Minutes - Charter Commission - 11/21/2017

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Further discussion: Chairperson Field noted that this only applies to the letter reflective of 2016. He stated that perhaps the 2017 letter should not be sent in until after the end of the year. Motion carried. Voting Yes: Chairperson Field, Commissioners Deemer, Barrows, Anderson, and Fuhreck. Voting No: None. Absent: Commissioners Bendtsen, Leistico, Niederhaus, and Sivertson. Chairperson Field stated that he prefers the letter format over sending minutes. 5.5 Review Charter Commission Member Terms City Clerk Thieling reviewed the staff report and noted that the following Commission members have terms that expire in December 2017: Susan Anderson, Ben Deemer, John Niederhaus, and Chad Sivertson. She asked for input from the members with expired terms as to whether they would like to continue to serve. She noted that she will follow-up with the members of the Commission that are not present tonight. Commissioner Deemer stated that he will request reappointment. 6. COMMISSION/STAFF INPUT 6.1 Other City Administrator Ulrich stated that he has talked with City Clerk Thieling about the election process. He noted the recent City Council resignation and the special election process that must be followed, which is lengthy and costly. He stated that the State statute would allow for appointment to a vacant position with less than two-year left in a term while the current Charter states one year or less. He stated that he would like the Commission to review that statute in 2018 and make a recommendation on whether the Charter should be amended to address that statute. Commissioner Anderson noted that there is a currently seated Councilmember that is running for the vacant position in the special election; if he is elected to that seat then the City would have to have another election to fill his currently held position. City Administrator Ulrich noted that the City would not have to hold a special election and would be able to align that with the general election in the fall. He confirmed that there would remain a vacant position on the Council for that period of time. Chairperson Field stated that he is understanding that the Charter is currently more restrictive than State law and therefore the recommendation would be to review the statute and determine if the Charter should be amended to match the statute. He agreed that this item should be placed on a future agenda. Chairperson Field expressed condolences to Commissioner Anderson on the loss of her daughter. Charter Commission/November 21, 2017 Page 5 of 6