Agenda - Charter Commission - 08/15/2002 - Joint with CC

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they have before them some facts and one of those facts is that they themselves believe some provisions are lawful. City Administrator Norman noted that that issue is covered as a case item on the agenda. Mr. Hendriksen requested that he be able to ask his question. Chairperson Vogt replied that Mr. Hendriksen could ask his question, but then the Commission is going to move on. Mr. Hendriksen stated that he was not arguing whether or not the amendment was lawful or not because that will be done during the case, but by their own admission it is not clearly unlawful even by the opinion of the attorney. Clearly the City Council is not following the Charter and he asked numerous times as to why. The question is what does the Charter Commission see as their role for enforcing the Charter. He eXplained that there is a provision in the Charter that states that the City must have its own Police Department, which was established when the City was considering contracting with Anoka County for the services but it was-something the citizens of Ramsey did not want to happen. If the City Council were to abandon the Police Department he would hope that as part of the Charter Commission rote they would raise the flag and state that they were violating the Charter. Chairperson Vogt stated that he would address those questions during the meeting. Mr. Hendriksen stated that he hoped it was not a case of the Charter Commission selectively thinking some tI~ings are important and other things are not. The real question independent of the argument of is it legal or not is how do they enforce Charter and how do they raise the flag when the City deviates from something that is in the Charter. Commissioner Ebel stated that she appreciated the comments by Mr. Hendriksen. She stated that she likes to hear different viewpoints, which is why she thinks it is important to give people time to speak during the meetings. Richard Krueger, 7640 t50th Lane NW, Ramsey, stated that he would also like to understand what the role is of the Charter Commission. APPROVE AGENDA Commissioner Swanson requested that they move Case #3 to the end of the agenda so that the things that are more directly associated with City business can be addressed first. Commissioner LaMere inquired if Commissioner Swanson was recommending tabling Case #3 or addressing it later in the agenda. Commissioner Swanson replied that it depended on how late the meeting was going. -4- Charter Commission/July 18, 2002 Page 2 of 22