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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014Oct16 Charter Comm MinutesMINUTES OF i, i THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1I CONFERENCE CITY HALL Oi COLUMBIA Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Vice President Tim Utz. Roll Call /Status of Membership Members present: Ramona Anderson, Lee Bak, Jeff Diehm, Roger Johnson, Carolyn Laine, Mike Patiuk, Greg Sloat, Tim Utz, Catherine Vesley Members absent and excused: Matt Abel, Steve Smith, Charles Tyler Members unexcused: Rob Fiorendino, James Guy, Wes Wiggins Council Liaison Tami Diehm was excused from tonight's meeting. City Attorney Jim Hoeft and Recording Secretary Carole Blowers -Knoll were present. Guest: Bryan Olson It should be noted that two member's terms expire in December of 2014: Lee Bak and Tim Utz. There are two member's terms that expire in January of 2015: Jeff Diehm and Greg Sloat. Approval of Tonight's Agenda Motion made and seconded to approve tonight's agenda. Motion passed unanimously. Approve Charter Commission Minutes of July 17, 2014 Motion by Commissioner Vesley, seconded by Commissioner Bak, to approve the July 17, 2014, minutes as presented by Secretary Matt Abel. Motion passed unanimously. Correspondence Since Last Meeting The Recording Secretary read the correspondence report since our last meeting: Sent the unapproved July minutes to the City Clerk for the City Council agenda. • Contacted President Smith regarding the prepared October agenda, and sent it to all commission members along with minutes from July, 2014. Put tonight's agenda on local cable and posted it at City Hall • E -mails were received from Commissioners Abel, Tyler, and Smith that they would not be able to attend tonight's meeting. ® Received e -mail from Commissioner Sloat regarding an item he wished to add to tonight's agenda; advised Vice President Utz and President Smith of the same. Old Business Commissioner Utz advised the Recording Secretary that he wishes to be reappointed when his term 10 -16 -14 expires in December. Later in the meeting, Commissioner Sloat also advised the Recording Secretary that he wishes to be reappointed when his term expires in January of 2015. New Business Commissioner Sloat wished to discuss some things regarding the referendum process wording in the City Charter. Regarding the recent petition on the new library, he stated that there were 300 signatures that were thrown out due to people who signed the petition, but had an address change within the city. He advised that he consulted with Cindy Reichart from Anoka County on this issue. Commissioner Laine stated that it is very easy for residents to change their addresses on -line and it takes just a few minutes to do so. Commissioner Sloat also suggested that we change the word "registered voter" to "eligible voter ". Commissioner Laine advised that "registered voter" is the norm. He also stated that the deadline and /or timeframe for obtaining signatures is not clearly stated in the City Charter. Commissioner Vesley stated that the timeframe was clearly stated by the City Attorney at the city council meeting when this issue came up. Commissioner Sloat stated that there was also the situation of people who signed the petition and then later wanted to withdraw their signatures. The City Attorney stated that state statutes are silent about someone who wants to remove their name from a petition. Commissioner Sloat stated there is a lot more detail in the City Charter regarding the "initiative process" than the "referendum process ". The City Attorney explained that the referendum is more of a reactionary process, and the initiative is a "new" process; thus more wording for that process. Commissioner Sloat feels some changes in the City Charter should be made to address some of these issues and clean up the language so that everyone knows what, when, and how to do this, and those proposed changes should come from the Charter Commission. Questions /comments from commissioners present tonight ranged from: • are these issues addressed in the state statutes (i.e., someone who wants to remove their name)? • could we use the city's water billing addresses to verify signatures? • the timeframe for gathering signatures was clearly stated by the City Attorney at a council meeting. The City Attorney advised the City Charter gives us the power for referendum and initiative. There is a lot of latitude in the wording. The city's water billing addresses would not be a good way to verify signatures. To clarify, Commissioner Diehm stated that from what he has heard tonight, Commissioner Sloat is stating that there are two issues: 1. Voter registration issue 2. Removal of signatures from the petition Vice President Utz advised Commissioner Sloat to prepare his recommended changes to the City Charter in writing and forward it to the Recording Secretary so she can communicate it to all members before the next meeting in January. Then at the January meeting, we can have an intelligent discussion on the issues. If assistance is needed with the wording, the City Attorney can help with that. Commissioner Johnson stated that he would like to get back to a review of the City Charter (in general). We left off at the "Franchise" section. 10 -16 -14 Next Meeting Date — January 15, 2015 at 7 p.m. Vice President Utz asked if this date is good with everyone. It is always the third Thursday of the month (January, April, July, and October). As there were no comments, that is the date of our next meeting. Adjournment Motion by Commissioner Vesley to adjourn the meeting at 7:25 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Carole J. Blowers -Knoll Recording Secretary for the Charter Commission 10 -16 -14