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CHM 04/18/1978 y l3 ro o k CHARTER COMMISSION MEETING � h , + APRIL 18, 1978 CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Sheridan called the meeting to order at 7:45 P.M. Roll call was taken. MEMBERS PRESENT: Raymond Sheridan, Clifford Ash, Elaine Knoff, Jackie Johnson; Kenneth Brennan, Charles Langer; David Berg and Walt Starwalt" MEMBERS ABSENT: Robert O'Neill, John Swanson, 40, ,:f YelN'Nifior Tim Breider, Jean Schell and Arne Takkunen OTHERS PRESENT: None APPROVAL OF CHARTER COMMISSION MINUTES Lt'}'itr -le Q2- pr Mr. Sheridan asked for any changes or additions to the minutes of � the last meeting held March 28, 1978. MY. Ash stated the following should be changed in the minutes: n 1st page, seconded to last paragraph, the name should be Mark Hart not Hark. (He also stated he had talked to Mark and he was interested in serving on the Commission. A letter should be sent to him. He is in the Fridley phone book.) 2nd page, fourth to last paragraph, after DFL, add League of Women Voters, Republican Party, etc. Page 3, paragraph on State of the City Address add the word "city" ahead of the word newsletter Page 3, next paragraph, add the word "section" after the word practice. Mr. Starwalt stated the following should be changed: Page 3, fourth to last paragraph, last sentence should read: "We should attempt not to expand the Charter per se. The word "not" should be added in the sentence. Mr. Ash moved that these changes be incorporated into the minutes of March 28, 1978. Mr. Larger seconded the motion. Upen a voice vote, all voting aye, motion passed unanimously. Page 2 CHARTER COMMISSION MEETING April 18, 1978 1. Report from Officers Mr. Sheridan asked if everyone had received a copy of the letter sent to the candidates to fill the Commission vacancies. He acknowledged a reply from Ms. Agnes Wolf and read her letter to the Commission. Ms. Johnson stated Ms. Wolf was a good candidate and was very involved in community affairs. Mr. Sheridan acknowledged a resignation from Robert O'Neill from the Commission. He then asked if anyone had heard from Bob Pierce r or Barb Phelps. He stated he would be seeing Mr. Pierce the next day and would talk to him about his interest in serving. - Mr. Sheridan stated he had not sent a letter to Tom Forsberg/7s. ���_R but would do so in the near future informing him of the vacancies. The Commission will submit names to him for consideration to fill • them. We now have three vacancies with the resignation of Mr. O'Neill. Mr. Sheridan asked if Mr. Ratcliff had been to any meetings lately. It was suggested that someone contact Mr. Ratcliff to see if he still had an interest in attending. :pis. Knoff stated she would contact Mr.Ratcliff to see if he plans ,on attending any more meetings. Mr. Ash stated he would like to have the Commission draft a letter to the various clubs and civic organizations outlining the things that were discussed at the last meeting and see if they have any input on those items and/or anything else to add and then see if they can respond to the Commission by the next meeting. At that point we can proceed to schedule some comments on these things. Mr. Sheridan suggested we rough draft a letter tonight from the excerpts of the March 28th minutes to be sent to the various clubs and organizations. Mr. Ash agreed. Mr. Langer asked what question 6 meant on page 3. Mr. Ash stated that an example would be a councilman could also be a state representative - in other words - can a person be elected to more than one office at the same time. Mr. Sheridan asked if a statute covered that point. — It was suggested that the Commission attorney be asked. Mr. Berg stated he thought it was a constitutional item. Mr. Sheridan suggested we table that question for now. Page 3 CHARTER COMMISSION MEETING April 18, 1978 2. Receive Letter from Robert O'Neill to Ray Sheridan This item was taken care of earlier in the meeting. � , 0b. '�l�e�e1 3. Copy of Letter Sent to Prospective Commission Members This item was also discussed earlier in the meeting. Mr. Sheridan added that Ms. Evenson could send a letter to Mark Hart and Bob Pierce. Mr. Berg asked if the Judge makes his own appointments. Mr. Sheridan said in the past we have submitted a list of names with their resumes for the Judge's consideration. We have also asked the Council to submit names but the last time they did not submit any. He stated we should request the Judge to appoint the members with a certain time period. He stated we have three vacancies to fill and we should have at least six prospective r-candidates. We have a couple more to go. He will write a letter to the Judge and tell him we are preparing a list of candidates Lfor his consideration. 4. Continued: Review of City Charter Mr. Sheridan stated this was also discussed earlier in the meeting. We should rough draft a letter now to be sent out to the various organizations. He stated the letter should say the Charter Commission is again reviewing the Charter to make further updates. Here are some of the items that we have considered for possible changes. We should state that copies of the Charter are available from the City of Fridley. We would like some input on the following items and anything else that should be added or changed. Than we should list the questions in our minutes of March 28, 1978. Mr. Berg asked if maybe every recipient should receive a copy of the Charter with the letter. There was discussion on how many copies should be sent and it was decided each group should receive one copy of the Charter and if they wanted additional copies they could request them from the City of Fridley. Mr. Ash suggested the following organizations should receive a letter: JC's, League of Women Voters, DFL Club, Republican Club, City Administration, Council Body, City Attorney, Charter Commission Attorney Mr. Ash asked if any other groups should be included. Page 4 CHARTER COMMISSION MEETING April 18, 1978 Mr. Sheridan asked if the Chamber was active and we could send them one. Mr. Berg suggested we check out to see if the American Party is active in Fridley and if so they should get a letter. He said the man to send it to would be Mr. Jack Kirkham in care of the American Party. Mr. Langer asked if there was a taxpayer's association in Fridley. Mr. Sheridan stated not to his knowledge. Mr. Ash asked about the chairman of all the various Commissions in Fridley. Ms. Knoff stated that would be a good idea. Mr. Starwalt said it wouldn't hurt to do this. However, they could not respond within the time period. Mr. Sheridan stated it was not necessary by the next meeting to get a response. Mr. Ash added another possibility would be the School Board. Ms. Knoff stated they did not have much to do with the Charter. She then suggested the ministerial association. Mr. Sheridan also suggested the County Commissioners. Knoff will contact the ministerial group. Mr. Ash stated other questions would be on the ethics section, Mayor's state of the city address and fair campaign practices section. Mr. Ash stated we would then proceed to have scheduled hearings on given nights. Mr. Starwalt stated he was not sure that four members are just right - this is in regard to number 3. Some people might want to open it up and he is not sure that would be beneficial. Mr. Ash stated another point was ,commission appointments - council- seat would have the right to appoint one member to each of the Commissions without Council approval. The exception would be the police which should stay. Mr. Berg suggested appointing a proportionate number. Mr. Starwalt stated he was not sure of the language that would ''� accomplish what we are discussing that would be smooth and easy. Page 5 CHARTER COMMISSION MEETING April 18, 1978 Mr. Sheridan stated the wording would be as follows: The Councilseat would be able to appoint a member to each Board or Commission without Council approval except for the police commission. Mr. Ash moved to put the above in the minutes. Mr. Langer seconded it. Upon a voice vote, all voting aye, motion passed unanimously. Mr. Sheridan asked for any new business. Mr. Langer asked if a letter was sent to Mr. McPherson acknowledging his resignation. Mr. Sheridan stated no, but he would get one out shortly. The next meeting will be May 17, 1978 - a Wednesday. Mr. Brennan moved the meeting be adjourned. Mr. Ash seconded the motion. Upon a voice vote, all voting aye, motion passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:55 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Gayle Gob en Recording Secretary •