 appointment could be for a council member seat temporarily, instead of the mayor vacancy (which the city attorney discouraged as it's not legally feasible). Discussion also occurred about automating the approval process, but the city attorney recommended against that due to statutory qualification issues. Discussion occurred that the council vote to appoint should be non-discretionary and could language be added to make that work. The council would like to see six potential appointees rather than four, adding vice chair of the charter commission earlier. Council members were asked why they did not want the mayoral appointee to have full mayoral duties? Council members felt it was primarily one of insufficient experience with staff and processes. Secretary B. Amundsen notified the chair that the appointed time for this discussion had expired. MOTION made, by B. Amundsen, and seconded, by E. James, to adjourn this joint meeting and to invite the city administrator to come back to a future meeting for the other items on his list to be considered.Motion adopted 9-0 6.Next Regular Meetings. The next regular meeting of the Commission is March 18, at 7:30 PM, following this joint meeting. The net Council meeting is March 24, 2025, at 6:00 PM. 7.Adjournment: With no other items for the Commission to consider, Chair R. Warren adjourned at 7:48 PM. Respectfully submitted, Brian Amundsen, Secretary, Charter Commission of Mounds View MN Approved, as amended, by Charter Commission, on May 20, 2025. Attesting, Brian Amundsen, Secretary, Charter Commission of Mounds View, MN Page 2 of 2