Agenda - Charter Commission - 09/19/2013

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4.5.5.2 Vacancy in offices to be voted on in the Regular Municipal Election. If a vacancy occurs less than eight weeks prior to the primary election, in the office of the mayor or the councilmembers whose seats are to be voted on in the Regular Municipal Election, said vacancy shall be considered not to exist for the purpose of the Regular Municipal Election. The person elected to fill the vacancy in the Regular municipal Election, if approved by unanimous vote of the sitting Council, may assume the duties of the office to which elected on the first business day following the City Clerk's issuance of a certificate of election to said person. 4.5.5.3 Vacancy in an office not to be voted on in the Regular Municipal Election. If a vacancy occurs in the office of the mayor or a councilmember not standing for election in the Regular Municipal Election, a special primary election and a special election shall be held in January of the subsequent year following the vacancy to fill said vacancy. The election procedures for the special primary election and the special election shall be those election procedures for municipal office candidates as prescribed in Minnesota Statutes and this Charter. Notwithstanding Section 2.3.1 of this Charter, which provides for a four -year term for the mayor and councilmembers, the term of the mayor and /or a councilmember elected pursuant to this subsection will be for the remainder of the vacant term. 4.5.6 If there are insufficient numbers of candidates in a regular or special election to fill expiring or vacated municipal offices, the city council shall fill said offices by appointment until the next regular municipal election. In the case of a tie vote of the council, the mayor shall make said appointment from the candidates under consideration. Outcome /Direction from April 19, 2012 Meeting: Items that came up during discussion were the City Attorney noted that Section 4.5.5 was discussed years ago. It talks about such a remote event that he wasn't sure why the Charter would event want to review it again. He suggested the Commission could study 4.5 dealing with vacancies and a "learning session" could be held on it to maybe brainstorm to make the language more clear. The question was raised about the dates of special elections - and did the Commission want to consider extending the dates so there is time for a primary election. It should be noted that these instances are rare and a primary election is quite costly as well. The motion approved by the Charter Commission was to postpone any action, work on ideas, and bring them back to a meeting to brainstorm. 3) Discuss redoing the City's Charter to an article format. It was suggested by a resident that this format type would be more user friendly. The Commission briefly discussed if there was enough interest to re -do the Charter and, if so, possible a task force could be formed. Mr. Surma, the resident who brought the suggestion forward, offered to serve on that task force. The Charter should decide if this is something to pursue. Outcome /Direction from April 19, 2012 Meeting: The Charter Commission determined it was not interested in changing the format of the Charter but that they were open to suggestions by the resident of examples of language changes, etc. They directed the City Attorney to draft a letter to the resident stating that the Commission is trying to make the Charter more understandable but they do not find it necessary to change the format to do that. 4) Review Newsletter Options At the March 26, 2012 Charter meeting, discussion ensued relating to cutting back on issues of the Ramsey Resident and to look at options other than mailing out the newsletter. The final motion was to postpone the discussion. Does the Charter feel it's worthwhile to look at other options of delivery - or if it's not broke, don't fix it. Outcome /Direction from April 19, 2012 Meeting: The Charter determined that if it was Council's wish to reduce the number of issues of the Ramsey Resident