Minutes - Council - 04/09/1996 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mr. Goodrich stated that, on March 26, it was stated that an election could be held - not that it would be held. Since March 26, we have received an opinion from the f'mn of Kennedy and Graven. They stated that the proposed amendment is constitutional and it should be placed on the ballot. Section 4.10.12 outlines the procedure for dealing with petition papers. All are to be taken to the Charter Commission and sent to the City Council and they review them to see if the required number of signatures have been received. Then City Council is required to schedule a special election. The Charter has no ability to amend the petition - they can comment but they cannot change language. This still needs to be presented to the Charter Commission and they in turn can present it back to the Council on April 23. At that time a special election date can be scheduled. Terry Hendriksen, 15631 Ramsey Boulevard NW, Ramsey, stated that this is the only way the Charter can be amended. We are trying to give the citizens the right to vote on what was promised them. On February 29, Jo Thieling sent a memorandum to the Charter Commission; therefore, they could have taken action on this. It is totally unreasonable to expect that a Charter amendment would wait a year and then hand it back to you unchanged. At your last meeting, Mr. Deemer was here stating he made phone calls to the Attomey General and that they were in agreement. The document the Attorney General's office wrote to him tells him he is not all correct. Mr. Hendriksen stated that in his opinion, after the Charter amendment has been delivered to the Mayor and City Council and it's their duty to submit the proposed amendment to the people for a vote. It would not appear necessary to have a petition resubmitted by the Charter to the City Council. It makes no sense to do this. It makes more sense to place this on the ballot so we can concentrate on the real substantive issue. He stated that his interpretation is that we are only talking about two days - February 27 to February 29 because that's the date when the transmission to the Charter Commission occurred. Mr. Deemer stated that he did bring the letter from the Attorney General's office. He said he could not give me an opinion - they should not have been giving Mr. Hendriksen an opinion either. Section 410.06 gives them the right to have the Charter Commission convene. The Charter Commission is not part of this City - they are a separate entity. He felt that it has not been presented to the Charter - that has to be done at a meeting. Mr. Goodrich stated that everyone agrees there has to be a special election - we can set a date at the April 23, 1996 meeting. Mr. Hendriksen stated that, being suspicious by nature, the law says whenever a petition to amend the Charter is received, the election has to be held within 90 days unless a regular election is scheduled in six months or less. He expressed suspicion that the City will delay this until it can be placed on the ballot in November and then we have a lot of disinterested people voting on this. Mr. Goodrich stated that the City Council has not taken action on this. He felt it was unfair of Mr. Hendriksen to contemplate that Council would do something like that. Mr. Hendriksen stated he would like to have a reading from the City Council - a clear unequivocal statement - "do you intend to put this amendment on the next ballot? .... The voters have a fight to know. He again asked if Council would unequivocally state that they will place this amendment on a special election. Mr. Goodrich felt Council should wait until they hear from the Charter Commission. Mr. Hendriksen stated he was under the impression the Charter Commission could not make a change to which Mr. Goodrich assured him they could not. Mr. Hendriksen again asked Council if they would give him some assurances. City Council/April 9, 1996 Page 13 of 17