HomeMy WebLinkAbout1996-11-18 CHC MIN
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STILL \VA TER CH..J\.RTER C01VIMlSSrON
NOVEMBER 18, 1996 !\1EETlNG
Present: Timothy Old, Vice Chair
Kathy Czar, Steve KeiSler, Howard Lieberman. Nancy Purcell, and Mary Ruch
In Chairperson Maher's absence, Tim Old called the met..'1ing to order at 7:35 p.rn.
Approval of Minutes: Ms, Czar, seconded by Ms, .f.\lrcell, moved approval of the S(,,'ptember 16 minutes
of the Charter Commission. All in favor.
Mr. Old moved to item #3 on the agenda, as David Magnuson was our guest Magnuson had been irrdted
to discuss HOme Rule Charters and Statutory Cities. He began his presentation with an historical
o\'cryicw of Stillwater's city government. Then he focused on the differences between the (wo type~~f .
city sirul;ture,.........__.
?t.atutorv Cities must be formed under the structure laid out in Section 4.12 of the Minnesota State
Statutes. Cities can elect one of two forms or options:
Qmion A is a Weak Mayor/Council form \vhere the Mayor heads tbe COl.Ulcil, but he/she has no
extraordinary rx)wers (i.e. veto).
Qmion B is a Council/Manager plan wherein the role of the City Manager is proscribed by the statute.
:tv:tagnuson informed the group that th'elaw giving cities the righf to. adopt their own charters was passed
hy the Legislature in 1986. Stillwater ado ed its first city charter in 1916. The City's Charter
Cornmisrions have been both active and inact over the ye.1r5, depending greally on who was ~..ayor at
the tlme.
Under a chart~> cities have maximum flexibility in structure. There aI'~ four forms Qr stmctures, but a
charter city can be a hybrid of anyone ofthe fouT. TIley include:
Strong Mavor /CoUtlcll which is like St. Paul. Here the mayor is the executive head of the City, with the
power to hire & fire, set budgets, and the po''1'er of veto. The council acts as a legislature and there is a
tme separation of power between the bodies. This structure tends to attract an "able" Jx:r5011 to be mayor
and is likely to be found in a huger city than Stillwater (they get paid!).
Weak l\lavor/Coundl which is like Mitmeapolis and Stillwater. Here the Mayor does n.ot have the
authority 10 hire/ fire, veto etc. (It should be nok:d that Milmeapolis has a slight variation, since lhc
police chief js hired by and aCCountable to the Mayor - a hybrid).
Commission P~L w!Jerein the councillX~ple head vari,?us commissions_ This form assumes that the
variOU$ council people are ';experts" concerning the commissions they head, Since the council members
are elected, they historiC-1.Hy were not experts and proved to be ineffectivc. As a result, this form of
govemmcnt has fallen by tIle wayside.
CounciL'Mana~er Plan which is roost common in cities of 25M to 250M. City Managers are fah'ly \'liel1
compensated (perha.ps $70M/yr. for a city the size of StiHw<1ter) and as s'ilch, arc not always feasible for
small cities. Tbi~ fonn centmlizes responsibility and power, and is suppose 10 separate politics from
management. Detractors might say that this fonn is too autocratic: management ls done by an "Oul$ick'T"
rather than by fellow members of the community. The manager may not be in touch with lhe needs of the
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Mr. Magnuson ,vas asked if it were possible to Sltuclurc a hybrid fbrm, such th<lt one or mote departments
(i.e. the Water Dept.) would not have to be undct the Managers purvi.ew. Magnuson responded tlmt
charter cities have the flexibility to adopt those kind"i of stnIctures if they so choose.
There was discussion as to whether a Cit}' Manager form ndght make the City oper.1te mQre
"professionally". Charter Commission nlcmlx:rs expressed concern that perhaps the City's expected
growth rat~ might mandale some change as the tasks of governance expand. Mr. Lieberman stated that
WI;: didn 't e"~ to reach .l conclusion from this preliminary discussion, but that the Chartet Commission
would continue its exploration and discussion. Lidx..''l'man also said that any change in the form. for
governance would require the support of the community at large.
Charter Commission members expressed gratitude to Mr. Magnuson for his presentation. Magnuson then
brought up the issue of the open mecling law and provided the Charter Commission Mt,'mbers with a
h.andout regarding same. Magnuson said that the Charter Commission's Fall relreatat Trumps ";",'':':\i.:;,, .:,:",~ .;...
Restaurant' w-is'nofj:iUbliCiZed'appropi'iately under the open meeting law. He indicated thhfI.aurie.:Malief..;.....~.,~;. '-,-,;"::'.-...
has contacted the City Clerk and Laurie assumed that the Cled< was ll1en responsible for giving notice,
Howeyer. the Clerk was under the miss assumption that Sharon Baker, recording Sccretary, was to see
that proper notice was given. This misunderstanding has now been cleared up and, in the future, the
Clerk will be responsible for ensuring that proper notice is given. Il is the Charter Conunission's
responsibility to gel the jnfonnation to the Clerk.
Magnuson stressed the importance of complying with the open meeting latv. Further, he reminded
members that they should not meet in groups where there would be n quorum, wilhoul fIrst givirigpublic
notice,
Howard Liebennan sel a datc with Mr. Magnuson for the meeting to refine the Charter Commissions
"CO,nflict Of, Interes t Policy" which is being :recommended~or' elusion into the City's Charter. The City
COUTlCil had asked Howard to meet with Dave and Mr. T nc On this topic. Kathy Czar of the Charler
CommiSsion will also be included, h
The agenda lten1 for election of a TIelV chair was tabled, due to lack of time. This issue will be addressed
al the December meeting.
The December 16 meeting will be held at Nancy Purcell's home. It will be a potluck holiday gathering.
Chaiiperson Maher will be asked to ensure that appropriate notice is given to the Clerk.
Motion by Ms. Ruch, second by Ms. Czar, to ad,i?~r~lhe meelin~ at 9~15p.~~:__!>:.~.i~!.!<!~.C)!::
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Respectfully submitted,
v~t~A.j fL-wl
Mary Ruch
Charter Commission Member