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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1991 03-27 CHCAL s m i OV T D"I ---KH Y' KA-RCE 22, 1'991 xNDA 1, Call U- er Roll C'all 3. Approvial of February 2 L99i, Xinutes 4, CorresDondence A, ILet+--rs to Pc)st/'Northv7ei;t Ne-ws letter to and from C i -1 -7 At+cirney Regarding Section 3.01 Council 'He I t i ngs, 5. 01d B u s -i A, Sef- t i on 3. Di, Cou i Meet i n,ps Disco ion of <it/ Attorney' s Response 6: Section 2,05, Vacanl Coen ill from Sub Committee e. 'New Business 7, Next Yeeting to J. &d jour nment it CRY OF :BROOKLYN C ENTER February 28, 1991 Mr. Charles L, LeFevere Holmes and Graven 470 Ptilsbury Center Xinneapol is, MN 55402 6301 SHINGLE CREEK PARKWAY BROOKLYN CENTER, MINNESOTA 55430 TELEPHONE 561-5440 EMERGENCY POLICE FIRE 911 RE: Proposed Revisions to Section 3,01, COUNCIL MEETINGS City of Brooklyn Center Charter year Mr, LeFevere: At the Charter Commission of Wednesday, February 27, 199i, the members discussed a concept paper presented by Commissioner Ran Christensen regarding Sectior 3. 01, A copy of that paper is attached for your information, Following discussion of that concept paper, it was the consensus of the group to revise that section Attached is a copy of the current proposed wording for Section 3.Oj Please review this current revision and provide us with your comments. Our next meeting is scheduled for March 27, 1091, if possible, your comments before that date would be appreciated. Thank you. Sincerely, Edward Conners Chairperson BROOKLYN CENTER CHARTER COMMISSION cb Attachments C] �YN o" IN PROPOSED NEW VDRDTNG FOR SECTION 3.01 COUNCIL MEETINGS The City Council shall Kid regular meetings at SL time and place as it by mntion shall determine. Elected officers provided for by this Charter may be sworn in and assume the d0irs of the office to which they were elected on or after the first business day of january, or at the first city council meeting in Tanuary, or as soon rhereafter as practical. Newly appointed council members may take the oath of office an or after the first business day after receiving appointmenr, or at the next city council meeting, or as soon thereafter as pra:7ical, The Mayor of any twc members ot the Council may all special meetings of the Council Upon at least twenty-four 120 hours' written notice to each manber of the Council, Such notice shall be delivered personally to each member or shall be left at the member's usual place of residence with acme responsible person. All neetings of the Council shall be in compliance with the Minnesota Open Meeting Law, and any records thereof shall be made available a7 all reasonable times, PEESENT WORDING FOR SECTION 3.01 COUNCIL MEETINGS On the first business day of january following d regular nanici}dal election, the Council shall meet at tL,2 usutai place and time for the holding of Council meetings. At this time. the newly elected members of the Council shall assume their duties, Thereafter, the Council shall meet at such times each month As nay be prc=ibed by ordinance or resolution, The Mayor or any two members of the Caunnil may call special meetings of the Council upon at least twenty-four 04) hour's written notice to each member of the Council, Such notice shall be delivered personally to each member or shall be left at his usual 71aae of residence with some responsible person. Al_ meetings of Ae Council shall be in compliance with the Minnesota Open Meeting Law. and any records thereof shall be made available at all reasonable timso. a Jar) /7 1 HOLMES GRAVEN CHARTERED Attorneys at Law OBERT A. ALSOP ALL D. BAERTSCHI RONALD H. BATTY MARY J. BRENDEN STEPHEN J. BUBUL ROBERT C. CARLSON CHRISTINE M. CHALE JOHN B. DEAN MARY G. DOBBINS JEFFREY ENG STEFANIE N. GALEY DAVID L. GRAVEN CORRINE A. HEINE JAMES S. HOLMES DAVID J. KENNEDY JOHN R. LARSON WELLINGTON H. LAW 470 Pillsbury Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402 (612) 337 -9300 Facsimile (612) 337 -9310 WRITER'S DIRECT DIAL 337 -9215 JULIE A. LAWLER CHARLES L. LEFEVERE JOHN M. LEFEVRE.JR, ROBERT J. LINDALL LAURA K. MOLLF,T DANIEL R. NELSON BARBARA L.PORTWOOD MARY FRANCES SKALA JAMES M. STROMMEN STEVEN M. TALLEN JAMES J. THOMSON, JR. LARRY M. WERTHEIM BONNIE L. WILKINS OF COUNSEL ROBERT L. DAVIDSON JOHN G. HOESCHLER March 8, 1991 .I, Mr. Edward Commers Chairperson i tl" Brooklyn Center Charter Commission's Brooklyn Center City Hall 6301 Shingle Creek Parkway t Brooklyn Center, MN 55430 Re: Proposed Amendment to Section 3.01 of The Brooklyn Center City Charter Dear Mr. Commers: I have reviewed the proposed amendment to Section 3.01 of the City Charter which you forwarded to me by letter dated February 28, 1991. The proposed changes appear to me to be reasonable and proper. I would, however, offer the following comments for your consideration. First, the language as proposed provides that a newly appointed council member may take the oath of office on or after the first business day after receiving appointment. This would not seem to allow for the taking of the oath at the same meeting at which the appointment occurs. Ordinarily this would not cause any problems. However, there could be situations in which the presence of the new council member is important for the conduct of city business as soon as possible, including taking action on items at the same council meeting at which the appointment occurs. If you wish to provide that the newly appointed member may take the oath of office and assume duties immediately upon appointment by the city council, the last sentence in the first paragraph ofa4ke oposed Section 3.01 could be changed to read "Newly appointed council members the oath of office and assume the duties o &ffice upon appointment.or on any business day or at any council meeting after being appointed. Neither the existing charter nor the proposed amendment addresses the swearing in of officers elected at a special election. As you know, special elections only occur when the city council is unable to make an appointment. However, you may wish to specify the way in which any such elected officers may be sworn and assume their duties in the proposed paragraph. This could be accomplished by changing the second sentence of the first paragraph and adding a new sentence following that sentence, as follows: is Mr. Edward Commers March 8, 1991 Page 2 "Officers elected at the time of a regular municipal election provided for by this charter S)m4ziReT-be sworn in and assume the duties of the office to which they were elected on or after the first business day of January, or at the first city council meeting in January, or as soon thereafter as practical. Officers elected at a special election Wte sworn in and assume the duties of office to which they were elected on any business day or at any city council meeting after the issuance by the City Clerk of the Clerk's certificate of election." If you have any questions about any of these matters, please feel free to give me a call. Very truly yours, Charles L. LeFevere CLL:rsr March 12, 1991 TO: Brooklyn Center Charter Commission FROM: Commissioner David Hildebrandt TOPIC: Minutes of the Sub Committee on Council Vacancies Members Present: Allen Anderson (Chair) David Hildebrandt Tony Kuefler On March 8, at 8:00 P.M. the sub committee met in conference room A of the City Hall to discuss proposed changes to section 2.05 of the city charter. After review and discussion of various proposed wordings, the subcommittee members agreed on recommended changes. The changes the sub committee would like incorporated to sections 2.05 are listed below. A person appointed to fill a vacant Council position, cannot serve for more than one year. If the remaining term of the vacant position exceeds one year, the vacancy must be filled by a special election. If more thahtwo people file for a vacant council position in a special election,- -t4aa a primary shall be required. The sub committee requests that all Charter Commission members review the proposed additions so they can be discussed at the next meeting. If all members agree on the proposed additions, we can then proceed to discuss different strategies on how we want to present the information to the City Council. The meeting adjourned at 9:10 P.M. 1 PROPOSED NEW WORDING FOR SECTION 3, 01 1_ M�EETTgGS The r-it Council- �,-hali hold rezular meetings, at such time and place as it bv motion shall determine, Rlec '7fficers provided for by this Charter I may be sworn in and assume the of the office to whik^.h they were elected on or after the first business day of January, or at the first city council meeting in January, or as soon thereafter as practical. Newly appointed council members may take the oath of office on or after the first business day after receiving appointment, or at the next city council neetin-, or as soon thereafter as practical The Ka vor of any two members of the Council may call. special meetings of The C-ouRc­il upon at least twenty -four (24) hours' written notice to each. meirCber of the Council, Such notice ._hall be delivered personally to each 't T Member or shall be lei at the member's u!=,;ual place of residence with some responsible person. All meetings of t-fie Council shall be in compliance with tb,e Minnesota Open Meeting Law, and any records thereof shall be made available at all reasonable times PRESENT WORDING FOR SECTION 3, 0l COUNCIL MEETINGS On the first business day of January following a regular municipal election, th�- Council Shall meet at the usual place and time for the tune, the newly elected members of holding of Council meetings, At 7h IL, the Council shall a_f_:�.sume their dutie!_ Therea-fil the Council shall meet at such times eacli month as may be prescribed by ordinance or resolution, T he Mayor or any two members of the F-ourcil may call special meetings of the Council upon at least twenty-four (24) hour's written notice to each member of the Council, Such notice shall be delivered personally to each member or shall be left at hi usual place of residence with SoMt-M re person. All meetings of the Council shall be in compliance w 1 t' M i ill the Minnesota Open _eting Taw, anti any records, thereof shall be made available at all reasonable times. 3 of 3 Pages March 24, 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 and for your note asking that I notify you or Ed Commers if I will not be able to attend the March 27, 1991 meeting. I am enclosing a copy of the letter T sent to Ed on March 7, 1991 requesting that I be excused from the March 27th meeting. It may be that in sending it to the city hall he did not receive it in a timely manner. I do expect to be present for the April meeting. Of the two issues that are current, my view on the swearing in process is expressed in the letter to Ed. The following expresses my view on the appointment process: If a special election is called for, there should be a primary. If not, we are subject to the real possibility of a very small number of voters electing a candidate. The current appointment process seems to have been working well for us. All candidates who have been appointed to the office in the last 30 years have served the city well and have been well accepted by the people. That's a pretty good track record. The maximum term of appointment possible is consistent with the current extended term of office, which was proposed and approved by the voters primarily as a cost saving measure.. To require primary and run -off special elections is costly, and there is no reason to believe it improves the quality or responsiveness of elected officials. We could, however, ensure avoidance of controversial appointments by requiring a unanimous vote of the council. I am aware of instances in the past where an appointee was approached and stated informally that he would not serve without a unanimous appointment. I believe a unanimous appointment would ensure a smooth transition. If agreement by the council is not unanimous, then a special election would be automatically invoked under current provisions of the charter. T would be grateful if you would pass this information on to the other commission members for me. Sincerely, C Ted L Willard Charter Commission Member L March 7, 1991 Brooklyn Center Charter Commission City of Brooklyn Center 6501 Shingle Creek Parkway Brooklyn Center, MN 55430 Att: Chairman Edward Commers Dear Mr. Commers, I wish to express my regrets for not having written previously to request to be excused from the January and February meetings. I have had considerable difficulty in getting my mail on a timely basis. For example, I received the notice of the February 27th meeting on February 26th. The holdup was in my mail forwarding service, not in delays by the City in mailing. I have recently taken steps to correct the problem, and so expect to be more timely in the future. Even when our mail is sent promptly, it takes about four to seven days to get here. I sometimes suspect the post office thinks New Mexico is a foreign country. My intent has been to review the materials accompanying each meeting notice during my absence, and to submit comments and suggestions along with a request to be excused from the meeting. I have not yet received the notice for the March meeting, but at this time I request that I be excused from that meeting. I will be back in Brooklyn Center about April 15th. I have reviewed the concept statement offered by Commissioner Ron Christianson with the February agenda package, and agree with this statement fully. I would hope that It, or something very similar, could be processed by our attorney into the appropriate language for the charter. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerel,��� Ted illard 6825 Drew Avenue North Brooklyn Center, MN 55429 Temporary address: The Lord's Ranch Star Rte. Box 300 Mesquite, NM 88048