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

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Boards and Commissions. She felt the Council needed respect from Staff in getting them information. She noted there were no comments that took place between Councilmember Woestehoff and Staff regarding the redistricting and that shows inconsistencies. Councilmember Musgrove stated she wanted to go back to look at the policy they just passed in light of the established policy. City Administrator Ulrich stated that he got a document from Councilmember Howell and copies were handed out. He responded to the questions and concerns. He stated that he has respect for Councilmembers as representatives of the residents. He stated that he knows Councilmembers have the difficult job of hearing differing opinions and making decisions. He views his job is to work with seven different Councilmembers, each with differing opinions on issues. He knows there has been criticism in the past but he assured that he and the Staff don’t pick favorites or play favorites as a value. He stated they try to provide information requests and try to do as fairly as possible. He understood perceptions could be different. He stated Councilmembers can come in and ask questions but if it gets into hours of Staff time, the practice in the past is that the whole Council deserves to know where resources are utilized. If the seven different Councilmembers are asking for differing investigations of one sort or another, Staff time accumulates. He stated everyone should know generally what is happening and what things are taking a lot of time and research time is shared. He stated as a practice, based on Council feedback, information such as which Councilmember is asking the question is filtered so names aren’t shared. He thought in the past, it has worked well and the Council has been well informed. He stated he sees value of sharing information and doesn’t see value in changing that policy. He thought the policy of appointing incumbents has been followed. He responded to the question of Staff finding answers to questions that he thought they were responsive and no effort was made to hide information regarding the manufacturing cohort. Councilmember Musgrove corrected, the information that she was asking for was, for example, when an EDA Councilmember asked what 18 businesses were involved in the manufacturing cohort and no one at the Staff level looked into it until another Councilmember asked and then the answer was provided the day of the Council meeting. She stated that several members of another city’s Councilmembers volunteered the comment that the Ramsey Staff doesn’t support them. City Administrator Ulrich responded he respected her opinion and it is valid because it is her perspective but from his perspective, Staff goes the extra mile in getting information but they try the best they can. He stated if the position is that the Council never is provided enough information, he is sensitive to her concerns and will instruct Staff to provide more information. They are not trying to not provide enough information for them to not be able to make decisions. Councilmember Musgrove pointed out that in four years she has never seen the policy and process of appointment for City Boards and Committees. That is an example of not going an extra mile, it is simply a base part of the case. She gave another example of negotiation with contracts that they are never presented with the original contract, only the changes, and only got the original after asking, but she thought that was a base part of the case as well. She stated she isn’t asking for Staff to go way out of their way. City Council /March 8, 2022 Page 30 of 38