Minutes - Council - 11/12/2024 - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Attorney Knaak noted that under some circumstances,the City Clerk does have this authority; however, he does not know about this particular circumstance. He said he would like to see somewhere that this authorization was expressed; however, he imagines the authority was given and is not worried about it. Councilmember Howell explained that she had reviewed the meeting minutes from the time of this agreement and could not find where this authority was given. Councilmember Specht agreed that this agreement was very one sided in favor of the County and would support terminating the agreement to ensure everything is done properly moving forward. Mayor Kuzma stated he believes this is being done too fast and shared that he thinks there should have been some conversations with the County before terminating the agreement. He said he does not disagree that the agreement could be better written. Councilmember Woestehoff noted that the way this agreement was written does not surprise him. He stated that trying to hold the County liable for the actions of a City employee with a device that is used as part of the voting process does not make sense as the liability does not need to be on the County at this point, but on the individual. He explained that this is what can be seen in many agreements and does not see what issues other Councilmembers have with the agreement. Councilmember Howell said the agreement has the City take on some of the financial liability if things go wrong with the devices. She added that she cannot find any record of this agreement going before the Council for discussion. She stated she does not like the idea that this liability was taken on without coming before the Council and she also does not like the way the agreement was written. Councilmember Woestehoff stated that if a City employee broke something on one of these devices, then the City should be financially responsible for fixing it. He added that they do not have enough information to prove whether or not the City Clerk had the authority to sign the agreement on the City's behalf. He noted that he does not have any concerns with the agreement itself as the items it makes the City responsible for should be the City's responsibility. Councilmember Musgrove noted that this agreement requires the City to have all of the licenses for the election equipment to be operating. She stated if the County wants them to use this equipment, it would be better to have an agreement that requires the County to provide the licensing for the City. She agreed with Councilmember Howell that this embodies a lot of financial responsibility. City Administrator Hagen shared that the City does not pay any money towards this equipment or licensing and it is all provided by the County. He said the City's cost with this equipment maybe would have involved the cost of picking up the equipment but that would be it. Councilmember Musgrove stated this proves her point that this was a badly written agreement. She noted that this was written in 2018 so the language could be updated to have a better understanding of responsibilities. City Council/November 12, 2024 Page 12 of 17