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CHM 02/28/2005 - 00027084CITY OF FRIDLEY CHARTER COMMISSION MEETING February 28, 2005 CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Findell called the Charter Commission meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. ROLL CALL: Members Present: Gary Braam, Don Findell, Anita Gerrety, Craig Gordon, Bill Holm, Nancy Jorgenson, Kathleen Linder, and Cindy Soule Members Absent: Peter Borman, Char Fitzpatrick, Janet Johnson, Deborah Monden, and Francis Van Dan Others Present: Deb Skogen, City Clerk/Staff Liaison APPROVAL OF AGENDA: MOTION by Commissioner Gordon seconded by Commissioner Soule to approve the agenda. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON FINDELL DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. APPROVAL OF NOVEMBER 22, 2004, CHARTER COMMISSION MINUTES: MOTION by Commissioner Gordon seconded by Commissioner Braam to approve the November 22, 2004, Charter Commission Minutes. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON FINDELL DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 1. ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS A. Applications of Carol Hoiby and Pam Reynolds Commissioner Gordon MOVED and Commissioner Jorgenson seconded a motion to accept the applications of Carol Hoiby and Pam Reynolds and to forward their applications and recommendation for appointment to the Fridley Charter Commission. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON FINDELL DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. B. Annual Report Commissioner Gordon MOVED and Commissioner Jorgenson seconded a motion receiving the Annual Report to the District Court Judge as written by Staff Liaison Skogen. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON FINDELL DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUS. C. Nominating Committee Recommendation Adopted March 28, 2005 CHARTER COMMISSION MEETING OF FEBRUARY 28, 2005 PAGE 2 Commissioner Holm read the Nominating Committee Report that was provided in the Charter Commission Agenda Packets. The Nominating Committee offered the following nominations to serve for the 2005 -06 year President, Nancy Jorgenson; Vice President, Peter Borman; and Secretary, Kathleen Linder. Commissioner Jorgenson MOVED and Commissioner Soule seconded a motion receiving the Nominating Committee Report. UON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON FINDELL DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 2. INTRODUCTION OF AMENDMENT TO BY -LAWS. Commissioner Holm provided an amendment to the Fridley Charter Commission By -Laws. The amendment would provide for three meetings each year and that special meetings could be called by the Chairperson. He said he provided the amendment for discussion purposes only because he felt the Charter Commission had not accomplished a lot and did not feel eight meetings a year was necessary. He described that at the January meeting the staff liaison could bring forward issues that had occurred during the year that needed attention by the Commission and to allow the Chair to appoint a nominating committee and set an agenda for the February meeting. At the February meeting the nominating committee would report their nominations and at the March meeting an election of officers would be held. He felt if there were any additional items needing discussion they could arrange to have additional meetings. He felt an agenda with documentation would be more beneficial to the members as well and that talking about a glossary did not work for him. Commissioner Gordon felt if the Commission only met three times a year they would be devalued and felt it would be better to be more pro - active by meeting more frequently. Commissioner Jorgenson said it was hard to obtain a quorum by meeting, sometimes due to the lack of items for discussion. She said that frequently commissioners do not call the city clerk to let her know they are not coming which leaves no time to let the other commissioners know there would not be a quorum and not to come. Commissioner Soule said in the past the Commission discussed each chapter to see if there were any suggested changes. The Commission got slowed down with the chapter on elections and it took about two years to get through that chapter. She thought the Commission could go back to a similar process. Commissioner Gordon said some people learned about the Charter by attending the meetings. He felt if there were only three meetings, people would not learn as much. He cited Commissioner Heck as an example. Heck was a new commissioner who asked a lot about the process and asked a lot of questions. Commissioner Soule said there was a lot to learn, especially as a new member and three months did not give them enough opportunity to learn. Commissioner Linder felt some frustration due to the lack of quorums and the inability to call a meeting to order. Chairperson Findell said he was hesitant to remove people due to their lack of attendance from the Commission and felt people might not be attending due to the lack of agenda items. Commissioner Holm said after being on the Commission for nine years, he did not see the need to change the charter a lot. He did agree that the one advantage to having more meetings was for the commissioners to get to know each other. Commissioner Braam said he could understand how Commissioner Holm felt and thought the Commission might do a better job of educating people about the charter. He said since he had become involved with the Charter Commission he had provided information to others about misinformation they might have. He suggested that the Adopted March 28, 2005 CHARTER COMMISSION MEETING OF FEBRUARY 28, 2005 PAGE 3 Commissioners should call by Friday if they cannot attend so that the meeting could be cancelled earlier if there was no quorum. Commissioner Gordon said a "no" call should signify that they are not coming. Commissioner Holm asked for a show of hands to see who was interested in his proposed amendment. There was not a majority of hands shown. Ms. Skogen said the Commission could schedule the meetings ahead of time and cancel a meeting if there was nothing on the agenda. Commissioner Jorgenson thought they should wait to change anything until after the new commissioners came on board because they may want more information. Commissioner Gordon recommended a policy whereby Commissioners who plan on attending the meeting contact the city clerk prior to 8:00 a.m. on the Monday morning of the meeting. Because the city clerk has voice mail commissioners could call over the weekend as well. If there are not enough commissioners that have called to say they would be attending, the city clerk will make calls to the commissioners who have called to notify them of the lack of quorum and need to cancel the meeting. Commissioner Holm said that items for discussion on the agenda should also have materials available to them prior to the meeting. He does not think that they should have to create the discussion, for instance, the mission statement that Commissioner Van Dan was to prepare. Commissioner Soule said she would be willing to facilitate the discussion of a mission statement and would send the city clerk questions for the commissioners to ponder before the neat meeting. Commissioner Jorgenson said that she would be happy to do a computer e- invite as well to all of the commissioners who have an e -mail address. Chairperson Findell said last year after the election, he was not quite prepared to chair the meeting and wondered if Commissioner Jorgenson would be ready if elected in March. Commissioner Jorgenson said she would be ready and willing to chair the meeting if that was his desire. 3. DISCUSSION OF GLOSSARY /INDEX Commissioner Holm MOVED and Commissioner Gordon seconded a motion to drop the glossary from the agenda at this time. UPON A VOICE VOTE, 7 VOTING AYE AND 1 VOTING NAY, CHAIRPERSON FINDELL DELCARED THE MOTION CARRIED. 4. OTHER ITEMS Ms. Skogen notified the commissioners that the Commissioner Survey would be mailed out from the city manager's office about March 11"' and that they should look for it. ADJOURNMENT: MOTION by Commissioner Jorgenson seconded by Commissioner Gordon to adjourn the meeting. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON FINDELL DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED AND THE MEETING WAS ADJOURNED AT 8:00 P.M. Adopted March 28, 2005 CHARTER COMMISSION MEETING OF FEBRUARY 28, 2005 Respectfully submitted, Debra A. Skogen, City Clerk/Staff Liaison Anita Gerrety, Secretary Adopted March 28, 2005 PAGE 4