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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012Jan19CharterCommMinutesCOLUMBIA HEIGHTS CHARTER COMMISSION JANUARY 19, 2012 CITY HALL CONFERENCE ROOM 1 7:00 p.m. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by President Rachel Schwankl at 7:05 p.m. ROLL CALL Members present: Matt Abel, Lee Bak, Jeff Diehm, Roger Johnson, Carolyn Laine, Mike Patiuk, Rachel Schwankl, Greg Sloat, Stephen Smith, Charles Tyler, Tim Utz Members absent and excused: Nick Jentsch, Nancy King, Katherine Pepple, Nicholas Rivers Members absent and unexcused: None Tami Diehm, Council Liaison, was unable to attend due to a work commitment. Jim Hoeft, City Attorney, and Carole Blowers, Recording Secretary, were in attendance. The Recording Secretary advised that there are two members on the commission whose terms expire in February of this year: Roger Johnson and Mike Patiuk. Both have advised her that they wish to continue serving on the commission, and she will advise the new Chief Judge of their decision. There are fifteen members on the commission at this time. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Motion was made by Rachel Schwankl, seconded by Charles Tyler, to approve tonight's agenda as presented. Motion carried unanimously. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion was made by Rachel Schwankl, seconded by Matt Abel, to approve the October 20, 2011 minutes as presented. Tim Utz stated that under the approval of the minutes and adjournment, he voted no in each case and had asked that his name be recorded as such in the minutes and they were not. When asked the reason for his request, Commissioner Utz stated he wants, for public record, how he votes in this community. Therefore, he made a motion to amend the minutes with his name recorded as such in the two areas mentioned items; seconded by Greg Sloat. Motion defeated; 2 yes; 9 no. Charles Tyler stated that how a member votes is only required when making a motion about public funds. Vote on the original motion to approve the minutes as presented passed: 9 yes; 2 no. CORRESPONDENCE Recording Secretary Carole Blowers read her correspondence log for October, 2011, to January, 2012. Page I 1 ELECTION OF OFFICERS President Schwankl stated at this time we would have the election of the following officers: President, Vice President, and Secretary. Nominations were called for President. Motion was made by Charles Tyler, seconded by Tim Utz, to nominate Rachel Schwankl as President. Another call was made for nominations for President. Motion was made by Rachel Schwankl, seconded by Jeff Diehm, to nominate Carolyn Laine. Another call was made for nominations for President. Motion was made by Stephen Smith, seconded by Tim Utz, to nominate Stephen Smith. As there were no further nominations for President, nominations were closed. Rachel Schwankl and Carolyn Laine declined the nomination for President. Motion to elect Stephen Smith for President was unanimous. Nominations were called for Vice President. Motion was made by Rachel Schwankl, seconded by Mike Patiuk, to nominate Charles Tyler for Vice President. Another call was made for nominations for Vice President. Motion was made by Jeff Diehm, and seconded by Charles Tyler to nominate Carolyn Laine for Vice President. Another call was made for nominations for Vice President. As there were no further nominations for Vice President, nominations were closed. Charles Tyler declined the nomination for Vice President. Motion to elect Carolyn Laine for Vice President passed; 9 yes; 2 no. Nominations were called for Secretary. Rachel Schwankl. Two more calls Motion was made by Tim Utz, seconded by Charles Tyler, to nominate were made for nominations for Secretary. There being no further nominations for Secretary, nominations were closed unanimously. NEW BUSINESS Motion to elect Rachel Schwankl as Secretary passed Approval of the 2011 Charter Commission Annual Report Motion by Matt Abel, seconded by Charles Tyler, to approve the 2011 Charter Commission Annual Report as presented by the Recording Secretary. Motion passed 10 yes; 1 no. The Recording Secretary will forward the report to the City Clerk and the new Chief Judge, John Hoffman. Legislative Update Carolyn Laine asked if she could give a brief legislative update on an issue concerning Charter Commissions. She is authoring a bill to increase the amount a Charter Commission can receive from their city if they are working on a public purpose issue (copying, advertising, etc.). The amount of $1,500 has been the same since 1964. She is proposing a bill that the amount would be 1/7 of 1% of the certified levy for each city, with a minimum amount of $1,500 to a maximum of $20,000. Therefore, each city would have to budget for this amount per their own individual certified levy amount; and Charter Commission are not required to use these funds each year, but would only use those monies as needed. Review Charter Commission Rules Vice President Tyler had put together a draft proposal of some meeting rules that could be discussed by the commission to better manage our meetings. They are as follows: Page 12 General All official business transacted by the Commission must be in accordance with the provisions of the Amended Procedures and Policy of the Columbia Heights Charter Commission. 2. Quorum In order to transact official business of either the Commission or any of its committees, a quorum must be present which will consists of a simple majority of the members. Members who wish, may have their vote(s) recorded as part of the minutes of the meeting as taken by the secretary. 3. Rulings on Motions The president, or acting president, shall rule on all motions and controversies raised by members. Such rulings by the president are final unless the ruling is challenged by a member. If any ruling is challenged, the presiding officer will immediately take a vote of the members. A `yea' vote sustains the ruling by the presiding officer and a `nay' vote overrules the ruling of the presiding officer. The outcome will be determined by a simple majority of the voting members. 4. Adiournment Meetings can be adjourned by a motion of a member. Upon such a motion, the presiding officer will immediately take a vote of the members. Such a motion is sustained by a simple majority of the voting members. The presiding offer may adjourn the meeting without a motion, unless the adjournment is challenged. Upon a challenge the presiding officer will poll the remaining members to determine whether the adjournment is in order. A simple majority of `yea' votes will sustain the action to adjourn. The current Rules are attached to these minutes for reference. Significant discussion followed. Some members felt Roberts Rules of Order are just fine to follow; others feel it is cumbersome, as it is a rather large document. The City Attorney stated that common sense rules, and that Roberts Rules of Order are a structured document of how a body should run a meeting. It is a guide; not a hard and fast rule that must be followed word for word. It was stated that we were in violation of our rules when we did not meet once every three months last year (the January meeting was cancelled due to weather), and we did not meet again until April. The City Attorney stated that in a case like that, the members could suspend the rules at the next meeting. He also stated that the law does not require individual votes be recorded. A member can ask for a vote via roll call vote, and be selective what votes they want recorded in a meeting. Motion by Matt Abel, seconded by Greg Sloat to table the discussion on the rule changes suggested by Charles Tyler. Motion failed by a 1 yes vote; 10 no vote. Some members felt they had insufficient information on what mechanisms we could implement; and what exactly are we trying to solve? More discussion ensued. Motion was made by Carolyn Laine, seconded by Page 13 Charles Tyler, to change the word "shall" to "may" in 43, and add this paragraph to our current rules as # 18. Motion passed; 8 yes; 3 no. The City Attorney asked the underlying question: Is the solution looking for a problem, or is there a problem running the meeting? Commissioners should think about this outside of this meeting, and think about common threads and report them to the President, and he could see what part of Roberts Rules of Order address them or where our RULES cover that. Item #3 calls the question, and keeps the meeting flowing. Matt Abel stated #1, 2, and 4 are already in our Rules. We could approve #3 tonight. Tim Utz stated #2 is not resolved, and he would like to resolve it tonight. Stephen Smith stated that as President, he would tell everyone if you want a roll call vote, you need to ask for a roll call vote, and don't come back to that issue later. Also, the roll call vote request should be made before you call the question. Tim Utz stated he is not interested in asking for a roll call vote for EVERY vote. Another suggestion was that instead of a roll call vote, that once a request is made by anyone that their vote be recorded, that it be honored. Motion by Rachel Schwankl, seconded by Matt Abel, to amend #2 by adding the following words "at the time of the vote" after the word "recorded ", and add this paragraph to our current Rules. Motion passed; 9 yes; 2 no. ADJOURNMENT Motion made by Jeff Diehm, seconded by Matt Abel, to adjourn the meeting at 8:30 p.m. Motion passed unanimously. Respectfully submitted, Carole J. Blowers Recording Secretary Page 14 COLUMBIA RULES i 1. The officers of the commission shall be a president, a vice - president, and a secretary, who shall be elected by a majority of the entire commission. Election of officers shall be held at the commission meeting each January. An election may also be called, with seven (7) days written notice, by petition of any five (5) members of the commission. Upon a vacancy in any office, that office shall be filled by election at the next meeting of the commission. For all duties herein listed, the vice - president shall serve as the president in the president's absence. 2. In all deliberations of the commission, any of its permanent or special committees or when it functions as a committee of the whole, except as specified herein, Robert's Rules of Order, Revised, shall apply. 3. The full commission shall act as a committee of the whole. Special committees may be appointed from time to time when deemed necessary by the commission. A. Committee assignments shall be made by the president, with majority approval of the entire commission. B. Each committee shall have a chair, who shall be appointed by the president, with majority approval of the entire commission. C. Each committee shall consist of not less than three (3) members. D. Commission members may serve on more than one committee, but cannot chair more than one committee at any given time. E. All reports from a committee shall be in writing. Copies of committee reports shall be mailed to each member of the commission not less than seven (7) days prior to the next commission meeting at which the committee report is to be considered. 4. The commission shall meet at least once every quarter. Special meetings shall be limited to specific matters and held at the call of the president or by the secretary upon receipt of a petition of any three (3) members of the commission. The meetings must be preceded by a written notice at least seven (7) days prior to the meeting. 5. The agenda of the commission meeting, except for special meetings, shall be as follows: A. Commission administrative matters, i.e., minute's approval, appointments of committees, and committee chairs, etc. B. Introduction of proposed amendments. C. Reports from committees, including proposed amendments for their first reading. D. Proposed amendments before the commission for their second reading. 6. Proposed amendments may be presented to the commission by any member of the commission. The proposed amendment shall be in written form with copies available for each member of the commission. A majority vote of the commission members present shall decide what action is to be taken on the proposed amendment. 7. Committees, including the committee of the whole, reviewing a proposed amendment are charged with the duties of investigating, clarifying, and drafting the proposed amendment in proper form for inclusion in the charter. Specially appointed committees are also to consider its merit and can either report it back to the commission positively or negatively or with no recommendation. If the committee refers a proposed amendment to the commission negatively, the commission can by majority vote of the members present: A. Send it back to the same committee for further consideration B. Take no action, which would, in effect, defeat the proposed amendment, or C. Consider it as the committee of the whole. 9. If the committee does not report a proposed amendment to the entire commission within ninety (90) days, the commission can, by majority vote of the members present: A. Consider it as the committee of the whole, or B. Take no action, thereby leaving it in the same committee. 10. The commission, acting as the committee of the whole, has the same responsibilities as any other committee. A proposed amendment can be considered by the committee of the whole on the same day it is introduced. Favorable consideration by majority vote of the commission of a proposed amendment shall constitute the first reading of the amendment. 11. When a specially appointed committee refers a proposed amendment to the commission positively, it is given its first reading and can be debated. 12. A proposed amendment cannot be given its second reading for at least ten (10) days after its first reading. The proposed amendment shall be deemed approved with direction for a public referendum or recommended to the City Council for amendment by a unanimous vote of the Council, by a vote constituting a majority of the entire commission following its second reading. 13. If the City Council decides not to amend the charter under the provisions of Section 12, the commission can reconsider the proposed amendment, and by a majority vote of the entire commission, the proposed amendment can be passed with directions for a public referendum. 14. In order to transact business of either the commission or any of its committees, a quorum must be present which will consist of a simple majority of the members. 15. All meetings of the commission and any of its committees shall be open to the public. 16. The commission, acting as the committee of the whole, can conduct public hearings on proposed amendments. 17. The above rules can be only suspended or amended by a two-thirds vote of the members present. (Revised 8 -98)