Agenda - Council - 03/08/2022 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

the Charter Commission position have been ongoing and have been advertised in the fall. It was in the January/February newsletter, public notices were done in November and December 2021. He stated there were plenty of legal public notice. He stated the applicants they got were equally distributed based on the advertisement that was out. They try to get applicants and it is their intention to fill the slots. If there are two applicants the process has been to send those in to the judge because it isn't typical to get more than that. For this Charter position six came in which is unusual. Staff felt that advertisement had been put out and there had been an equal opportunity. He stated it wasn't intended to exclude anyone. It was legally noticed as well as publicly noticed. He thought setting the deadline may have been a mistake. He stated that they found out in the process that some Councils and Commissions have taken a more active role in recommending candidates to the judge, which is something that could be done. He stated that some Commissions exclude Councilmembers but it is allowed under Ramsey. He understood questioning the process and there is room for improvement in looking at the role for filling the Charter positions. Councilmember Howell asked if City Administrator Ulrich believed that two and half applicants per opening on the Charter constitutes a flood of applicants. City Administrator Ulrich replied he wouldn't use that term but it is relative compared to what was seen in the past for those and the applications would have been turned over to the judge. Councilmember Howell stated from the presentation, the City of Ramsey doesn't have a habit of deleting old ads and she questioned why an ad was pulled for an active position based on the claim that there was a flood of applicants and what was being controlled. She questioned why Staff intentionally limited the number of applicants that were provided to the judge. City Administrator Ulrich replied an open time period was allowed so anyone who wanted to apply could. There was no limit to the amount of applications that they could have been received. He didn't believe the applications were limited. He agreed that it is the judge's decision based on the applications that are provided and they had a fair and open process. He stated they could have gotten more applicants but didn't overly promote it because they felt there was a full slate of applicants to fill the openings and there were a couple of members that continued their term on the Charter Commission. He explained the process was done similar to what was done in the past but was open to improvements. Mayor Kuzma stated the judge made the appointment for Councilmember Woestehoff to be on the Charter Commission. He stated if there is a desire to change the policy, that discussion could take place during a Work Session. Councilmember Howell commented that Administrative Services Director Lasher limited the applicant pool because residents would have had nearly two months to apply and the City Council didn't know it had been set because the newsletter didn't state that. She felt legal requirements may have been met but the ethical requirements have not been. She stated that with other positions, a wide net is cast to get a big pool of applicants. Mayor Kuzma replied they followed the process that has been used in the past. City Council/February 22, 2022 Page 22 of 34