Agenda - Council - 03/22/2022 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Kurt Ulrich March 22, 2022 Rage Two nonetheless very helpful in focusing the inquiry further on the obvious areas of concern to the Council members who had raised these issues. The statutory framework for the selection of Charter Commission members is Minnesota Statute §410.05. A copy of that statute is appended as Exhibit 2. Here, based on my review of the foregoing, are the central FACTS 1. Under Minnesota Statute 410.05, appointments to a charter commission in Minnesota are a matter exclusively in the discretion of the Chief Judge of the judicial district in which the charter city is located. Anoka County is in the tenth judicial district in Minnesota. 2. Charter commission members serve four years term and until their successors are appointed and qualify" unless they no longer wish or are able to serve, in which case the vacancy is filled by a new appointment. Only the Chief Judge has the authority, by written order, to remove a serving charter commission member from office. The law requires such an order to state the reason for the removal. Upon the expiration of a term, the Chief Judge has 00 days in which to either appoint new commissioners or reappoint existing commissioners. 3. The only responsibility given to a city council under the statute, whose role is not mandatory, is to "submit to the court the names of eligible nominees which the court may consider in making appointments....". The Chief Judge is not required, under the statute, to appoint only those individuals who were submitted by a city council. The Chief Judge's office had indicated that some city's actually recommend individuals for membership to the charter commission. The City of Ramsey has never done so nor does the statute even suggest, much less require that practice. 4. The City of Ramsey has, for many years, had in place a policy governing the manner in which commissions and boards of the city are to be selected. That policy very specifically does not govern the selection of charter commission members. 5. There does not appear to have ever been a separate policy governing the manner in which charter commission vacancies and applications were to be handled by the City. The City-s staff was left to its own judgement and direction on the matter.