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Commissioner Deemer stated that adding a preamble would have to be voted on by the residents. <br />The Charter Commission could discuss further and if they desire, it could be placed on a ballot in <br />the future. <br /> <br />Upon request by Commissioner Sherman, City Attorney Goodrich reviewed the options for <br />Charter amendments. <br /> <br />Mr. Surma offered that another reason he wrote this preamble is that most people do not know <br />where their rights come from and this is a subtle way of educating the public as to who they are <br />and how they fit. He stated he has been in Ramsey for nine years and this is the first time he has <br />had a sense of community. <br /> <br />Chair Field stated he is all for pioneering efforts but added that he is aware that you have to have <br />legalese with regard to definitions. <br /> <br />Mr. Surma stated that he is not against all legalese but the Charter should be put into an article <br />style format. <br /> <br />Commissioner Bendtsen remarked that all these things mean something to Mr. Surma but they <br />do not mean anything to him yet, noting that he was not sure what the highlighting or the notes <br />meant. <br /> <br />Mr. Surma responded that the notes were really for his own use and referred to the vagueness of <br />how it was written. <br /> <br />Commissioner Sherman commented that the Charter process was a citizen based process and <br />over time, many amendments were driven by the citizens. <br /> <br />City Administrator Ulrich stated that one specific section was 2.5, which deals with the vacancy <br />of, for example, Councilmember Jeffrey a Councilmember serving a ward and moving out of <br />the ward. He agreed that the Charter language could be more clearly written. <br /> <br />Mr. Goodrich commented that the main reason determination of residency is not <br /> and we really cannot write a precise definition because <br />of the Statute. <br /> <br />Commissioner Niska agreed it is an issue and not one we can really fix. Section 2.5 is talking <br />about non-residence in the City. We could look into the history and get a more definitive <br />answer. This no-residence was written before wards were established so he felt that 2.5 should <br />include non-residence in the ward in which you are elected to. He hoped we could get away <br />from the discussion about Mr. Jeffrey and make it more for the future. <br /> <br />Mr. Surma commented that this probably was written prior to the wards but at the time, he wrote <br />the preamble, the City Council was trying to kick Mr. Jeffrey out of his seat. The only time <br />the Council should get involved is for a malfeasance. <br /> <br />Charter Commission/ May 19, 2011 <br />Page 3 of 5 <br /> <br />