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CHM 01/28/2002 - 00027155CITY OF FRIDLEY CHARTER COMMISSION MEETING January 28, 2002 CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Gordon called the Charter Commission meeting to order at 7:15 p.m. ROLL CALL: Members Present: Craig Gordon, Harry Heck, Bill Holm, Francis Van Dan, Suzanne Warren, Dale Warren, Regina Querimit Members Absent: Don Findell, Carter Hendricks, Nancy Jorgenson, Deborah Monden, Maynard Nielsen, and Cynthia Soule Others Present: Deb Skogen, City Clerk/Staff Liaison Anita Gerrety, 1602 Woodside Court NE (guest) Jan Johnson, 1579 Briardale Road (guest) APPROVAL OF AGENDA: MOTION by Commissioner Van Dan seconded by Commissioner Querimit to approve the agenda. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON GORDON DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. APPROVAL OF NOVEMBER 26, 2001, CHARTER COMMISSION MINUTES: MOTION by Commissioner Holm seconded by Commissioner Heck to approve the November 26, 2001, Charter Commission Minutes. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON GORDON DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 1. ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS Chairperson Gordon said he had sent letters out to various organizations and posted a letter in the Fire Department to try to recruit new members. Two people have come forward with interest. They are Anita Gerrity and Jan Johnson, wives for paid -on -call firefighters. The Commissioners introduced themselves to the two guests. Commissioner Querimit wondered if the Charter Commission could possibly use the services at the Library or the community center to create a bulletin board to give the public information on the Commission and recruit members. Chairperson Gordon said that he would contact the Library to find out. Chairperson Gordon also asked if the Commission could have their own web page to post their agendas and minutes. Skogen said that information on the all Commissions appeared on the web. She thought it was unlikely at this time to get their own web page as the person who worked with the web was no longer with the city and did not know when a new person would be hired. Adopted February 25, 2002 CHARTER COMMISSION MEETING OF JANUARY 28, 2002 PAGE 2 2. DISCUSSION OF HOW ITEMS COME TO CHARTER COMMISSION Chairperson Gordon said that Commissioner Hendricks suggested proceeding with the discussion Commissioner Holm said in the past the Chairperson assigned individuals to look at different Chapters of the Charter to review to see if they had any suggested changes. He said that worked for some changes, but not for all He thought that if there was a unanimous Commission vote of the full membership that the amendment could go directly on to the ballot. Chairperson Gordon said that the Charter Commission was independent of the City Council and the members were appointed by the District Court. Commissioner Van Dan gave a brief history of the charter commission and some of the changes that had occurred for the two guests that were present. Commissioner Van Dan talked about the changes to the position of city manager and the gender neutral language required due to the changes in human rights laws. 3. GLOSSARY /INDEX Skogen noted the letter from the Charter Commission Attorney, Ms. Moore, stating they keep in mind definitions in the state statute and that the definitions not be contradictory to the state statutes. Commissioner Van Dan felt the three terms that were defined were all similar, however, did not feel that the school district use of referendum was the same as the city's definition. In a referendum, basically an election, the voters do not delegate decision making, they take action themselves. The city government, under this charter allows the citizens to countermand action by the council. The council can reconsider a just enacted ordinance, suspending the ordinance from becoming law, giving the city council a choice. In her definition, all the power belongs to the people, not that they petition the council, but giving the council the choice of annulling the ordinance or forwarding it to the voters at the neat general election. Commissioner Van Dan said that was her definition and that was her philosophy. Commissioner Holm wondered what the definition said that the current definition in the working glossary didn't say. There was further discussion as to what Commissioner Van Dan was trying to define. She was basically trying to point out a difference between school referendum and city referendum and didn't think voters had to petition to ask the council to reconsider a vote or to call for an election.. Commissioner Holm suggested changing the word allowing to requiring. He was not interested in what other organizations definition of referendum. He said they were defining referendum as to how it was used in relation to our charter. Commissioner S. Warren said she was concerned about over defining the term to such a degree that it might change the charter. She felt the more language that was used to define a word the more possibility there was for a different interpretation than what the charter might actually say. She believed a more simple definition would be appropriate. Commissioner Holm said that technically Commissioner Van Dan may be correct but that in what our charter says it is not a demand. He suggested revisiting the issue at the next meeting. He said as a guideline the Commission should not go to any great extent to define every word but just key words to help give the uninformed reader more information. Adopted February 25, 2002 CHARTER COMMISSION MEETING OF JANUARY 28, 2002 PAGE 3 Commissioner D. Warren suggested checking key words to define against the state statutes for definitions and Commissioner Van Dan suggested viewing the West Group legal definitions and mentioned that eminent domain should still be defined. OTHER BUSINESS Commissioner Holm MOVED and Commissioner Querimit seconded a motion recommending the appointments of Jan Johnson and Anita Gerrety to the Charter Commission upon receipt of their applications to the City Clerk. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON GORDON DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED ADJOURNMENT: MOTION by Commissioner Heck seconded by Commissioner Querimit to adjourn the meeting. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON GORDON DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED AND THE MEETING WAS ADJOURNED AT 8:30 P.M. Respectfully submitted, "9Aa'46J- Debra A. Skogen, City Clerk/Staff Liaison Deborah Monden, Secretary Adopted February 25, 2002