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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025.03.24 CCM STUDY3/24/25 -1- DRAFT MINUTES OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BROOKLYN CENTER IN THE COUNTY OF HENNEPIN AND THE STATE OF MINNESOTA STUDY SESSION MARCH 24, 2025 CITY HALL – COUNCIL CHAMBERS CALL TO ORDER The Brooklyn Center City Council met in a Study Session called to order by Mayor April Graves at 6:00 p.m. ROLL CALL Mayor April Graves and Councilmembers Kris Lawrence-Anderson, Dan Jerzak, Teneshia Kragness, and Laurie Ann Moore. Also present were City Manager Reggie Edwards, Deputy City Manager Daren Nyquist, Community Development Director Jesse Anderson, Economic Development Manager Ian Alexander, Planning Manager Ginny McIntosh, City Clerk Barb Suciu, Deputy City Clerk Shannon Pettit and City Attorney Siobhan Tolar. COUNCIL MISCELLANEOUS DISCUSSION ITEMS CLOSED SESSION – PURSUANT TO M.S. 13D, SUBD. 3.C.3. Mayor Graves moved, and Councilmember Moore seconded to enter into a Closed Session. Motion passed unanimously. CONTINUE THE CLOSED SESSION Mayor Graves moved, and Councilmember Jerzak seconded to continue to the closed session after April 8th. Motion passed unanimously. REOPEN STUDY SESSION Mayor Graves moved and Councilmember Moore seconded to reopen the study session. Motion passed unanimously. Mayor Graves stated there was an issue with the Zoom link being hacked, so it is not available at this time. 3/24/25 -2- DRAFT Mayor Graves stated there is a item she would like to pull to save time later and bring to the study session. It is the presentation on City Advisory Commissions. CITY MANAGER MISCELLANEOUS DISCUSSION ITEMS City Manager Reggie Edwards stated that this item has come up in the public a couple of times as it relates to the process. There is an internal working group meeting about processes and trying to improve the process. He added there was some concern about not having the presentation on camera during the regular meeting. City Clerk Barb Suciu stated that we are going to discuss City Advisory Commissions tonight. An overview of the presentation is that we are the current city advisory commission, and we will discuss the status, application process, and 2025 process improvements. She added that, in 2019- 2020, the city commissions went to the wayside with COVID and other factors, stating that it was in the process of being rebuilt. City Clerk Suciu stated there are six commissions: Charter, Cultural and Public Arts, Financial, Housing, Parks & Recreation, Planning and Sister City. • The Charter Commission currently has 15 members, and they are assigned to a four- year term by the Chief Judge. • The Cultural and Public Arts Commission currently has six (6) voting members (one vacancy) and three (3) affiliate members (one vacancy) who are non-voting and are assigned to a two-year term. • The Financial Commission currently has seven (7) members serving three-year terms. • The Housing Commission currently has seven (7) members serving three-year terms as well. • The Parks & Recreation Commission currently has seven (7) members serving three- year terms. The Clerk was recently informed that one member may be moving out of the city, so there could be a vacancy. • The Planning Commission currently has six (6) members serving two-year terms. There are currently three (3) applicants for the vacancy. • The Sister City Commission currently has five (5) members serving five-year terms. The Community Safety Violence Prevention Commission is omitted as they are just in the early stages of forming. All commissions are established by resolution and follow the bylaws that were established by the City Council some time ago. However, these could be revisited if the City Council chooses. City Clerk Suciu stated all commissions are listed on the city website under the respected Commission. Applications are received at the City Clerk’s office, processed, and emailed to the 3/24/25 -3- DRAFT Mayor and the whole city council for review. The Mayor makes recommendations to the City Council, and they vote on the recommendations as a whole body. City Clerk Suciu stated that when advertising for city commission openings, the city newsletter, employee newsletter, city website, social media and GovDelivery are all utilized. Compliance with city branding is ensured in both internal and external communications. If there are openings, the advertisements go out weekly. City Clerk Suciu stated that the 2025 application had been updated and that one application goes out for all commissions. Within the application, there is one section that applicants can complete with their desire to serve on that respective Commission. It also now ensures that applicants must answer all the questions, stating that some of the boxes were not marked as mandatory, and that has been corrected. City Clerk Suciu stated that they were in the process of creating Standard Operating Procedures with collaborations from all staff liaisons. The group has met once so far, and City Clerk Suciu felt that it had been productive. City Clerk Suciu stated that the staff would like to get all the commissions more consistent. She stated concerns that commissions have different terms. She suggested a three-year term so that turnover could be staggered and making it more uniform for the commissioners. City Clerk Suciu stated she is also working on the City Advisory Commission book. It will provide general information regarding the city, including a general overview of the departments and what they do, as well as the different commissions and what they will do. This will go out to any new commissioner to function as a handbook. Councilmember Jerzak thanked City Clerk Suciu for the presentation and asked for the 252 Task Force to be addressed. City Clerk Suciu stated the 252 Task Force was appointed by resolution in either 2020 or 2021. This body is different as it is a Task Force and was appointed just for the Highway 252 project. Once the project is complete, the task force will dissolve. Councilmember Jerzak stated that by Charter, the Mayor recommends all the appointments but was hoping at some point, the Council could discuss some procedures for what happens behind the scenes, stating concerns that rejection of certain candidates may cause embarrassment to those volunteering. He stated that he wanted to be inclusive but that some candidates were better than others. Councilmember Jerzak stated for clarity that he serves on the Charter Commission, and occasionally, residents think there is a conflict of interest. He referenced State Statute 410.05 as allowing him to serve both roles and stated concerns that it should be clarified. City Clerk Suciu stated that yes, Minnesota Statute 410.05 allows him to serve on the Charter Commission. She added that she was scheduled to have a meeting with the Chief Judge today, but she was stuck in court, so it has been rescheduled for Wednesday. She further stated that the intent was to clarify 3/24/25 -4- DRAFT and create uniformity for the Charter Commission appointments. City Clerk Suciu also stated that the judge was looking to clarify what the City Council wants regarding Minnesota Statute 410.05. City Manager Dr. Edwards stated they wanted to underscore the 252 Task Force. The Task Force doesn’t have any governing authority or say. The Council will receive their advice but does not govern the actions of the Task Force. Mayor Graves stated that this was similar to the Crime Prevention Committee. Dr. Edwards related to Councilmember Jerzak’s questions regarding internal communication about applicant selection and stated that this would be the time to have those conversations. Councilmember Moore thanked the City Clerk Suciu for the presentation. She asked about the bylaws not being reviewed since 1999 and if that included all commission bylaws. City Clerk Suciu stated that only the standard city bylaws had not been updated since 1999. Councilmember Moore then stated her agreement regarding consistency among the Commissions, excluding the Charter Commission, as the Head Judge appoints it. She agreed a three-year term is a good number. She also stated her confusion about why one Commission had non-voting members and expressed her displeasure at having them on the Commission. She asked for clarification on how her specific recommendations went to the other Council members. Clerk Suciu confirmed that recommendations were sent to the office of the City Clerk and then shared with the rest of the Council. Mayor Graves agreed that consistency would be appreciated. She stated her curiosity about what instruction staff liaisons received as there has been some inaccuracy in the communication of both information and scheduling. City Clerk Suciu stated that the City Clerk’s office handles all of those things until the appointment. Once a liaison is in place it is their responsibility to handle and that Standard Operating Procedures are being created currently in a collaborative way. Councilmember Lawrence-Anderson thanked City Clerk Suciu, indicated she appreciated the Commission Handbook, and suggested a directory of various departments. Mayor Graves also stated her gratitude for the creation of the handbook but asked why the neighborhood requirement wasn’t mentioned. City Clerk Suciu stated it is in the establishing resolution but is not a requirement for every district to be represented. Mayor Graves agreed that creating some continuity would be good but expressed interest in comparing them to see what is working and what isn’t. Commissioner Lawrence-Anderson stated that the contact page for the handbook could be the same sheet as the last page of the city newsletter. Mayor Graves expressed her desire to strike a balance between filling vacancies quickly and still leaving space for new applicants to be able to learn of the vacancies. City Clerk Suciu suggested having a place on SharePoint for pending applications so that access would be available at any time. 3/24/25 -5- DRAFT Mayor Graves thanked the City Clerk for her time. Councilmember Jerzak shared that he had sent a typo to the City Clerk for correction. Councilmember Kragness also stated that there was a typo on page 13 of her invocation stating that Bloody Sunday happened March 7th, 1935, which should be the year 1965, and that the president signed the Voting Rights Act into law the following year. Mayor Graves asked if there were any other miscellaneous items. City Manager Dr. Edwards asked if appointments needed to be added to the agenda, and Mayor Graves clarified that she was unsure of which had gone forward and which hadn’t, but that she did have an appointment recommendation to fill the Housing Commission vacancy, Mark Viste, and that two other Councilmembers agreed. The motion was made to add the commission appointment to the consensus agenda made by Mayor Graves and seconded by Councilmember Moore. Motion passed. Mayor Graves called to order the regular council meeting. ADJOURNMENT