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Home My WebLink About2021 04-08 CHCMBrooklyn Center Charter Commission Meeting Minutes April 8, 2021 Draft Called to order by Chairman Mark Goodell at 6:40 pm Roll Call: Chairman Goodell called the roll. Present: • Mark Goodell • Donald Bumgarner • Gail Ebert • Kathryn Ellgren • Sandra Gilmore • Zarita Hester • Stanley Leino • Lars McCritty • Molly Merrimack • Dan Ryan • Tim Wilson Excused: • Robert Marvin Absent: • Charlene Johnson Adoption of Agenda: A motion was made by Stanley Leino and seconded by Gail Ebert to approve the agenda. The motion passed. Consideration of Minutes: January 21, 2021 minutes were adopted with a motion by Gail Ebert and a second by Lars McCritty. Motion passed. Old Business: a) Election of Officers: Public Relations Chair: It was moved by Molly Merrimack and seconded by Sandra Gilmore to nominate Gail Ebert as Public Relations Chair. A motion was made to vote by acclimation by Stanley Leino and seconded by Tim Willson. Gail Ebert was elected Public Relations Chair by acclimation. New Business: a) Review commission member appointment rules and processes. Chairperson Goodell shared research he had done for the appointment of commissioners for other cities. Gail Ebert brought up her concerns that the filling of the positions has taken so long and that people who have applied have not been notified of rejection or acceptance. Chairman Goodell brought up as a concern about the current timeline as well. Some current openings have sat vacant for upwards of 2 years. Kat Ellgren asked what our goal with this question is. Gail Ebert stated that she wanted it brought to the Mayor's attention that these positions are still sitting vacant and that it is causing issues for the commissions. Tim Willson stated concerns about the vacancies. Stan Leino asked what the goal of this was. Zarita Hester asked if the issue was because not enough applicants were trying. Tim Willson stated that he knew there were enough to fill many positions and yet they are still vacant. Dan Ryan stated that the mayor was displaying an "appalling lack of leadership". He also stated that the mayor has been neglecting to follow through on due diligence. He also brought up the issue that the lack of placement is creating an inability to move the business of the city forward. Zarita Hester brought up the concern that part of the reason why the commissions are having vacancies are because the Mayor is looking to help diversify. Kat Ellgren brought up the concern that the commissions could not do the jobs they need to do because of the lack of members. Stan Leino brought up the fact that dealing with contractors and laws that if the commissions cannot function, the city suffers. Mark Goodell reiterated- the commissioners are appointed by the Mayor, approved by the council. There is concern that the positions not being filled leaves the citizens out of the loop in regard to city decisions, as well as lacking courtesy in not letting people who applied know whether they have been seated. Mark Goodell offered to take these concerns to the next housing commission meeting or asked if the charter commission should draft a note with their concerns. Dan Ryan feels that it would be fitting, should the charter commission agree- to send a message to the mayor that if within 6 weeks, should the vacancies still be available that member in good standing could be re - seated. Gail Ebert suggested that the other commissions themselves should send an email or letter requesting the pending applications status as well as their concerns about the lack of movement on city business. Stan Leino asked whether it would be in our bailiwick to send a letter stating that we were aware of the issue and want some movement. Kat Ellgren agreed with the concept of sending a letter rather than making a charter change. Tim Willson had three comments. Appointments are usually done in January along with usually a reaffirmation of alignment with the charter. The second issue according to Tim Willson is because the Mayor is waiting for people of color or fired people who were not of color. He is also concerned that the Mayor is creating a new council called the housing council and does not know what the legality of that is. He believes we must take some sort of action. He also brought up the concern that the Mayor has asked to hire an assistant mayor, which is the job of the city commissioner by the charter. Stan Leino cautioned that this might head us into the area of needing to sue the city like Lino Lakes did a few years ago. He also brought up the concept that since the commissions are not being filled, they are being forced into uselessness. Mark Goodell brought up the fact that some of Tim Willson's points were untrue. Kat Ellgren asked what our focus was on this issue was. Stan Leino made a motion that this commission draft a letter about our concerns about the unfilled positions on the commissions. Mark Goodell offered a friendly amendment that this be sent to the mayor and city council. Gail Ebert seconded. Mark Goodell offered to draft the letter. Gail Ebert added that when the last park and rec commission meeting happened, decisions were made that the commission had no idea about. She stated that it was a slap in the face to be ignored/left out of the decisions. Tim Willson brought up the fact that the Mayor's stated goal was for more citizen involvement, and that the commission vacancies create a lack of avenues for the citizenry to communicate with the city governance. Mark Goodell stated that the letter should focus on the current vacancies and how it affects the operation of the city. Zarita Hester asked how often the commissions meet with the Mayor per the charter. Tim Willson stated that that information should have been available in her packet. She re -iterated that she did have that information but was asking when the commissions met with the Mayor face-to-face. Dan Ryan stated that the council meeting with the commissions is usually a matter of policy and has typically happened in April as a group session with all commissions. Gail Ebert stated that she had been up until now quite okay with working through the Council liaison but that the liaisons have been unable to assist or have been absent. Mark Goodell restated that we had a current motion on the floor. Tim Wilson stated that there were a few venues to communicate to the city council. Mark Goodell brought the question per Stan Leino's motion. The motion passed. Items for next charter commission meeting: a) Stan Leino asked for further clarification on the assistant mayor position. Dan Ryan stated that this will be the fourth item on the work session per the April 101h meeting. It has not yet been approved by the council and the city attorney raised concerns about the mayor hiring outside the city manager's purview. He did mention his concerns that the Mayor was not fully cognizant of the legalities per the city charter re: his role as mayor. Commissioner Ryan does not see this issue as a pressing concern. Stan Leino stated that this situation might need a polite cease and desist letter. Gail Ebert asked to have this item added to our next meeting should we need to draft that letter. Randy C. shared in chat that the mayor assistant package was closer to $90k. Dan Ryan will look into getting a better estimate for the Mayor's Senior Policy Aid appointment. This item will be placed on next meeting agenda for further discussion. b) Gail Ebert, Tim Willson and Stan Leino brought up the idea of recording and posting the audio from these meetings. Current meetings are shared as written minutes only. Stan Leino asked that we put his item on our next meeting agenda to see if we could record and share the audio from our meetings for the public. Adjournment: With a motion by Stan Leino and a second by Gail Ebert we adjourned the meeting at 8:03pm. The next meeting is July 8, 2021 at 6:30 pm. Kathryn Ellgren Charter Commission Secretary