Agenda - Charter Commission - 04/21/2005

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C~TER 8 Minn. Stat. § 412.581. Minn. Slat. § 412.59l. Minn. Slat. § 412.681. Minn. Stat § 412.02, subds. I, 3. City administration, including the duties of the clerk is also discussed in League research memo CiO, ,4dminh'tratflm: Clerk, Admini~'trato~', Manage~' (369.3). A. Statutory appointive offices Minnesota statutes require that cities fill several positions. These include the following: Clerk Treasurer · Emergency management positions Data practices compliance positions o Assessor ° Manager (Plan B cities only) I. Clerk and treasurer in general Plan A cities must appoint a clerk and a treasurer. The law also authorizes these offices to be combined by local ordinance. In Plan B cities, there must be a clerk and a treasurer and other offices as the council may create by ordinance. The council may combine the duties of any offices, except the manager may not perform the treasurer's duties. In Standard Plan cities, the clerk and treasurer (or 3he combined clerk- treasurer position) are elected positions. Although the duties are similar to Plan A city clerks and treasurers, Standard Plan cities should also see the discussion in Chapter 6 regarding elected officials for further information. 2. Clerk The clerk is a central figure in any city government and has a wide variety of duties and responsibilities. Not only does the clerk execute many of the city's governmental functions, the clerk also usually supervises the daily administration of city business, such as keeping records, writing letters, and keeping accounts. a. Elected clerk In many Standard Plan cities, the elected clerk no longer spends a large amount of time performing the duties of clerk. Instead, the elected clerk has become more like a regular councilmember who supervises a deputy clerk--a city employee who performs the day-to-day operations of the clerk's office. 8-4 This chapter last revised 12/l 4/2004 HANDBOOK FOR MFNNESOTA CITIES -64-