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CHM 09/20/1976 • CHARTER COMMISSION MEETING SEPTEMBER 20, 1976 MEMBERS PRESENT: Raymond Sheridan, Harry Crowder, Clifford Ash, Ole Bjerkesett, Peg McChesney, Jerry Ratcliff, Jackie Johnson, Kenneth Brennan, Herbert Bacon MEMBERS ABSENT: Charles Langer, Elaine Knoff, Robert O'Neill, Roy McPherson, John Swanson CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Raymond Sheridan called the meeting to order at 7:40 p.m. APPROVAL OF SPECIAL CHARTER COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES, AUGUST 4, 1976: - Mr. Sheridan stated that action on these minutes would be delayed until the next regularly scheduled meeting. 503. FURTHER REGULATIONS Mr. Sheridan stated that since the Commission's last meeting, he and Mr. Ash had met with City Administration and Mayor Nee. During the meeting, they were able to bring some of the disputed points more into focus and have come up with a recommendation which will allow the City Council, if approved by the Commission, to pass everything they have before them. The idea behind the meeting with Administration and Mayor Nee was to see if they couldn't keep the community on an even keel rather than have a dispute between the different bodies within the community itself. Mr. Sheridan asked Mr. Ash to comment on the discussions . Mr. Ash stated that he and Mr. Sheridan had had a lengthy meeting with Mr. Qureshi, City Manager, and Mayor Nee discussing what, both he and Mr. Sheridan felt, repeated their position; however they did find a compromise which they feel really doesn't change the Commission's position. By adding the following third paragraph under Section 5.03 FURTHER REGULATIONS , this solves one major problem according to.Mayor Nee. z • CHARTER COMMISSION MEETING, SEPTEMBER 20, 1976 Page 2 "The City Clerk shall be responsible for determining the validity of n signatures. If it is obvious the signature on the petition is the signature of the person on the voter registration card with which the signature is compared, the signature shall be counted as a valid signature notwithstanding the fact that the person may have signed the petition in a different manner when they signed the voter registration card. Before discarding the signature, a reasonable effort shall be made to contact the person(s) in question to determine if, in fact, they did sign the petition." Mr. Ash stated that this paragraph in no way changes the Commission's position-- it clarifies it . As far as Mayor Nee is concerned (he doesn't know how the rest of the City Council will vote), this would allow him to vote affirmative on all the issues he now has . This includes the "highest number of votes" in Section 5 .08. Mr. Bjerkesett stated that contacting the person in question should be done in writing as this would be more valid. He has no objection to this paragraph and would be in favor of it with one condition--that if it is not approved by the City Council, the changes be put on the ballot in the November election. Mr. Ash stated that another thing which was discussed was the position of the minority groups of people who have a just cause and present a petition to the City Council. The City Council has the duty as outlined by the Charter and they neglect to act. He made the suggestion, which he thought would solve the problem, that the Commission should consider an amendment or section to the Charter on Petition which would say "whereby if the City Council does not take any action, that they present themselves to the Charter Commission and by, say, a two-thirds majority vote by the Commission, the Commission would be empowered to bring suit and force the Council to do their duty." Mr. Ash asked Mr. Sheridan if he had checked into the legality of this . Mr. Sheridan stated that he had talked to Mr. Qureshi and through a conversation with Mayor Nee, that if the Commission's word was such that they would pursue this, they would still have time to do it but not before the election this year; however, that wasn't important as far as Mayor Nee is concerned as long as he has the Commission's word that they are going to pursue it. Mr. Bjerkesett stated that he had never heard back from Mayor Nee regarding the meeting they were supposed to have with Mr. Virgil Herrick in which they were going to discuss what the concerns were regarding the various legal implications in this kind of situation and probably solicit an opinion from the Attorney General's office. He stated that if the Commission is going to make a commit- ment, they should agree with the concept that they will not act on it until such time as they have a legal counsel. The Commission agreed that they will need considerable legal research before making a determination. CHARTER COMMISSION MEETING, SEPTEMBER 20, 1976 Page 3 MOTION by Clifford Ash, seconded by Herbert Bacon, that the Charter Commission add the following third paragraph to Section 5 .03 FURTHER REGULATIONS: "The City Clerk shall be responsible for determining the validity of signatures . If it is obvious the signature on the petition is the signature of the person on the voter registration card with which the signature is compared, the signature shall be counted as a valid signature notwithstanding the fact that the person may have signed the petition in a different manner when they signed the voter registration card. Before discarding the signature, a reasonable effort shall be made to contact the person(s) in question to determine if, in fact, they did sign the petition." Upon receipt, the Charter Commission requests that the City Council immediately notify the Commission, in writing, of what course of action they are going to take on this and on all Charter Commission matters before them. Upon a voice vote, all voting aye, the motion carried unanimously. MOTION by Ole Bjerkesett, seconded by Harry Crowder, that the Charter Commission, within the coming year, will search the City Charter and list all instances where the City Council is required to act in compliance with sections of the City Charter and then thoroughly investigate methods to enforce compliance by the City Council, with particular attention to petitions presented to the Council for their action. There was discussion on this motion. Mr. Sheridan stated, in his view, this would give the Commission's intent to review this area in which some people feel there is a problem and possibly come up with a solution which is advantageous to the community. Mr. Brennan stated that a way to make it a little more definite would be if, perhaps, the chairperson would undertake to actually set up a mechanism within the Commission to get something done on it. Mr. Sheridan stated that this could be done . He agreed it is going to take a lot of time and we are going to have to spend some money on it . The Commission is going to have to select an attorney to represent it and be its legal advisor, and this could be one of the first projects given to him. Mr. Crowder stated he would like to see four or six people or some kind of committee set up to do the initial investigation of going through the Charter and listing various places where there are problems, coming back to the Commission with them, and then they could get a legal opinion on each one. Mr. Bjerkesett stated that he wonders , for example, if a petition is presented to the Council and they do nothing about it, they don't question it, they just don't act on it, if the Charter Commission doesn't have the power to simply request the judge to remove all five from office for violation of the Charter. n • CHARTER COMMISSION MEETING, SEPTEMBER 20, 1976 Page 4 Mr. Crowder stated that would be one question which should be asked, but that there are other questions, too. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Mr. Sheridan stated that, along with this motion, he will send a cover letter to City Administration and Mayor Nee stating that the Commission will be looking for legal advice. Mr. Ash stated that there was another matter of which he was concerned . He referred to Mayor Nee's June 18, 1976, letter in which there were a couple of references that Mr. Ash did not like. One of these references was when Mayor Nee stated ,"I want to point out that on every occasion when I have given input on the question of the Charter revision, I have stressed this concern. I have pointed it out twice in writing." Mr. Ash stated that, to his knowledge, Mayor Nee had only written the Commission once on this subject . He felt the Commission should respond to Mayor Nee's letter of June 18, 1976. Mr. Ash read a letter to the Commission which he had drafted to that effect. Mr. Bjerkesett suggested that it might be wise to request copies of the letters Mayor Nee has sent to the Commission. Ms . McChesney then drafted a letter which would go to Mayor Nee asking him to send duplicates of the two letters he refers to in his June 18, 1976, letter on page 2, paragraph 3. After some discussion, the Commission agreed Ms . McChesney's letter was good and should be sent to Mayor Nee. Mr. Sheridan stated that in his cover letter to the Council and Mayor Nee of February 23, 1976, he stated that it was the hope of the Commission that the Council would concur with the Commission's proposed changes and pass the necessary ordinance to put the changes into effect. However, he said that any proposed changes that the Council did not act upon, the Commission would put them on the fall 's election ballot. After the changes are accepted by the Council or the voters, a new up-to-date charter can be printed. Mr. Sheridan stated that he would call Mr. Marvin Brunsell , City Clerk, referring him to this cover letter of February 23, 1976, that the Commission is going to put something on the ballot. Mr. Sheridan asked Mr. Bjerkesett, Mr. Bacon, and Mr. Brennan to serve as a committee to come in with recommendations for a new attorney. APPOINT NOMINATING COMMITTEE FOR ANNUAL MEETING IN NOVEMBER Mr. Sheridan appointed Mr. Crowder to head the nominating committee and Ms. Johnson and Mr. Ratcliff to serve on the nominating committee to report back with nominations for the offices to be filled at the annual meeting which is held the third Tuesday in November (November 16, 1976) . CHARTER COMMISSION MEETING, SEPTEMBER 20, 1976 Page 5 NEXT MEETING DATE: The next Charter Commission meeting was scheduled for Monday, October 18, 1976. MEMBERS, PLEASE NOTE'. By request of the Chairperson, the meeting was scheduled for Monday rather than the usual Tuesday. ADJOURNMENT: MOTION by Kenneth Brennan, seconded by Herbert Bacon, to adjourn the meeting at 9:20 p.m. Upon a voice vote, all voting aye, the motion carried unanimously. Respectfully submitted, Lyntde Saba Recording Secretary