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eliminates a councilmember with ulterior motives from placing an employee in an awkward <br />position. <br /> <br />Mr. Hendriksen stated that as a Councilmember he is surprised that this board would be making <br />this decision without discussing it first with the City Council. He inquired as to who wrote the <br />case. <br /> <br />City Attorney Goodrich replied that City Administrator Norman wrote the case. <br /> <br />Mr. Hendriksen stated that in affect Mr. Norman is applying for another job and he hoped that <br />the Commission takes that into consideration. He stated that none of the Commission members <br />are on the City Council and no one knows whether the City has grown to the point of needing <br />more distance from the day to day activities. He personally did not think that the City has grown <br />to the point where he would want to be excluded. He suggested that the Commission take some <br />input from the Council and Mayor. <br /> <br />Chairperson Vogt replied that he did not need to be a Councilmember to know what is going on <br />in the City. <br /> <br />Mr. Hendriksen replied that as a Councilmember he thinks they have a different perspective. <br /> <br />City Administrator Norman noted that he did not appreciate a personal attack. <br /> <br />Chairperson Vogt stated that he understands the CEO reporting structure. The City of Ramsey <br />has grown to over 18,000 people and has doubled in the last 10 years. <br /> <br />Mr. Hendriksen replied that he did not believe that the size of the City had doubled in the last 10 <br />years. As a Councilmember he has a better understanding of a load placed on a Councilmember <br />and does know that it gives the City Administrator more autonomy than he would like to see. He <br />felt that Council input would be valuable. <br /> <br />Motion by Commissioner Ebel, seconded by Commissioner LaMere, to table action and schedule <br />a joint meeting with the City Council to discuss the issue. <br /> <br />Further discussion: Commissioner Milless stated that she has lived in the City her entire life and <br />has seen all of the changes. In private businesses you have someone you trust that you hire and <br />give authority to. She personally felt that the Council is too busy and has too many things on the <br />agenda to hire and fire employees in the City. The Council does not know what is happening at <br />City Hall on a day to day basis so they need to put their trust into a City Manager. She stated <br />that she feels very strongly that they have a City Manager. Chairperson Vogt inquired as to how <br />often the Council meets with the HR Manager to discuss personnel issues. Councilmember <br />Hendriksen replied that the Council meets with the HR Manager every time there is an issue on <br />the table. The Council does not get involved with the day to day activity, but they do get <br />involved with Department Heads on a regular basis. He did not think there was anything wrong <br />with the Council having input into the reviews of the Department Heads because those are the <br />people they interface with. The Council has never written reviews on employees they don't have <br /> <br />Charter Commission/July 18, 2002 <br /> Page 19 of 22 <br /> <br /> <br />