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CHM 05/19/2008 - 29976CITY OF FRIDLEY CHARTER COMMISSION MEETING May 19, 2008 CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Borman called the Charter Commission meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. ROLL CALL: Members Present: Peter Borman, Gary Braam, Carol Hoiby, William Holm, Nancy Jorgenson, Richard Nelson, Pam Reynolds, Noel Ryan, and Lois Scholzen Members Absent: Donald Findell, Mary Kirkwood, Ted Kranz, Leslie Plummer and Cynthia Soule Others Present: March Everette /Staff Liaison APPROVAL OF AGENDA: Commissioner Ryan MOVED and Commissioner Hoiby seconded a motion to approve the agenda. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON BORMAN DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. APPROVAL OF APRIL 28, 2008 CHARTER COMMISSION MINUTES: Change ALL of the references of Rick Larson to Rick Nelson. Commissioner Holm MOVED and Commissioner Braam seconded a motion to approve the April 28, 2008 Charter Commission Minutes as amended. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON BORMAN DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 1. ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS Chairperson Holm said there was still one vacancy on the Charter Commission. 2. DISCUSSION OF CHAPTER 7 Discussion of Chapter 7 appears to be completed at this time. 3. DISCUSSION OF CHAPTER 8 The Charter Commission discussed whether to change the award of contract limit in Section 8.05 of the Charter from $50,000 to $100,000 due to the change in state law or change it to as allowable by state law. Commission Reynolds said Section 6.06 contracts all let — there is no dollar amount and refers to state statute. After further discussion it was recommended Section 8.05 be changed to be consisted with Section 6.06. CHARTER COMMISSION MEETING OF MAY 19, 2008 PAGE 2 Commissioner Holm MOVED and Commissioner Jorgenson seconded a motion to amend Section 8.05 by removing the dollar limit and replacing it with allowable by state statute. UPON A VOICE VOTE ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON BORMAN DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 4. DISCUSSION OF CITY GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE Pam Reynolds provided a handout showing the charter changes she felt would be needed to change the governance structure. Chairperson Borman said State Statute Section 412.661 — Limit on Council Powers, Neither the Council nor any of its members shall dictate the appointment of any person to office or employment by the manager or any other manner interfere with the manager or prevent the manager from exercising judgment in the appointment of officers, employees and administrative services. Commissioner Jorgenson said the City Charter currently states the same thing. Commissioner Reynolds said she wanted to talk about a new form of governance which had nothing to do with choosing a new manager. Chairperson Borman wondered why the compelling reason to change was needed. He said he had been thinking a lot about the issue. He said he remembered Commissioner Reynolds had said the "Charter Commission was a sacred document." He said she put up such a fight to get Chapter 7 corrected for the city utilities, which was only a few words in one chapter, but yet if they changed the form of governance it was many words in many chapters and wondered how sacred the Charter was then. Commissioner Reynolds said it is a sacred document the way it is written now, but it would have to be changed if the governance structure was changed. Chairperson Borman said he had not seen any compelling evidence about why it should be changed. Commissioner Holm said the big change would be to make the mayor a stronger authority. Commissioner Reynolds said not very often does the council say no to the staff. Commissioner Nelson said he had a fundamental problem with a person saying changing the form of governance was in the best interest of the City. Commissioner Reynolds said if they could not see the difference between an unelected person running the city versus an elected person running the city. Chairperson Borman said he began looking at other forms of government, like the Governor who appointed his Lieutenant Governor to be the Transportation manager, and wondered if she was qualified. Commissioner Reynolds said she must have had staff giving her guidance and the Commission discussed staff quitting or getting appointed by the Governor. Commissioner Nelson said the things she might want to do as mayor could put a stop to some of the things. A strong mayor could also enforce some of the things you may want to stop. If the council were the other way around, a strong mayor could tell the council to do things differently because something might be a pet project and it is the way the mayor would want to do things and nothing could be done by it. CHARTER COMMISSION MEETING OF MAY 19, 2008 PAGE 3 Commissioner Reynolds said there are a lot of things that come from staff and there are not a lot of policies coming from council. She referred to the budget and said it was not a council owned budget as it is prepared by the city manager. Commissioner Nelson said he has seen the council ask staff to look at things or bring up issues. He has also seen them direct staff to rework information in the budget. He said he has also seen councils not work with staff or staff not work with councils. The comprehensive plan and input about the plan from individuals who work in the city versus individuals who live in the city was briefly discussed. Chairperson Borman felt Commissioner Reynolds was putting the city on the defensive for what is going on. He said he felt it was odd that she would be pushing changing the governance structure while running for mayor and did not understand her motive. He said he looked at the information he read and provided. He said the trend was not going towards strong mayor, but rather than to strong mayor. Commissioner Nelson MOVED and Commissioner Hoiby seconded a motion to cease discussion on changing the charter to a strong mayor form of governance. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON BORMAN DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. ADJOURNMENT: Commissioner Braam MOVED and Commissioner Holm seconded a motion to adjourn the meeting. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE WITH THE EXCEPTION OF REYNOLDS, CHAIRPERSON BORMAN DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED AND THE MEETING WAS ADJOURNED AT 8:45 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Debra A. Skogen, City Clerk/Staff Liaison Carol Hoiby, Secretary