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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1996 02-01 FCM• MINUTES OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE FINANCIAL COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF BROOKLYN CENTER FEBRUARY 1, 1996 CITY HALL, COUNCIL CHAMBERS CALL TO ORDER Chair Donn Escher called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M. in the Council Chambers. ROLL CALL Present at roll call were Chair Donn Escher, Commissioners: Ned Storla, Larry Peterson, Lee Anderson and Jay Hruska. Also present were City Manager Michael McCauley and Finance Director Charlie Hansen. Commissioner Ron Christensen arrived at 7:14 P.M. Chair Donn Escher announced that Commissioners Larry Peterson and Jay Hruska have been reappointed to another term. Approval of Minutes A motion was made by Commissioner Larry Peterson to approve the minutes of the November 9, 1995 meeting. Commissioner Ned Storla seconded the motion and all members voted in its favor. • Election of Officers Commissioner Larry Peterson nominated Donn Escher to be Financial Commission Chair for the year 1996. Commissioner Lee Anderson seconded the motion and all members voted in its favor. Chair Donn Escher appointed Commissioner Ned Storla to be Vice Chair. guests for Proposals for Various ProfessionaLServices Charlie Hansen explained that the City Council had instructed that requests for proposals (RFPs) be done in 1996 before services would be needed in the areas of auditor and financial advisor for bond sales. Mike McCauley stated that in his initial discussions with the City Council, he had proposed that these RFPs be delayed in order to allow staff to focus on the more important issues of the budget format, bond sales for city buildings and parks, and evaluating the operations of the Earle Brown Heritage Center and the Liquor Stores. He also proposed that RFPs would be placed on a schedule so that all finance related services would go out for RFPs periodically. The assignment for the Financial Commission is to come up with a proposed schedule and develop a policy to guide the RFP process. An extensive discussion of professional services followed which included factors of price verses quality, the intervals between RFPs, and the need to monitor performance in between RFPs. Charlie Hansen stated that some RFPs had been done as recently as 1994, but that some other services had been with the same consultant for 20 years or more. Chair Donn Escher suggested • that the staff begin work on a draft policy and bring it back to the Financial Commission at the next meeting. I • Mavor and Council Member ToW Com=nsatiog Donn Escher explained that the Financial Commission has recommended appropriate salaries for the compensation of the City Council for the last several years under a policy adopted by the City Council. The City Council recently directed the Financial Commission to study a proposal to compensate City Council members on the basis of meetings attended. The Financial Commission discussed issues including attendance, the use of per diem pay, the nature of public service, showing up at meetings unprepared, and legal costs of enforcement. The recall of elected officials was also discussed but it was concluded that this would have to be considered by the Charter Commission. The Financial Commission concluded that the potential cures for the problem may be worse than the problem. Mike McCauley reported that he had faced this issue at a couple of cities he had worked at previously. Donn Escher requested that the City Manager prepare a draft of a report which would include the sense of the discussion and his previous experience with the issue. Address to Joint Meeting of City Council and Advisorv Commissions Donn Escher reminded the Commissioners of the joint meeting on February 7 and announced that Ned Storla would be speaking on behalf of the Financial Commission. Next Meeting Chair Donn Escher announced that he would like to set a standard meeting schedule which would have the Financial Commission meet on the second Thursday of every month. Adjustments would be made as needed to handle conflicts. The next meeting will be Thursday, March 14, 1996 at 7:00 P.M. ADJOURNMENT The Financial Commission adjourned the meeting at 8:33 P.M. • 3