HomeMy WebLinkAbout1991 11-20 CHCABROOKLYN CENTER CHARTER COMMISSION
NOVEMBER 20, 1991
7: 00 P. M.
AGENDA
Location of meeting is in the Arts and Crafts Room at the Community
Center, next to City Hall. This room is located on the upper level
near the front desk area.
1. Call to Order
2. Roll Call
3. Approval of October 23, 1991, Minutes (Enclosed)
4. Correspondence
A. Letters to SunPost /Northwest News
1. Notice of Sub Committee Meeting of November 9
2. Notice of Full Commission Meeting of November 20
5. Old Business
A. Status of Section 2.05, Vacancies in the Council
B. Report from Sub Committee on Preamble to Charter
C. Comments from Comm. Wolfe Re: Appointment Process in Filling
Council Vacancies
6. New Business
A. Appointment of Nominating Committee
7. Next Meeting Date
8. AdJournment
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BROOKLYN CENTER CHARTER COMMISSION
SUB COMMITTEE MEETING
is NOVEMBER 9, 1991
10:00 A. M.
Present: Tony Kuefler, Eileen Oslund, Beverly Wolfe (chair of sub-
committee) Absent: Everett Lindh (excused) Also Present: Christine Mann
Commissioner Wolfe began the meeting at 10:15 a.m.
Ms. Mann passed out copies of the Notice of Town Meetings, and in
particular brought our attention to one on November 14 at 7 p.m. at the
Earle Brown Heritage Center. Mayor Paulson has indicated that this
meeting will be held to discuss the Charter Preamble and set a Community
Mission Statement. Commissioner Wolfe stated she would contact Mayor
Paulson to ask that in the future these meetings are more coordinated with
our meetings when dealing with this sub committee's objectives. The Notice
of Town Meetings also stated there would be a meeting on November 21st at 7
p.m. Commissioner Kuefler stated he thought he could attend this meeting.
Ms. Mann also passed out copies of mission statements from the City of
Prior Lake and New Brighton. This information will be forwarded on to
members of the entire Charter Commission.
Ms. Mann also distributed an invitation to The Big Bite of BC for Tuesday,
November 12, 1991 from 5 -8 p.m. at the Earle Brown Heritage Center Captains
Room which is presented by the Brooklyn Center Chamber of Commerce. The
public is invited.
Discussion then turned to Commissioner Oslund's wording that all sub-
committee members received prior to today's meeting. This wording
incorporated all items discussed up to this date. After review, some
alterations and additions were made. See attached sheet for draft wording
agreed upon today which will be presented to members of the full commission
on November 20.
Commissioner Kuefler suggested that perhaps once a draft wording of the
preamble is put together, we could send it to various other city
commissions to get their feedback. It was also suggested we could put the
draft wording into the City Newsletter and ask for the public's feedback.
The Administrative Assistant will check with City Hall on Tuesday, November
12th to see if we could still get the draft wording into the City
Newsletter for December distribution if we get the wording to them on
November 21, the day after our next full commission meeting.
The meeting ended at 11 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Carole J. Blowers, C.P.S.
Administrative Assistant
is
D R A F T
ff WORDING
P R E A M B L E T O C I T Y C H A R T E R
The people of Brooklyn Center have both the right and the responsibility to
participate in all phases of city government. In order to insure these
rights, the Brooklyn Center City Charter seeks to:
foster a sense of community;
provide for openness in all phases of city government that encourages
communication between people and government;
encourage broad representation in city government and city staff that
reflects the diversity of the community;
provide fair taxation for protection, recreation, and economic well-
being of the community;
provide the accountabilities related to Brooklyn Center's form of
government.
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Proposed 11 -9 -91
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T0: THE RESIDENTS OF BROOKLYN CENTER
FROM: BROOKLYN CENTER CHARTER COMMISSION
BELOW IS A PRELIMINARY DRAFT OF A PREAMBLE FOR THE BROOKLYN CENTER CHARTER
AS DRAFTED BY THE CHARTER COMMISSION.
WE WOULD LIKE TO INVITE YOU, THE RESIDENTS OF BROOKLYN CENTER, TO READ THIS
FOLLOWING DRAFT AND TO CONTACT US WITH ANY SUGGESTIONS AS TO MODIFICATIONS
OR OTHER CHANGES THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE.
YOU MAY EITHER MAIL IN OR DROP OFF YOUR SUGGESTIONS TO CITY HALL, 6301
SHINGLE CREEK PARKWAY, BROOKLYN CENTER, MN 55430. THANK YOU.
P.R E A M B L E T O C I T Y C H A R T E R
The people of Brooklyn Center have both the right and the responsibility to
participate in all phases of city government. In order to insure these
rights, the Brooklyn Center City Charter seeks to:
foster a sense of community;
provide for openness in all phases of city government that encourages
communication between people and government;
encourage broad representation in city government and city staff that
reflects the diversity of the community;
provide fair taxation for protection, recreation, and economic well-
being of the community;
provide the accountabilities related to Brooklyn Center's form of
government.
NAME:
COMMENTS.
Please return to Brooklyn Center City Hall, 6301 Shingle Creek Parkway,
Brooklyn Center, MN 55430
Date 11 -9 -91
November 9, 1991
Ms. Carole J. Blowers, Administrative Assistant
Brooklyn Center Charter Commission
6501 Shingle Creek Parkway
Brooklyn Center, MN 55430
Dear Carole,
Thank you for the agenda package for the Charter Commission
meeting of November 20, 1991.
I will be out of town during the meeting and respectfully
request that I be excused from attending.
In reviewing the package, it would seem that the most likely
item for discussion would be pertaining to the suggested
development of a preamble to the charter.
I believe that the preamble of a charter could effectively
describe a very broad "character" of the community as we see
is it, which could serve as a kind of "frame work" or platform
upon which specific policy decisions can be based, and
against which proposals can be tested.
I am enclosing a narrative which reviews some of the history
of Brooklyn Center as it pertains to the subject. I would
be grateful if you would pass this information on to the
other commission members for me.
Sincerely,
Ted L Willard
Charter Commission Member
THE SOML?THW MORE CITY
Ted Willard
Brooklyn Center, The Something More City is it just a
slogan someone dreamed up, or does it have meaning? If it
does, how does that meaning relate to today's issues? These
questions and more ran through my mind as I listened to the
comments at a recent public meeting in Brooklyn Center City
on citizen involvement. The thoughts came to mind again at
a Charter Commission meeting where the Mayor suggested that
the Commission draft a preamble to the charter. The purpose
of the preamble, as I understood the Mayor, was to include
something stating the broad goals of the community, or
suggesting the "character' of the community.
I attempted to incorporate something of this flavor in a
little ditty for the opening ceremonies of the new City Hall
and Community Center in 1971:
The Something More City to you I sing.
The center of life in the northern ring.
Brooklyn Center we know where your destiny lies.
With the family life we can help to provide.
Chorus:
Something more, something more,
Something more for our town.
is A town where we join hands to help those in need.
Where involvement of people is part of our creed.
Brooklyn Center we're proud to be part of your life,
The community spirit we can help to provide.
While the song may be trite and simplistic, is says
something about the character of the city envisioned by the
activists of the time. The hallmarks of this character are:
There should be citizen involvement in issues having
significant impact on the community.
The character of the community should be oriented toward
family life.
We work together to help those in need,
It can be shown how each of these three key issues affected
decisions and actions of our community leaders at the time.
The illustrations may provide some insight as to how the
issues can serve as a platform in guiding public policy.
citizen involvement expanded way in the early 60's with the
process of evolving a plan for future development of the
Earl Brown Farm. It was used additionally for such issues
as dealing with complaints about more black families moving
into the community, the future of municipal liquor stores,
whether we should create a city charter, developing a long
range plan for the city, and what we should do about major
capital improvements, to name a few.
The family life of the community was a factor in all
decisions by the city council that affected family housing
and recreation as well as many other matters. Such
decisions include the acquisition of open space (Palmer
Lake, the Shingle Creek green strip), zoning for apartments,
requirements for buffering between apartment, commercial and
other zones and single family residential zones, the
community center development, the sign ordinance, and many
others. One illustration of the "many others" was the
council's policy decision to prohibit access to 69th avenue
from the (at that time) newly developing industrial property
along the south side of 69th. The council, in strong
opposition to the requests of the developers, and in
opposition to some staff recommendations, prohibited any
access between Shingle Creek Parkway on the west and the
Earle Brown apartments on the east as a means of protecting
the residential property on the south side of 69th from
heavy truck and bus traffic.
Working together to help those in need. This did not limit
itself to "welfare" needs. It means a sensitivity to how
the city can help in meeting a wide variety of needs
including improved sensitivity to racial issues, improved
sensitivity to needs of the handicapped, seeking out special
needs of the elderly, the troubled and the disadvantaged.
What I have described are three broad goals of the community
of Brooklyn Center that, to my knowledge, were never
explicitly stated as such in written form, but were part of
the discussions and the assumed goals in the minds of those
who played a leadership role during the "major issues"
decade from 1960 to 1970.
The major issues dealt with during that decade were a
natural consequence of the rapid growth of the preceding
decade. The decade of the 80's was one of building on the
policies of the 70's as the community filled in with
commercial development and apartments, parks and open space
was developed, and we achieved our full maturity as a
community.
The 90's has brought another era for our community. We are
mature and our physical investment is aging. In just four
years our "new" community center will be 25 years old. The
World War II era homes that began the growth of Brooklyn
Center are nearing the end of their useful life. Our
population is aging, but there are also many healthy signs
of renewal. Many of our homes have been bought by a second
(and in some cases, a third) generation of young families.
Investment in our commercial areas is continuing, and the
existing facilities are being renewed and remodeled.
I believe the question before the community is this. Should
the broad goals of family orientation, citizen
participation, and service to those in need that guided us
twenty -five years ago be guiding us today? I think so, how
about you?
November, 1991