Agenda - Council - 07/13/1999 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

MEMOR A ND U ~[ TO: FROM: RE: DATE: Ramsey City Council William K. Goodrich, City Attorney Mayor Gamec's Membership on the Metropolitan Land Use Advisory Committee July 8, 1999 The Council has directed that I render a Iegal opin/on on the issue of whether Mayor Gamec has a conflict of interest by reason of his current membership on the Metropolitan Conncil'~ Metropolitan Land Use Advisory Committee (the "Committee"). I. MEMBERSHIP PER SE The Committee is established pursuant fo M.S. §473.853 which provides as follows: The council shall establish an advisory metropolitan land use committee pursuant to section 473.127, comprised of 16 members, one from each council district, and as many additional members as are necessary to provide representation from each metropolitan county, plus a chair. At least one-half of the members of the advisory committee shall be elected officials of local governmental units. (emphasis added) The members shall be appointed for the same period as the term of the council member for the district in which the member resides. In directing that at least one-half of the Committee's membership shall be elected officials of local governmental units, the legislature has found that local governmental officials generally do not have a conflict of interest by serving on the Committee. Because of the legislative mandate to include local government officials on the Committee, it is my opinion that the mere fact that the Mayor is a member of the Committee does not creale a ccm flier of interest nor are the two positions incompatible offices. II. CONFLICT AS TO SPECIFIC ISSUES While the Mayor does not have a conflict of interest by virtue of his being a member of the Committee per se, the potential exists for conflicts of interest as to specific issues between the City and the Metropolitan Council. These will need to be addressed on a case by case