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CHM 10/03/2016 CITY OF FRIDLEY CHARTER COMMISSION MEETING OCTOBER 3, 2016 CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Reynolds called the Charter Commission meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. ROLL CALL: Members Present: Commissioners Gary Braam, Zach Crandall, Don Findell, Manuel Granroos, Ted Kranz, Rick Nelson, David Ostwald, Barb Reiland, Pam Reynolds, Avonna Stark Members Absent: Lois Scholzen, Cindy Soule, and Richard Walch Others Present: Deb Skogen, City Clerk/Staff Liaison Wally Wysopal, City Manager Bob Barnette, Councilmember at Large APPROVAL OF AGENDA Ms. Skogen suggested adding a vacancy discussion to agenda item number 5 under the letter B to the agenda. Commissioner Reiland MOVED and Commissioner Ostwald seconded a motion to approve the meeting agenda as amended. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON REYNOLDS DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Ms. Skogen said the packet was added to the web, but no changes had been made. Chairperson Reynolds stated the word “information” should be added in the first paragraph after letter A in the old business section. She also asked whether or not it was known what the change was that Commissioner Findell referenced at the top of page four while discussing Section 2.06. Ms Skogen responded that the word “redetermined” was changed to “redistricted” to match other language. Chairperson Reynolds recommended the following other minor changes.  th Page 4, 4 paragraph, last line, change the word “changed” to “change”;  st Page 6, 1 sentence, at the word “at” between the words “being their meetings”;  th Page 6, last paragraph, 5 sentence, change to read as follows: “..limitation came from. Mr. Wysopal wanted to…” Adopted January 3, 2017 CHARTER COMMISSION MEETING OF OCTOBER 3, 2016 PAGE 2  ndth Page 7, 2 paragraph, 4 sentence, change the word “would” to “were”;  ndth Page 8, 2 paragraph, 4 sentence, change the word “believe” to “believed”;  thrd Page 8, 4 paragraph, 3 sentence, remove the words “be to”; and  thst Page 8, 6 paragraph, 1 sentence, change the word “individual” to “individually”. Commissioner Crandall MOVED and Commissioner Reiland seconded a motion approving the Charter Commission meeting minutes of September 6, 2016 as amended. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON REYNOLDS DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS A.2017 Calendar Chairperson Reynolds went through the proposed calendar and determined which dates would work for 2017 Charter Commission meetings. After some discussion the Commissioners decided to meet on the following dates: January 3, February 6, March 6, April 3, May 1, September 5, October 2 and November 6 Chairperson Reynolds asked if there were any other concerns, or if the number of meetings should be reduced. Commissioners Reiland and Granroos thought it made sense to keep the number of meetings the same. Commissioner Findell MOVED and Commissioner Granroos seconded a motion approving the proposed 2017 Calendar meeting. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON REYNOLDS DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. B.Vacancy Ms. Skogen presented a letter of resignation from Marion Flickinger. His resignation creates a vacancy that can be addressed at the January meeting. She will advertise the opening on the city website/government cable channel. OLD BUSINESS A.Discussion of Chapter 2 Chairperson Reynolds thought the chapter looked good up to the language in Section 2.07 regarding vacancies. Commissioner Findell asked if the Councilmembers’ elections were staggered and not elected in the same years. Ms. Skogen confirmed that 2 members would be elected this Adopted January 3, 2017 CHARTER COMMISSION MEETING OF OCTOBER 3, 2016 PAGE 3 general election (mayor and councilmember at-large), and the three ward members would be elected during the next general election in 2018. Commissioner Crandall confirmed these positions are, in fact, staggered in their election. Chairperson Reynolds asked if any Commissioners had anything else to add regarding section 2.07. Seeing none, Chairperson Reynolds moved on to section 2.08 “salaries and expenses.” Chairperson Reynolds had emailed Ms. Skogen asking for information on the current benefits offered to elected officials. Ms. Skogen provided information from Human Resources Director, Deb Dahl, outlining this information. Chairperson Reynolds requested clarification about reasonable remuneration of salary, and asked why the charter says nothing about benefits. Commissioner Findell thought remuneration was addressed in the language that says the council can establish salaries by ordinance. Commissioners Reiland, Crandall, and Chairperson Reynolds reiterated that they should decide on whether or not language directly addressing benefits should be added to section 2.08. Chairperson Reynolds felt compensation should be completely transparent to citizens, so they are aware of the entire compensation package councilmembers receive. Commissioner Crandall said the language in the charter describes how wages should be addressed. Ms. Skogen clarified the confusion by saying any change in elected officials’ salaries or compensation would be addressed during the budgeting process before the stated November st 1 deadline. If compensation did not change, the prior ordinance would continue to remain in effect. Further discussion took place regarding what the word remuneration entailed and what change would require a new ordinance. Chairperson Reynolds said the language in the ordinance stated elected officials should receive the same benefits as employees. However, because they do not receive annual leave or vacation time, they do not, in fact, receive the same benefits package as employees. Ms. Skogen stated they are not considered full-time employees so these packages would differ. Chairperson Reynolds said this should be considered for a language change to make these differences more clear. Chairperson Reynolds asked if the language regarding the city council approving employee compensation of city employees should be its own section or moved to a different section of the Charter (perhaps one that is closer related to budgeting). The Commissioners discussed whether or not this section should be moved, and how the budgetary process takes place, how the City Manager prepares the budget, and how the city council approves the budget. Adopted January 3, 2017 CHARTER COMMISSION MEETING OF OCTOBER 3, 2016 PAGE 4 After further discussion, it was determined the last sentence in section 2.08 referring to the city council setting/approving the salaries of city employees could be removed from that section as it does not relate to the compensation of elected officials. Ms. Skogen offered to do more research regarding the salaries of elected officials and city staff. Commissioner Reiland added it could be discussed more at the January meeting. Chairperson Reynolds again stated that elected officials are entitled to the same benefits as employees, but they are not full time employees and are not entitled to all of the benefits of full time employees such as annual leave and vacation time. Further discussion took place regarding this issue, if any further clarification needed to be made in the language, and potential risks for unequal compensation due to elected officials choosing the cash option or full health coverage. Commissioner Ostwald asked what the specific concern was regarding providing benefits to elected officials. Chairperson Reynolds responded saying she personally felt it creates a conflict-of-interest in that councilmembers will be motivated to do whatever the city staff would like them to do to keep receiving the benefits; but was concerned about transparency of language in Section 2.07. She also added that it was her belief that the tax payers do not fully understand the cost of the benefits packages being given to elected officials. Commissioner Crandall added these items may be hidden in a budget, and they could provide a specific number within the ordinance. Commissioner Stark stated it was not necessarily hidden in the budget, but could be made more clear and/or transparent. Further discussion took place to clarify what reimbursement for “reasonable expenses” meant. Mr. Wysopal added the language regarding expenses could certainly be made more transparent. He also said he personally has not had to process payment or reimbursement for such expenses, and that elected officials have taken it upon themselves to pay for these expenses. Chairperson Reynolds suggested Commissioners think on these items that have been discussed, and bring any added insight for further discussion during the January meeting. Ms. Skogen said she could draft language that would reflect their discussion ideas for the Commissioners to review during the next meeting in January. Commissioner Crandall suggested the language could be added in the Charter (or have it required in the ordinance) so compensation expenses for elected officials could be made clearer and more transparent. Further discussion took place regarding this notion. Ms. Skogen said if anyone was to request any of this information, she would be able to provide it by including the budget for that year, and the current ordinance. She added that the budget is provided online. Adopted January 3, 2017 CHARTER COMMISSION MEETING OF OCTOBER 3, 2016 PAGE 5 Commissioner Crandall suggested the total compensation packages for the elected officials could be posted online much like the three highest paid employees to increase the transparency of these expenses. Commissioner Stark asked how this could be displayed. Commissioner Crandall said it could be displayed in summary on the homepage. Ms. Skogen raised concerns that some of this information may be regarded as private information, and specifics of these compensation packages might not be able to be disclosed. Commissioner Stark brought up concerns about how much time, money, and effort it would take to continually update these numbers and disclosures. Further discussion took place regarding these items. Commissioner Crandall suggested the total of these costs could be provided in summary to protect the personal information of certain individuals. As prompted by Commissioner Stark and Chairperson Reynolds discussion took place regarding what other cities and the state do regarding this matter. Chairperson Reynolds suggested more thought and discussion could be put into the idea of further disclosing the cost of the compensation packages that are provided to the city’s elected officials. Commissioner Reiland felt the Commissioners should concern themselves with what impact this concept has in the Charter, and not the other manifestations of these disclosures. Citing the time, Chairperson Reynolds suggested the discussion on Chapter 2 should continue during the next meeting. Commissioner Reiland thought that the discussion of Chapter 2 would take most, if not all, of the meeting time and it would be difficult to get to their discussion of Chapter 7. NEW BUSINESS A.Discussion Pertaining to Chapter 7 Ms. Skogen said the questionnaire on Chapter 7 had gone out to obtain comments from the Commissioner and Councilmembers. Commissioner Findell suggested adding one question to the questionnaire. Mr. Wysopal said Mr. Foster was reviewing all of the input regarding the Chapter 7 questionnaire, and it would be sent out in its final form in the coming weeks. Once the surveys come back responses will be reviewed and tabulated in order to determine the next steps of the discussion, and whether any additional clarification needed to be made on behalf of the city staff, city council, or Charter Commission Members. Mr. Wysopal also asked the Commissioners how they would like to move forward in their discussion of Chapter 7. He was hoping to analyze the Chapter using metrics and figures Adopted January 3, 2017 CHARTER COMMISSION MEETING OF OCTOBER 3, 2016 PAGE 6 found to be desirable and useful for Commissioners and Council. They should be unbiased and objective. Chairperson Reynolds asked if they wanted to leave the discussion of Chapter 7 as an ongoing topic, and Commissioner Reiland agreed. Commissioner Reiland also wanted to know which specific section Mr. Wysopal had his largest concerns with. Mr. Wysopal asked if he could provide his response in writing, and asked if this is the direction they would like to take regarding Chapter 7. The Commissioners agreed that would be the best approach. Commissioner Ostwald added that he would like to have more information regarding the history of the levy restriction, the current state, and how the levy restriction in Chapter 7 has impacted the city over time. Commissioner Crandall said it was difficult to answer the questions on the questionnaire without having the information asked for by Commissioner Ostwald. He added that he understands the rationale behind the measure was to keep taxes in check, but he would need further information regarding its overall effectiveness and any potential drawbacks. Commissioner Findell added that it would be good to have the historical wording of Chapter 7 before the restriction was put into place. He also added that he knows that this restriction has been reworded, and would like to know how these changes have been made. After some discussion regarding the historical context and changes of this language, Ms. Skogen said she would be able to provide that information. B.Discussion of Progress in CenturyLink Franchise Negotiation. Moving on to the CenturyLink franchise discussion, Ms. Skogen said they were still waiting for responses from CenturyLink regarding a few items. Chairperson Reynolds said that this item could remain tabled. Mr. Wysopal said these negotiations could be especially troubling as new franchisees no longer have to provide service to the whole city, and this is creating some issues. Chairperson Reynolds asked if anyone had any future meeting topics, and Ms. Skogen responded saying they will need address the vacancy of the departing Charter Commission Member, Marion Flickinger. FUTURE TOPCIS Discussion of Vacancy created by departing Commissioner, Marion Flickinger. Old Business – Discussion of Chapter 2 New Business – Discussion of questionnaire/Chapter 7, Adopted January 3, 2017 CHARTER COMMISSION MEETING OF OCTOBER 3, 2016 PAGE 7 ADJOURNMENT: Commissioner Findell MOVED and Commissioner Reiland seconded a motion to adjourn the meeting. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON REYNOLDS DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED AND THE MEETING WAS ADJOURNED AT 8:30 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Debra A. Skogen, MMC City Clerk/Staff Liaison Commissioner Donald Findell Secretary Adopted January 3, 2017