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COLUMBIA HEIGHTS CHARTER COMMISSION
JANUARY 17, 2013
CITY HALL CONFERENCE ROOM 1
7:00 p.m.
CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order by President Steve Smith at 7:02 p.m.
ROLL CALL
Members present: Matt Abel, Lee Bak, Jeff Diehm, Rob Fiorendino, Roger Johnson, Carolyn Laine, Mike
Patiuk, Greg Sloat, Stephen Smith, Charles Tyler, Tim Utz
Members absent and excused: None
Members absent and unexcused: Nick Jentsch, Nancy King, Nicholas Rivers
Also Present: Tami Diehm, Council Liaison; Jim Hoeft, City Attorney; and Carole Blowers, Recording
Secretary.
The Recording Secretary advised that there are fourteen members on the commission at this time. One member
has been recommended to be removed due to non-attendance at four consecutive meetings. The Chief Judge
has not acted on that recommendation yet. There are three members whose terms expire between now and
March of this year: Nancy King, Charles Tyler, and Carolyn Laine. She advised that these members should let
her know if they wish to be reappointed.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Motion was made and seconded to approve tonight’s agenda as presented. Motion carried unanimously.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Motion was made and seconded to approve the October 18, 2012 minutes as presented.
CORRESPONDENCE REPORT
Recording Secretary Carole Blowers read her correspondence log from October, 2012, to January, 2013.
ELECTION OF OFFICERS
President Smith 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 and seconded to nominate Steve Smith as President.
Another call was made for nominations for President. Motion was made and seconded to nominate Tim Utz.
Another call was made for nominations for President. As there were no further nominations for President,
nominations were closed. Motion to elect Stephen Smith for President was 13; for Tim Utz- one.
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Nominations were called for Vice President. Motion was made and seconded to nominate Carolyn Laine for
Vice President. Two more calls were made for nominations for Vice President. As there were no further
nominations for Vice President, nominations were closed. Motion to elect Carolyn Laine for Vice President
passed unanimously.
Nominations were called for Secretary. Motion was made and seconded to nominate Matt Abel Two more
calls were made for nominations for Secretary. There being no further nominations for Secretary, nominations
were closed. Motion to elect Matt Abel as Secretary passed unanimously.
NEW BUSINESS
Approval of the 2012 Charter Commission Annual Report
Motion by Mike Patiuk, seconded by Matt Abel, to approve the 2012 Charter Commission Annual Report as
presented by the Recording Secretary. Commissioner Utz asked for clarification on the number of members we
had at the end of 2012, and the Recording Secretary stated we had 14 because the Chief Judge did not remove
the one member by the end of 2012 because of their non-attendance. The motion to approve the 2012 Annual
Report was passed unanimously. The Recording Secretary will forward the report to the City Clerk and the
Chief Judge Hoffman.
Discuss Differences Between a Charter and Statutory City
President Smith stated that he felt a discussion should be held on the differences between a charter and statutory
city. Charts comparing a statutory city and a charter city were passed out to commission members (from 2007)
tonight. It should be noted that there have been changes made to the City Charter since 2007 that are not
reflected in this chart. President Smith asked the City Attorney if this comparison chart could be updated, and
the City Attorney stated yes it could be.
The City Attorney explained that we have always been a charter city. Commissioner Jeff Diehm stated that his
understanding is that generally a charter city is more restrictive than a statutory city, especially in regard to
Chapter 5 concerning initiative, referendum, or recall. The City Attorney gave a brief overview of charter vs.
statutory cities. He stated that the number of statutory cities far outweigh the number of charter cities, and that
it is easier to go from a charter city to a statutory city.
Our Charter Commission has been reviewing many sections of the charter over the past few years to update it.
Commissioner Tyler stated that we got as far as the Franchise section (Chapter 10). It was noted that the City of
Minneapolis is in the process of updating theirs.
ADJOURNMENT
Motion was made and seconded to adjourn the meeting at 7:47 p.m. Motion passed unanimously.
Respectfully submitted,
Carole J. Blowers, Recording Secretary
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