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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-10-2025 Charter Commission Packet ATTENDANCE INFORMATION FOR THE PUBLIC Members of the public who wish to attend may do so in-person. For questions, please call the Administration Department at 763-706-3610. Call to Order Roll Call/Status of Membership Approval of Agenda Approval of Minutes 1. January 16, 2024 Meeting Minutes Correspondence Old Business 2. Changes to Recall elections Sections 47-52 New Business Adjournment Please email President Laine at carolynlaine@gmail.com if you cannot attend. Auxiliary aids or other accommodations for individuals with disabilities are available upon request when the request is made at least 72 hours in advance. Please contact Administration at 763-706-3610 to make arrangements. CHARTER COMMISSION Columbia Heights City Hall, 3989 Central Ave NE, Shared Vision Thursday, April 10, 2025 7:00 PM AGENDA Call to Order Roll Call/Status of Membership Members present: Matt Abel, Kathy Ahlers, Wolid Ahmed, Larry Betzhold, Christine Brown, Ben Harris, Bill Hugo, Leo James, Carolyn Laine, Julie Rose, Frost Simula, Marsha Stroik, Susan Wiseman Members absent: Excused: Veronica Johnson, Gregory Sloat Unexcused: Christine Brown Also Present: Council Liaison Justice Spriggs, City Manager Aaron Chirpich, City Attorney Travis Lutz standing in for Scott Lepak. Introduction of City Manager Aaron Chirpich Aaron conveyed an interest by the City Council to hold a joint work session with the Charter Commission. The commission agreed. Date and agenda to be determined. Approval of Agenda Amendments: ● Addition of Approval of the Annual Report under New Business ● Reorder of New Business before Old Business Motion by Ahlers to approve as amended, second by Betzhold. Motion approved 1. Approval of October 17, 2024 Meeting Minutes Amendment: Scott Lepak was present. Motion to approve as amended by Wiseman, Second by Abel. 2. Election of Officers President Nomination: Self-nomiation by Laine, second by Stroik Roll call vote: Ayes (12): Abel, Ahlers, Ahmed, Betzhold, Harris, Hugo, James, Laine, Rose, Simula, Stroik, Wiseman. Laine elected. CHARTER COMMISSION Columbia Heights City Hall, 3989 Central Ave NE, Shared Vision Thursday, January 16, 2025 7:00 PM DRAFT MINUTES Vice President Nomination by Ahlers for Betzhold, second by Betzhold. Motion by Wiseman for a unanimous vote, Second by Abel. Motion passes. Betzhold elected. Secretary Motion by Ahmed for Simula, Second by Abel. Motion by Wiseman for a unanimous vote, Second by Abel. Motion passes. Simula elected. Correspondence Email from St. Paul resident regarding City Council’s authority to create the new Administrative Offenses ordinance. ● Staff is unsure of the sender’s relationship to Columbia Heights. ● Aaron Chirpich spoke about the new ordinance that changes building code enforcement from a judicial matter into an administrative offense. This change is modeled after a number of surrounding communities, including St. Paul. ● Additionally, a new software system will allow both staff and the public to submit building code complaints, process tracking, fines, etc. Commissioner Ahlers expressed legal and ethical concerns about the software complaint feature. ● The authority to act by ordinance is defined in the Charter, Section 2 and Section 116. This was communicated to the St. Paul resident by the City Clerk. No further action was taken by the Charter Commission. New Business Approval of Annual Report Motion to approve by Ahlers, second by Ahmed. Motion passes. Old Business 3. Changes to Recall elections Sections 47-52 President Laine determined that each completed section counts as a first reading. When all sections are complete, a second reading will take place. If approved, the complete changes will then be sent to the City Council. Section 48. Recall Petitions. President Laine pointed out a 2019 Supreme Court case regarding voter registration in St. Paul which hinged on the term “active status” on the Statewide Voter Registration System (SVRS). Proposed change: Return “active status” to the Right of Recall section. Motion by Harris, second by Hugo to replace “according to” with “who are on active status on”. Roll call vote: Ayes (12): Abel, Ahlers, Ahmed, Betzhold, Harris, Hugo, James, Laine, Rose, Simula, Stroik, Wiseman Motion passes. Special Election Dates President Laine pointed out that Chapter 5 includes three sections that use excessive language to detail special election dates, and changes to state law now make the dates listed in the Charter incorrect. Proposed changes: Section 41. Initiative. Replace “next election occurring not more than three months after the date of the final action by the council, and if no otherwise scheduled election is to be held within three months from such date, then the council shall call a special election to be held not less than thirty nor more than forty-five days from such date” with “soonest date that conforms with state law”. Section 44. Referendum. Replace “within not less than thirty nor more than forty-five days from the action of the council calling it” with “at the soonest date that conforms with state law”. Section 50. Recall. Replace “not less than thirty nor more than forty-five days thereafter, provided that if any other municipal election is to occur within sixty days after such meeting, the council may in its discretion provide for the holding of the recall election at that time” with “at the soonest date that conforms with state law”. Motion by Hugo, second by Wiseman to replace the excessive language as proposed. Discussion: Clarification about the 84 day minimum period between the notification and execution of a special election. Roll call vote: Ayes (12): Abel, Ahlers, Ahmed, Betzhold, Harris, Hugo, James, Laine, Rose, Simula, Stroik, Wiseman Motion passes. Section [#]. Right of Recall. Discussion about defining the word “wrongful” or removing the containing sentence entirely. Discussion ended without a motion. Section 52. Form of Recall Ballot. President Laine pointed out that both a recall vote and an election of a replacement occur on the same ballot, which must include a field for a write-in. Although the Charter states “the officer whose recall is sought shall not be a candidate upon such ballot”, that very officer could prevail as a write-in, against the intent of the Charter and the majority of the voters. Motion by Stroik, second by James to adopt language from the Mankato charter to add “and shall be ineligible under any circumstances to hold the office from which they were recalled until the next general election for such office.” Motion by Abel to table, second by Ahmed. Roll call vote: Ayes(8) Abel, Ahlers, Ahmed, Betzhold, Harris, Hugo, Rose, Simula Nays(3) Laine, Stroik, Wiseman Abstain(1): James Motion passes. Section 36. Expenditures by Petitioner. President Laine pointed out that it would be useful for a recall committee to utilize the city attorney to determine if the requirements of malfeasance or nonfeasance have been met. Motion by Ahmed, second by James to add “or that the grounds for a recall have been met”. Discussion around the duties of a city attorney, and clarification that attorney is an agent of the city, not a public committee. Motion withdrawn by Ahmed. Summary Changes to Chapter 5 Initiative, Referendum and Recall New section, first hearing on October 17, 2024. “Section [#]. Right of Recall. The people of the City of Columbia Heights hereby reserve to themselves the right and power to remove from office at any time any or all of the elected officers of the City for malfeasance or nonfeasance in office in accordance with state law. For this purpose, the word ‘malfeasance’ means the performance of an act in their official capacity that is unlawful or wrongful, and the word ‘nonfeasance’ means the failure to act where there was a duty to act. The exercise of this power shall be designated as “the recall”.” Section 41, first hearing on January 16, 2025. “If the council shall fail to pass the proposed ordinance, or shall pass it on in a form different from that set forth in the petition and unsatisfactory to the petitioners, the proposed ordinance shall be submitted by the council to vote of the electorate at the next election occurring not more than three months after the date of the final action by the council, and if no otherwise scheduled election is to be held within three months from such date, then the council shall call a special election to be held not less than thirty nor more than forty-five days from such date soonest date that conforms with state law.” Section 44, first hearing on January 16, 2025. “In the latter case the council shall immediately order a special municipal election to be held thereon within not less than thirty nor more than forty-five days from the action of the council calling it at the soonest date that conforms with state law.” Section 48, first hearing on January 16, 2025. “Signatures must be from eligible voters who are on active status on the Statewide Voter Registration System at the time of the petition verification.” Section 50, first hearing on January 16, 2025. “The council shall at its next meeting, by motion, provide for the holding of a special recall election not less than thirty nor more than forty-five days thereafter, provided that if any other municipal election is to occur within sixty days after such meeting, the council may in its discretion provide for the holding of the recall election at that time at the soonest date that conforms with state law.” Discussion will continue in April 2025. New Business ADJOURNMENT Motion: Abel, second by Ahmed. Motion passes. Meeting adjourned at 8:07pm. Next meeting is April 10, 2025 at 7pm. Recall Ballot: Our charter has the recall election and the election of someone new on the same ballot. Our charter then says clearly, “But the officer whose recall is sought shall not be a candidate upon such ballot.” PROBLEM: State law now requires a write-in opportunity in any election (except a primary) of a municipal office, so we run into the problem that the intent stated above is not clear enough to prevent the officer recalled from winning the seat back if there are several candidates and the votes are spread out amongst them. EXAMPLE: If two candidates ran for the seat AND the one removed was written in – there is a chance the voters’ intent would be violated. As much as 69% of the voters could vote to recall the person and as little as 31% of the voters could vote to put that person back in. This is not the intent of the charter; this is not fair to the majority of the voters. We elect by majority; that’s why we require primaries to narrow the candidates down to two so there will be a clear majority for the candidate that wins. (When the charter was written, there was no state law requiring write-in votes.) Possible Solutions: 1. Add the words Mankato uses: After “But the officer whose recall is sought shall not be a candidate upon such ballot,” add: “and shall be ineligible under any circumstances to hold the office from which they were recalled until the next general election for such office.” This is legal because the Charter rules in this part of the election language. Even if the recalled person gets a plurality of the votes via a write-in, they would not be eligible to hold the office from which they were recalled (until the next general election). 2. A different solution is to separate the recall election from the election of the new person. So, TWO elections would be needed, (both needing to be held on very specific dates the state lists for elections). a. Use the same method we use for any council vacancy: The Charter would say “The position shall be deemed vacant and filled as provided in this charter.” That would mean that after the Recall Election, the council would appoint someone, and if the time before the next election is less than 2 years, the election isn’t held until the next regular municipal election. If it’s over 2 years, another special election would be done, including a primary. Both of these situations would allow the recalled candidate to run but would require that person to both survive the primary and win a majority in the special election, the same as everyone else. b. Or we could say there would always be a special election after the recall. (We can do this by law.) “A special election to elect a new officer will be held as soon as possible after a successful recall election.” We could say more, but page 8 of the charter says that special elections “shall conform as nearly as possible to that herein provided for other municipal elections.” – which means they would have a primary election. (Note that this option leaves us with a 4-person council until the special election.