Agenda - Charter Commission - 01/08/2002 - Memorandum

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of preemption and city actions conflicting with State law, see NSP v. City of Granite Falls, 463 N.W.2d 541 (Mi.un. App. 1990)). Under Minn. Stat. § 410.12, mM.I, a petition eau be used to force an election on a proposed charter amendment if k is signed by the number of eligible voters in the city equal to five percent of the total number of votes cast in the city at the last Stare general election l~Id in the ctty. If the city has a system of permanent registration of voters, only registered voters are eligible to sign the l~tition. The petition would also have to comply in form to the requirement~ of Minn. Stat. § 410.12, subd.2. The petition i~ to be submitted first to the charter commission for the ci~, ami then to the city council where the City Clerk is to determine if the petition contains an adequate number of proper signatures. ($~ Minn. Stat. § 410.12, subd.3.) If the petition i~ found valid, the proposed amendment mu~t be submitte, d to the voters without change by the city. The vote eau be held at a regular city election if one is scheduled within six months of receipt of the valid petition, or at a special¢lection scheduled by the city. If the city's next regular election is more than six months from the date of receipt of a valid petition for amendment, the council will need to schedule a special election to be held within ninety days of receipt of the valid petition. (See Mm. Stat. § 410.12, subd.4 and Min_n. Stat. § 410.10, ~bd. 1.) The only authority for the city to amend any part of the proposal i~ found in Minn. Stat. § 410.12, subd. 1 where the chat~r commission ~ authorized to requke a r~ision of any summary of the actual amendment. The proposed amendment itqelf, however, cannot be changed by the city. There are no other provisio~ in State law for amendbag a charter by Petition of the city residents. Further, I was nnable to locate any provision in the copy of the Ramsey City Charter on file with the League, marked as the December 12, 1995 update of the 1984 Charter, that attempt~ to set forth any amending procedures for the charter. Section 5.6 of the Charter states that nothing in the charter slxalI be interpreted as imerfering with the right~ of the electors in the city to amend the Charier, but the only light~ the electors have arc those found in Minn. Stat. § 410.I2. The only provisiom I could fred related to petitions were found in Chapter 5 of the Charter relating to powers of initiative, referendum, and recall. As set forth in the charter, however, initiatives and referendnm~ can only be used to require action on ordinances, not charter amendments. While Minn. Stat. § 410.12, sums. 5 and 7 provide for a meam of adopting charter amendments by ordim~ee, it is doubtful that the voters would want to use an initiative action to force an ordin_~nce adopti~ a charter amendment to b.e passed by the conrail. The reason for this is that such a process would be far more complicated than following the petition procedure set forth in Minn. Stat. § 410.12, subd. i. There are no statutes governing the use of initiatives for general ordinances, so the chamr provisiom would apply in such a ca~e. Under the Ramsey City Charter, an initiative petition would need to be signed by ten percent (10%) of the total number of registered voters at the time of the l~t city-wid~ general election. Such a number would be considerably larger than five percent of the votes east, so it would be harder for the group proposing the charter amendment to get the necessary signatures. Even if