Minutes - Council Work Session - 03/14/2023

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City Clerk Schmidt reviewed the Staff report and recommendations to amend Chapter 4 of the City Charter. She reviewed the proposed changes to the Charter. She stated that the changes can be split if the Council does not wish to move forward with all changes. She added that this will come back for a public hearing on April 11. Acting Mayor Riley asked City Clerk Schmidt to elaborate on the special appointments. City Clerk Schmidt explained that if there is less than a year left in a term when a vacancy happens, the Council is supposed to appoint someone immediately. She stated that the Charter is recommending removing the 365 day limit where Council would need to appoint someone when a vacancy occurs no matter the amount of the term that is left. She added that a typical vacancy is seven to nine months. Councilmember Specht asked if the Council was supposed to appoint people when there have been vacancies in the past. He asked for clarification on this. City Clerk Schmidt stated that if there is longer than a year left on the term there was not an appointment per the Charter. Councilmember Musgrove asked for clarification that the Charter wants them to appoint someone within 90 days of a vacancy whether there is an upcoming election or not. She stated that she is not in favor of quickly appointing someone just to fill a vacancy when there is a time within three months that there will be an election. City Clerk Schmidt reiterated that the current Charter reads that a successor needs to be appointed and it does not give a timeframe to have this done by. She added that the change removes the provision that there be less than a year left on the term. She stated that they can hold interviews and it may take a few months to appoint someone. Councilmember Musgrove shared where in the Charter that she sees a timeframe. City Clerk Schmidt stated that this has to do with State statute and said that the statute no longer says that the appointment has to be made within 90 days. Councilmember Woestehoff explained that in Section 1, if there is a vacancy that has more than 365 days left in its term then there will need to be an election and Section 4 says that if there is a vacancy regardless of the amount of time remaining, the Council will appoint someone until the election is complete. Councilmember Musgrove stated that she does not agree with this section. She said she does not agree with the principle of appointing someone and not having them elected by the residents. Acting Mayor Riley asked if she would rather see the position left vacant than for the Council to appoint someone. City Council Work Session / March 14, 2023 Page 2 of 7