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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998 06-24 CHCMMINUTES OF THE BROOKLYN CENTER CHARTER COMMISSION JUNE 24, 1998 CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Chair Wolter at 7:02 p.m. ROLL CALL Members present: Walter Bursch, Nancy Carlson, Elizabeth Hatle, James Holst, Sy Knapp, Janice Thielsen, and Carl Wolter. Member Todd Paulson arrived at 7:20 p.m.. Members absent and excused: Stan Leino, Eileen Oslund, Rodney Snyder and Diane Swanson. Members absent: Tim Wilson. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion by Carlson, second by Hoist, to approve the minutes of the April 22, 1998 meeting. Motion passed unanimously. CORRESPONDENCE None. OLD BUSINESS Chair Wolter noted that there are still two vacancies on the Commission and that notices have been published. He advised that he is unaware of any applications to -date. He also noted the materials relating to the application process which were included with the agenda packet for tonight's meeting. Chair Wolter also reported on a meeting which he and member Snyder had with City Manager McCauley relating to the issue of existing charter provisions covering the appointment process for the City's Fire Chief. Wolter advised that Mr. McCauley believes the current provisions are appropriate, and that he felt no changes were needed. All members agreed to terminate consideration of this issue at this time. Chair Wolter then noted previous discussions regarding a possible change in the charter to provide for election of City Councilmembers on a Ward system in lieu of the at -large system currently inplace and opened the floor for discussion on this issue. Carlson moved to open discussion regarding a possible charter change relating to possible establishment of a "Ward system" for Councilmembers in lieu of the current at -large system. Seconded by Bursch and passed. Discussion of this issue included the following: >an informal poll of 10 cities in close proximity to Brooklyn Center showed that 7 of these cities have some form of "Ward system while the other 3 elect councilmembers on an at -large basis. >one reason for consideration of a Ward system is that the costs for running a campaign on a ward basis may be substantially lower than the costs for running a campaign on an at -large basis, thus reducing this dis- incentive for potential candidates. Carlson estimated that a city -wide campaign would cost approximately $5000, and noted that the spending limit for a state representative p. 1 of 2 MINUTES OF THE BROOKLYN CENTER CHARTER COMMISSION TUNE 24, 1998 candidate, whose constituency is about the same size as the City of BrooklynCenter, is $20,000. >in a ward system, the councilmember may tend to establish and maintain closer contact with his/her constituents. >alternatively, under a ward system, "ward politics" may become an issue. >another approach to dealing with the issue of the costs of running a campaign may be to consider establishment of spending limits for these positions. >if a ward system is considered, how would it relate to the School District boundaries, the precinct boundaries, and other divisional boundaries now existing in the city >recognizing that the number of candidates for City Council has been somewhat limited in recent elections, is it possible that changing to a ward system might actually reduce the number of candidates rather than increasing interest in these positions >in evaluating the costs of running an election campaign, it was noted that, while the costs for mailings, posters etc would be reduced under a ward system, the costs for media coverage would probably be unchanged. Holst moved to table this issue for further discussion at the next meeting, with consideration being given to the appointment of a special study subcommittee at that time. Motion seconded by Bursch and passed unanimously. Chair Wolter will contact City Clerk Sharon Knutson to obtain information regarding any existing laws, rules or regulations which may establish spending limits for City Council candidates and/or rules for reporting campaign contributions and campaign spending. Member Knapp agreed to contact the League of Minnesota Cities and request copies of research reports which the League may have published regarding this issue including pros and cons of various systems, summaries of systems used by various cities, etc. NEXT MEETING DATE Meetings are scheduled for Wednesday, September 23,1998 Ud Wednesday, October 28*, 1998, subject to change if needed to accomodate a meeting with the City Council, and/or other reasons. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Paulson, second by Holst to adjourn the meeting at 8.18 p.m. Motion passed unanimously. Res 4CereCommission. mitted, *as amended on September 23, 1998 Sy pp Secretary p. 2 of 2 chartercom.June98