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CHM 01/02/1979 • CHARTER C0M;1ISSIQN MEETING • JANUARY 2, 1979 • • CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Ash called the meeting to order at 7:40 P.M. • ROLL CALL MEMBERS PRESENT: Clifford Ash, Jackie Johnson, Ken Brennan, John Swanson, Charles Langer, ;)avid Berg, • Jean Schell, Peter Treuenfels, Bob Pierce • MEMBERS ABSENT: Elaine Knoff, Arne Takkunen, Tim Breider, Jerry Ratcliff, Walt Starwalt OTHERS PRESENT: Pat Brennan, League of Women Voters • Bert Wilm, Fridley Independent Republican Party • Ed Hamernik, Councilman • James Langenfeld, Chairman, Environmental Quality Commission • Connie Modig, Fridley DFL Club Mr. Ash asked if there were any changes or additions to the minutes of the last meeting dated November 21, 1978. Mr. Ash stated he had the following corrections: . 0n Page 1, item 2, it should read "Revisions to Commission Charter", not City Charter Page 5, last paragraph, second line from the bottom, Fridley is misspelled. Page 7, ,eighth paragraph under item 10. the sentence should read "Hr. Ash stated we have had two inputs on voting results and one thing would be to have an automatic recount on close elections." The words "on voting results" were adcied .to the sentence. • Mr. Treuenfels stated Mr. Qureshi`s name was misspelled from page 6 to the end of the minutes. The first five pages were correct. • r�> NOTION-by Mr. Langer to approve the minutes of November 21, 1978 as . amended. Second by Mr. Treuenfels. Upon a voice vote, all voting aye, the motion carried unanimously. • 1. REPORT FROM OFFICERS: None. • 2. NEW BUSINESS: None. • 3. OLD BUSINESS: None. Page 2 CHARTER COMMISSION MEETING January 2, 1979 4.' OPEN DISCUSSION WITH SPECIAL GROUPS INVITED TO THE MEETING Mr. Ash acknowledged the presence of Pat Brennan, representing the League of Women Voters. As. Brennan stated there was only one item they had a position on at this time and that was #13 - Should there be an automatic recount on close elections. She stated the League's Voter Service Chairman had called the Minnesota League of Municipalities and discussed with them the state statute referring to recount. She had asked if there were any other cities in the state which had a recount procedure and they stated there were no cities which had something specific. There is a state statute, 204A.53, Subsection 3, that deals with the state process. The statute involves recounting as follows: if the difference is less than 100 then a canvassing board shall recount the ballots. • us. Brennan stated it seemed to her that the state statute would • probably be adequate for us to use as a model and then substitute . the numbers. Also, the procedural matters might be changed. She stated they felt it would be mandatory to adopt a procedure that • would head-off any problems in the future. '1r. Ash stated it was his understanding this statute only covers • elections for state senators and state representatives. The Commission will be getting a legal opinion regarding Fridley adopting such a procedure. He stated he had also talked to the people who sell the vote-a-riatic equipment and they are going to give us statistical information on reliability of the results of recounts. He stated he also talked to the county people and they said when they ran the votes through a second time for our local election they came up with the exact same results as the first time. He stated he also had talked to one of the election judges about this. • Mr. Treuenfels stated the state law deals in terms of an absolute .difference as to how many votes and there was a cased in the primary • election when two candidates of a minor party were contending against each other and one candidate got about 140 votes and the other one got 50 votes so a recount was ordered. It was his opinion to go with a percentage rather than an absolute number. I'ir. Brennan asked if anyone had compiled a list of why the ballot might be contested. Ir. Ash stated there is a procedure that the city has in judging what is a valid ballot and what isn't. Mr. Brennan suggesting getting this from the city. PIr. Ash stated he would. . :1r. Ash acknowledged the presence of Bert Wilm representing the Republican Club. Mr. Ash acknowledged the presence of Councilman IIamernik. Mr. Wilm stated the Republican Club was in favor of recounting if the election is very close. Maybe within 1%. HIe stated the actual Page 3 CHARTER COMMISSION MEETING January 2, 1979 recount, however, doesn' t tell you that much. Not too much of a chance for a mistake. The mistakes come in the ballots. Mr. Swanson asked Mr. Wilm what would be found on the type of ballot that would qualify or not qualify the ballot. Hr. Wilm stated any ballot that is marked should be thrown out. He stated another problem is people voting who are not registered. Mr. Hamernik stated the best the city can do about this is to attempt to follow state rules. He stated these laws are not the best but we have to follow them. Mr. Brennan stated we will be finding out if we have any authority to do anything about it or not. Mr. Ash stated there are cases where the votes have been reversed. Mr. Hamernik stated more than likely those areas have paper ballots. . Mr. Ash Mr. Wilm if he had any recommendations. Mr. Wilm stated he had none at this time. He stated from the poll of republicans they felt nothing should be changed right now. • Mr. Swanson stated he felt the same day vote registration should . be held somewhere other than the room where the voting takes place. Mr. Wilm stated technical rules governing how a ballot should be filled out are not always followed. Absentee ballots are written ballots. They are transposed by the election judges on to the machines. There can be errors there. • Mr. Ash acknowledged Mr. Jim Langenfeld, Chairman, Environmental Quality Commission. He stated he also represents the Planning .Commission. Mr. Langenfeld stated they would like a little more time to review the questions at hand and get back to the Commission with their • . opinions. Mr. Langenfeld stated it was his personal opinion a recount would be in good order. Ms. Brennan stated in order to make a case for recount somebody would have had to fowl up. Mr. Wilm stated another thing to point out is that not all absentee - • ballots are counted. Mr. Ash stated we would go through the list now and anyone wishing - to comment should do so. 1. Should the Mayor and/or Administration give a State of the City Message annually? • • Page 4 CHARTER COMMISSION MEETING January 2, 1979 Mr. Langenfeld stated he felt this would be a good idea. He stated he would like to know as a citizen how the city stands. Mr. Wilm stated a message would be helpful and useful. Mr. Ash asked who should give it. Mr. Wilm stated he felt the Mayor should give it. Mr. Berg asked what should it contain. Mr. Wilm•stated it should cover budget items, taxes, employment, etc. Ms. Brennan asked if the Commission should draft a format for the message. Mr. Ash stated the Commission could give guidelines. . Mr. Langenfeld stated he would like to see where we've been, where • we are and where we are going type of thing. 2. Ref. Section 2.07 - After setting their salaries, should the Council members stand for re-election before receiving the increase? • Mr. Langenfeld stated the Council members should stand for re- election before receiving an increase. 3. Should there be a limit on expenditures for opponents to a Petition? Should they'also file with the City if they organize themselves? Ms. Brennan stated that would be in order to insure equality. Mr'. Langer asked who would police it. Ms.. Brennan stated it is difficult to police something like that but • it tells the people if they are going to organize an opposition group • they better becareful about how they do it. Ms. Modig asked if they would be limited to the amount of money they can spend. • Mr. Ash stated yes. They are limited to $200.00. Ms. Johnson stated we could examine the Cable TV petition to see what happened there. 4. Should the City Manager serve totally at the pleasure of the City Council, making the job political? • • Mr. Wilm stated if the City Council and the City Manager are at odds you are going to have bad government for a year. Mr. Berg stated the problem comes if you get a city manager who is not worried about professionalism and will hang on for years. • Page 5 CHARTER COMMISSION MEETING January 2, 1979 Mr. IIamernik stated if you did remove cause then you should give it n at least as much weight as an expenditure. Mr. Langer stated the County Commissioners have to have a certain vote in order to remove somebody and maybe something could be done like that - a 3-2 or 4-1 vote. 5. Ref. Section 7.02 - Should there be a limit on the money spent in addition to the mill limitation? Something like limit dollar increases in the budget to the rate of inflation plus 1 or .2 percent. • Mr. Wilm stated everybody favors limiting taxes. You have to be careful about putting yourself into a bind. He stated he felt you shouldn't put a limitation like that on. You should think about that in the election of your officials. Mr. Lash stated what if we were limited to the rate of inflation plus . 1 or 2 percent and the only way they could go above this would be a referendum. The people would vote on it. , • Mr. Langenfeld stated let's say you have a period where the inflation rate is 6% and say the status of the city is good and there is no need to increase anything, and then we could have someone say in the future that we can go to 6% plus 1 or 2 more percent and then you needlessly go spend that 6, 7 or 8 percent and that is what bothers me. • 6. • Should there be a limit on the number of terms a person can serve on the City Council? Ms. Modig stated if you have a councilperson who is doing an excellent job and you put a limit on their term you will lose a good public servant and the replacement you get may not be as effective. She stated she would not be in favor of that. Ms. Brennan stated it is difficult to find people who are dedicated. 7. Should the Council increase in size now that Fridley is much larger than when the Charter was adopted? Mr. Wilm stated he wondered how would you create two more. Ms. Modig stated the boundaries are probably going to change in 1980. The city would have to look at the population in different wards to see if it was necessary to divide them. Mr. Ash stated the question is should there be more members on the Council. • Mr. Hamernik stated when he was asked in the poll he was not in favor of it but his mind could be changed if he heard some good • arguments on the other side. • • Page 6 CHARTER COMMISSION MEETING January 2, 1979 • Mr. Pierce asked Mr. Hamernik what his reaction would be to a . six member body. _1r. Ilamernik stated personally he had no problem with that. 1r. Wilm stated his club felt there should be no increase in size. • 3. Should newly created Boards, Committees, etc. have a termination date or is rejustification necessary for further existence? Ms. Madig stated she is Vice Chair of the Community Development Commission and at one time the Bikeway Committee was a sub of that and now because the bikeway system is pretty well developed and actual work on the committee is not necessary they are turning it back to the Community Development Commission. There is not enough interest now. Mr. Wilm stated they felt there should be termination dates. Mr. Langenfeld stated he found these committees terminate themselves. Mr. Pierce stated the school boards,when creating a group,give them a purpose and a duration. 9. Can a person hold more than one elective office? Mr. Wilm asked if the city could set a requirement like this. n Mr. Ash stated we will have to run this by the attorney for a legal opinion. 10. Should. there be a fair campaign practices section? Ms. Brennan stated both of the parties should work together on this. Modig stated she would like to see something like this done. Mr. Wilm• asked suppose there was a violation. • • Mr. Ash stated we could make it a misdemeanor. Mr. Langenfeld stated he felt a lot of citizens would like to see some sort of a limit set on the amount of money to be expended to run for city office. Mr. Wilm stated he would like to see something in the Charter about this. • 11. Should the Charter have something on ethics of Council members •and City Administration? • Page 7 CHARTER COMMISSION MEETING January 2, 1979 Mr. Wilm stated he did not believe you should put too many rules and regulations on the books. If a Councilman is going to violate common ethics he didn' t think he would last in office. Mr. liamernik stated his position on this is if you are going to have anything on ethics it should be in the Charter. The present ordinance . we have it is up to the city administration to enforce it. It is now too cumbersome. he stated he personally feels when you are asking an individual to disclose his financial position it is carrying things too far. • 12. Ref. Section 2.05 - Should there be a change on how vacancies of • unexpired councilmen are filled? • . Mr. Ash stated about a year ago we had a councilman resign in the , first week of November and had he resigned a week earlier a special • • election would have had to be held in December. By the Charter, just • for a few day period. Ms. Modig stated special elections are expensive to the city. She stated she was concerned about the method 'of appointment. Mr. Wilm stated any time a vacancy would exist for more than a year there should be an election. 13. Discussed earlier. • 14. Should each Council member and Mayor appoint one member to each Board or Commission? Should the Mayor also appoint members to Civil Service subject to the approval of the City Council? Mr. Harernik stated there had been a recent change in the statutes and he did not think the Mayor could appoint any more. Hs. Modig stated she had no problem with it. • Mr. Wilm stated they felt each councilman should have the opportunity to appoint someone to a commission without the approval of the council. • Mr. Ash stated the Commission did receive inputs from Bob Barnette, Councilman At Large and Robert E. Peterson, Chairman of Parks and Recreation. They are attached to these minutes. Mr. Ash asked if there were any other items to be discussed. Ms. :'Iodig stated regarding the method of absentee ballots, she was wondering how they were handled in the city. She stated she would • like to see some change made in the procedure of absentee ballots. Hr. Ash stated the Commission will be getting copies of the procedure for judging ballots. • • Page 8 CHARTER COMMISSION MEETING January 2, 1979 Mr. Ash thanked the visitors for coming and informed them the Charter Commission did have some openings for members. r-� Mr. tsh stated we now have four openings for members and two names to submit to the Judge. Hs. Brennan stated she would like to suggest the Commission advertise these openings in the local newspaper and the Minneapolis papers. Mr. Swanson stated we should submit the names to the Judge. MOTION by Mr. Swanson, seconded by Mr. Brennan, to submit the three people for reappointment and the two names for new members to the Judge. Upon a voice vote, all voting aye, the motion carried uanirious ly. MOTION by Mr. Brennan, seconded by Mr. Treuenfels, to adjourn the meeting. Upon a voice vote, all voting aye, the meeting adjourned at 10:00 P.11. The next meeting will be February 6, 1979. Respectfully submitted, Gayle Gob en Recording Secretary Attachments • / r November 20, 1978 Mr. Clifford Ash Charter Commission Chairman Fridley City Hall 6431 University Ave. N.E, Fridley, Minnesota 55432 Dear Cliff: Thanks for letting me respond to your questions with regard to possible charter revisions. Item Response 1 See no harm in this revision, possibly the City Manager is in a better position than the mayor to do this. 2 Absolutely. Good politics and good common sense. Salary increase starts only after re- election. 3 There probably should be, but Virg Herrick, City Attorney, feels that this, plus limitation on lawn signs and not putting out election material after 72 hours prior to election and banning lawn signs are all infringements on the first amendment and therefore illegal. 4 Yes. The people if concerned can certainly petition their elected officials to solve pro- blems with the City Manager, if any. 5 I'm afraid the city has little to say about this, the state appears to set some limitations which restricts the city in raising additional revenue. 6 I don't really see why, I think that experience on the council is a plus factor not a negative one in our democracy, if the constituents think a person has served too long or becomes in- effective they can let the person know at the polls by not reelecting him. w I Item Response 7 I don't really think so. Too often a large council can become too unwieldly. The only n . possible additional person I could see would be another councilman at large. One council= man at large to represent the north half and one the south with Mississippi St. being the division line. 8 Absolutely. At the end of the termination date the committee would either disband itself or re- commend its continuance to the council. 9 No. 10 This refers back to item 3 on infringement on the first amendment. Tom Myhra has a proposal in to the council on this, but legally may not be able to include. , 11 Yes. • 12 I personally would like to see an appointment pro- cedure not a special election. I realize this gets political but special elections are quite expensive and voter turnout for these is very low. One other thing I would like to see included Cliff in a charter revision is that a recount would be automatic, paid for by the city if in the case of a ward election, if there is a difference of 25;or less votes and in a city wide election a difference of 50 votes or less. Or perhaps this could be on a percentage basis such as 1% of the voters. For Example, if 3000 persons voted, if the difference was 30 or less a recount would be automatic. Thanks for this opportunity and I'd like to be involved when your commission discusses these items. Sic rely, Bob Barnette Councilman At Large BB:sg r s ,° • • "PETERSON ENTER-PRISES Representing: R'P'°• "•\ 480 Rice Creek Blvd. ))) Minneapolis, Minn. 55432 Extrusions • Magnets Screw Machine Products Springs • Wire Forms . 612/571-6628 Fasteners • Stainless Steel Specialties December 28, 1978 Mr. Clifford Ash, Chairman Charter Commission of Fridley . 460 Rice Creek Blvd. N.E. Fridley, Minnesota 55432 , Dear Chairman Ash: I am enclosing a letter that you sent to me with my hand written answers after each one of the questions. I have elaborated on two of them where I felt that more information should be given. I am sorry that due to a previous conflict, I won't be able to appear in front of your commission on January 2nd. I also want to make its clear that these remarks are my own rather than speaking for the Parks and Rec, but the answers that I have given you are from 6 years of experience on the Park & Rec Commission as their Chairman and 4 years on Planning Commission which I feel has given me a great deal of experience in the governing of our city and this is the basis on which I made my answers. If you have any further hearings, I would appreciate being kept informed and I would hope that my schedule would be such that I could appear in front of you personally. Thank you. Sincerely, PETERSON ENTER7ISES /9 �bert E. Peterson REP/ya enc. • 7Z . il • d . . / , = . • CITY OF FRIDLEY // 6431 UNIVERSITY AVENUE N.E., FRIDLEY, MINNESOTA 55432 1 TELEPHONE ( 612)571 -3450 / "V ..December 18, 1978 .. '.. /, Robert Peterson 480 Rice Creek. Blvd. N.E. Fridley, Mn 55432 Dear Chairman Peterson: • • yi. . The Charter Commission invites, you, and anyone else from your Commission that you designate, to provide input to the Charter Commission on the following items: •• 1 . Should the Mayor and/or Administration give a State of the City Message annually? /VU 2. Ref. Section 2.07 - After setting their salaries, should the Council members stand for re-election before receiving the increase? ye 5 • 3. Should there be a limit on expenditures for opponents to a petition? Y . S Should they also file with the City if they organize themselves? >cs 4. Should the City Manager serve totally at the pleasure of the City y c s Council , making the job political? S G f hA c k ' 5. Ref. Section 7.02 - Should there be a limit on the money spent in y S addition to the mill limitation? Something like limit dollar increases in the budget to the rate of inflation plus 1 or 2 percent. 6. Should there be a limit on the number of terms .a person can serve on Aver the City Council ? 7. Should the Council increase in sizes now that r. • •, G� Fridley is much larger /✓a than t•rhen..the Charter was adopted? 8. Should newly created Boards, Committees, etc. , have a termination date y4-5 or is rejustication necessary for further existence? . 9. Can a person hold more than one elective office? YC 5 • 10.. Should there be a fair campaign practices section? Y1 5 11 . Should the Charter have something on ethics of Council members and y'E City Administration? 12. Ref. Section 205 - Should there be a change on how vacancies of - y g' ) . unexpired terms of Councilmen are filled? pc,- p--- ( 1, A.i, C vi yp.x -,, 1 rr' r - 4 ti F1&, j',' w; 11 he 5c7 1 i V5 da 5 01- LESS . • Y • • A Page 2 13. Should there be an automatic recount on close elections? 14. Should each Council member and Mayor appoint one member to / FS- w' 'TN 6,( T each Board or Commission subject to the Mayor's approval? /I4 yet /, Ile ova / Should the Mayor also appoint members to Civil Service subject to the approval of the City Council? Y r 5 The preceeding is a list of items that the Charter Commission is studying for possible change. The Charter Commission is neither for nor against any of them, but rather is seeking input. Also, if there is anything else that the Charter Commission should consider, please bring it to our attention. We would like to know if Commission Chairpersons can attend our January 2„ 1978 meeting. at 8:00 P.M. to discuss these and any other issues. Also, _ please advise who will be attending. The meetings are informal . Thanking you in advance for your cooperation in this matter. Sincerely, • CLIFFOR 'ASH, i-� CHAIRMAN, CHARTER COMMISSION CA/de • • 4 f 0,•1 y Af A, If 4/, r 4CrOZe / tc , c,• / 71G. f Are 7 1%.2* t S k di7 $ ofriy a c 44r Ci /tic r 5 FA a e. V(17 A 154 ic t fey lUeTliol h " icy it.c 4 cf 4 t/1 y Xi, y e'Tr ekfilyirs - :Ty 6) re - /t/'''4/ Thw • 11'6'5 p /s,' (Ari ou 1- rk Ott I 2. to A/ et T: . .