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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1976 05-13 CHCMMinutes of the Proceddings of the BROOKLYN CENTER CHARTER COMMISSION Thursday, May 13, 1976 Call to order: The meeting was called to order by Chairman henry Dorff at 7:35 p.m. Present: Commissioners Ed Theisen, Robert DeVries, Rich Higgins, Mildred Hendrickx Betty Johnson, Cheryl Asplund, Mona Hintzman, Barbara Swart, Henry Dorff, Vi Kanatz, James Gillen, Falter Vennewitz, and Frank Kampmeyer were present. Absent: Commissioners Orlander Nelson (conflict) and Glen Bullick were absent. Minutes: Commissioner Theisen stated that the ad hoc citizens committee requested the Charter Commission review their proposed amendment and give consider- ation to forwarding it to the council to be added to the minutes. Motion Commissioner Theisen, seconded by Commissioner Kanatz that the minutes be approved as corrected. Motion carried. Public Hearing on Charter Amendment: Mayor Philip Cohen distributed organization charts to the commissioners. One chart showed the present city organiza- tion while the other showed the organization as proposed by the charter amendment petition. Mayor Cohen stated that it was not necessary to change the charter, that the proposed charter amendment petition was a complicated way to do business. The city council can only remove the fire chief in the first 60 days for cause. There is no need for a charter change. It is not a responsible form. The city council would not be able to administer the fire department or. a day to day basis. It is not in the best interests of the community. City Councilman Bill Fignar concurred with Mayor Cohen and opposed the charter change. City Councilman Bob Jensen stated that the goals of the ordinance change require a charter change. The Fire Department is unable to work with the administration. Differences are negotiable without a charter change. The suggested change will not work. The ordinance limits the council's ability to monitor the Fire Department. City Councilman Tony Kuefler was the against the charter change. The Fire Department would be reporting and responsible to the council. The Fire Department would have authority over budget, change in membership and would have veto power. He advised the Charter Commission not to mix forms of government. George Heenan was unable to appear because of a cold. Richard Forstrom stated that these were his own opinions, not those of the Fire Department or his wife whose name is on the petition. The council manager form of government was designed to prevent the spoils system. Government should be run by businessman's principles. The council's role is to oversee the manager. Its flaw is the fear that the manager would control everything and dominate the system. Another flaw is that the city attorney has a monopoly on legal advice at council meetings. When this is combined with no public input, it is not surprising that major conflicts will erupt. Government must change to meet current chal- lenges. Volunteers in government save us money and the quality of their page 2 May 13, 1976 work has the potential of exceeding that of paid help. A full -time paid head or a long; term volunteer chief may become unacceptable to the Fire Department. A dual power structure is needed. The city needs control and the volunteers need control. Unequivocally, the worst system for handling volunteers is the present system. The manager only considers the Fire Department's recommendations for chief and is allowed to appoint anyone, then the council approves. The manager alone can suspend a volunteer where is the check and balance? The manager alone appoints firemen, where is the Fire Department input? The citizens' committee turned out a rather unbiased report. I believe a priority item was to keep our present city manager. Their proposal points out that the chief is a depart- ment head, appointed by the manager and approved by the council. Without volunteer mandatory input, it is prone to failure. The ad hoc committee gave the manager sole power in some cases and the fire department sole power in some cases. The Fire Department is expected to work with the manager with the council the arbiter. How to resolve the issue? The law suit will fail. The charter change will go on the ballot, It is the best proposal to date. The Fire Department ordinance can't be kept off the ballot. The petition states that the fire chief can't be dismissed after 60 days was an oversight by the petitioners. The ordinance simply needs to be changed. If negotiations fail, a new petition will probably be drafted by firemen and friends. I think I know the will of the people. It is whatever the volunteers want, they shall get. I think the Charter Commission should be formulating pros and cons on the issue and presenting this to the citizens. If the change is passed, I think you should examine any housekeeping; items. Bill Hannay was not prepared to speak. Lee Binger, president of Citizens for Setter Government spoke. Whether the Fire chief is full time or part -time is an administrative decision to be made by the Fire Department, City Manager and City Council. A four page report by.a committee of the Citizens for Better Government was given to the commissioners. Their committee interviewed the principals in the controversy. Their final motion rejected the proposed charter change and said that the city council should resolve the conflict. Changing the basic structure was not appropriate. The turf problem was difficult to resolve. The Fire Department was encouraged to become a political force in the elections. The meeting broke at 8:35 p.m. and resumed at 8 :55 p.m. Councilman Maurice Britss did not wish to comment on the charter change. He did say that the differences between the City Manager and the Fire Department were more than a personnel problem. Chairman Dorff asked a question about the conflict between the Fire Depart- ment and the City Manager. Mayor Cohen responded that there was not an instance where the City Manager has vetoed an appointment. The City Manager has recommended purchase of fire equipment in the city budget. The City Manager was responsible for ppssage of legislation on a deferred compensation plan for Fire Departments. The City Manager worked hard to build the department. page 3 "Mhy', l3, 1976 The councilmen were asked to state their positions. Councilman Kuefler stated he favored a volunteer department and that a full time chief marshal can work. Councilman Jensen was against the budget request for a full time chief marshal, supports a volunteer department, and changed his vote on probabtion and testing for chief. Councilman Fignar still supports the volunteer chief and volunteer department. Councilman Britts supports the part -time chief and volunteer department. The people have the right to vote on the petitions. Commissioner Gillen asked if the City Manager was invited to this hearing. Chairman Dorff responded that he was out of town this week and had not been asked to be present. Ted Willard took issue with Richard Forstrom's statement that the City Manager runs the city like a businessman. Few managers have business backgrounds. The reason city managers change jobs is primarily because of consistent diagreement in policy between the manager and the council. It is sheer folly to foist a full time chief on a department that doesn't want one. The issue now is a specific governmental function. It is approptiate to know how a proposal might be administered. Henry Bogucki stated that the problem is a personality conflict and that the city needs a new city manager. The needs of the city of Brooklyn center now and in the year 2,000 need to be considered. We are on a day to day basis. Brooklyn Center needs a director of public safety over fire, police and civil defense responsible to the council, and who has expertise in these fields. He supports the volunteer fire department. Motion by Commissioner Higgins that the city manager be requested to attend the next Charter Commission meeting to offer his impression of the Fire Department proposal and the ad hoc committee proposal what would happen if either proposal took effect. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Gillen. All commissioners voted yes except Commissioner Kanatz who voted no. Mayor Cohen stated that the council should be free from administrative duties. What is the role of the council? It could be thrust into full time status with administrative detail. The Charter Commission should consider the ripple effect i a charter change is made. Commissioner Higgins stated that the Charter Commission had four options 1) to accept the Fire Department amendment 2) to accept the ad hoc committee proposal 3) to propose a new amendment 4) to elect to leave the charter as it is. Commissioner Swart stated that the Charter Commission will make only one recommendation. Adjournment: Motion by Cormissioner Treisen seconded by Commissioner TTiggins that the meeting be adjourned. The motion carried. ileetin^ adjourned at 10:20. Respectfully submitted: Chairman: Henry Dorff &_e,�� Barbara Sexton Secretary: Barbara Swart Secretarial Assistant