[0:08] before we get started Ronin brought the roster I think that have everything up [0:15] um you see anything that is spelled got any cell phone number or [0:21] anything like that um then make sure to provide that [0:26] information onwi so we can get that all cleaned up John Stanley [0:33] um uh is no longer able to be on the charter commission so we have a vacancy we're in the process of filling that [0:39] okay well it it's 7 o'clock so whatever button pushing yep we ready okay I will [0:46] call the meeting to order uh could you call the role please [0:52] yes um Rod Axel present bar or Ronald Barnes [1:02] Hussein deir John Eagle Kathy [1:10] Gustafson Cynthia hunt pres Brana [1:15] Lindell Karen Lindquist present Jam [1:23] mazr pres jeie McGovern Emily melv [1:33] Lang Oro pres Steve Peterson here and Mark [1:39] Thorson here okay thank you um next up we'll [1:45] take up one appointing [1:54] anding um acting recording secretary is [1:59] agenda items are proposed by the staff so unless there's any discussion I'd receive a motion toing [2:08] secretary that we would CH if I may we we um offered up two names here um just [2:13] for a little bit of um additional uh resiliency uh so my recommendation would [2:20] be that both of them are appointed do I hear a [2:25] motion by AEL and seconded by hunt any discussion hearing none we'll we'll vote all those [2:32] in favor carries unanimous next up before [2:37] we go to item 2.2 I want to welcome the [2:44] commission a what is it foure project threee project or fouryear project [2:50] I uh four foure project GNA walk through the Section Charter conversation about [2:56] them um the uh so we're we're kind of doing the first [3:03] one of 2025 I think we wanted to have like three this year um yeah I've got a [3:09] slide on that y three of them and uh and then we will have the regular annual meeting of the commission [3:16] that's typically the first week in May this one yep and then depending on if [3:22] there are items to be that can sent to us either by the city council um or by the [3:29] B that's [3:34] our welcome to the commission yeah um with that we'll go on to item 2.2 which [3:40] is the periodic review of the city Charter and I will sh our attorney thank you also [3:47] chair um while you while you were doing that introduction um I noticed that commissioner Melby also entered if you [3:53] want to have that be reflected in the record as well and then I think we also have a couple of other new faces here [3:58] too um um I know that people we've had a lot of um uh people coming in and out [4:07] and asking whether they want to be reappointed and we have an opening right now a vacancy so um if there are people [4:13] that you know of that want to be on the charter commission um certainly make sure that um we know about them or the [4:21] mayor knows about them and we can make sure to fill that within the statutory time period all right so um as was ref [4:29] reference we have um we are in year two of our systematic review of the of the [4:38] charter and we are last year we tackled uh one two and three and then our rules [4:44] of procedure we made some pretty significant updates to our rules of procedure to modernize them and match [4:50] them with what we were how we were operating um as an organization as an entity um for those of you that are [4:57] newer to the Charter commission the charter Commission is a separate entity [5:03] um is uh in charge of U the city's [5:09] Charter and the city's Charter is like the Constitution um of the United States [5:15] it's roughly equivalent to that or to Minnesota um has a constitution it's roughly equivalent to that for the city [5:21] of Bloomington so it's at a high level um and speaks about things um in in in [5:29] general terms often every now and then in very specific terms uh and um [5:35] oftentimes creates a process or a structure for accomplishing more [5:40] technical nuanced things um on a much more granular level so tonight I want to [5:48] go to the next slide you'll see the Cadence that we're working through tonight's chapters next [5:54] slide um are four not actually all not all four of them tonight [6:00] um but teeing up chapters four and potentially six depending upon how much [6:05] time we have um chapter five I did not get into in your slides other than to [6:10] show you um the table of content so to speak for that chapter but I am going to [6:16] tee it up for you to be thinking about um [6:22] and suggest that you take a look at it in preparation for the next um time that [6:27] we get together it's a very meaty substantive chapter and um really [6:35] really uh gets to the essence of a charter city um creates very specific [6:43] reservations of powers for the citizens so um with that uh any questions before [6:49] we start chapter four I got one more comment I want to make before we start and this is more aimed at folks who make [6:54] be newer um as we're as we're going through [6:59] looking at this you're going to have ideas like we could make that be different and there are uh there's [7:07] basically two ways we can make we can make changes here we can either make changes that are so uncontroversial that [7:13] seven members of so what that means is I think things [7:18] that clarify things or things that if you look at it like we we could go and sell that to the city concil but if any [7:24] city council member objects to that then it w't get adopted that way if we want [7:29] to make a change and we can't convince the city pouncil then we have to go to the voters and ask the voters to to [7:35] approve it um and that means we actually have to go persuade people to vote for something and that's a pretty high bar [7:41] to hit for something and so um typically at this point in the [7:46] city where the charter is 65 years old at this point um changes to the Charter [7:54] that go to the voters are typically um you know for the most part things that either they can you can tie [8:00] some good thing to it to people like oh I want to I want to support that because it'll get us a good thing or there's some controversy that happens in the [8:06] city and and it exposes a defect in the charter and it's up to us to fix it and [8:12] we're there's no controversy right now that would fall into that category but just keep in mind that um substantive [8:18] changes to the Charter like let's say you decided you wanted nine city council MERS Clos to seven um we'd have probably [8:25] have to go convince the voters to go through that Rod I think the well we certainly had conversations [8:33] around uh around rank Choice voting but prior to that I think they the one other change that was substantive really was [8:40] the way the charter was written back in the 50s and 60s is that [8:46] it had to be revised to allow the a a tap [8:51] room and so that was probably one of the uh one of the changes based upon the [8:58] original language of the chart that language uh did not provide for uh [9:04] for tap RS but it's not very often that that there's something like that that comes [9:10] up I think it's what four five times I think since I've been on the charter [9:17] commission and so just the the other thing I'll say is don't if you if you got ideas that you think that you might [9:22] want to be different don't take this as like don't talk about them because we can certainly talk about them and I I do want people to get ideas out um [9:30] just be aware that we you know that that there's there's going to be easy things and there's going to be harder things to [9:35] do if we decide if we want to make changes so that's just what I want people to realize it's not we can't just change the charter by all those in favor [9:41] say I and it's done it doesn't yeah yeah and uh thank you for that chair um the [9:48] other thing I'll offer is that the process by which you can amend the charter is in state law so there [9:54] are very specific Pathways that are set out in the law about how to amend the charart [10:00] and so um for the E for the sort of straightforward clerical kinds of things [10:06] um we make a decision um about how we want to proceed and the Cadence of this [10:11] periodic review is set up such that you all would let us know if there's something in particular that you are [10:17] concerned about and so that we can have adequate time to research and prepare um [10:23] some language for your consideration at the annual meeting in May so this this [10:29] the timing of this um winter uh deep dive is on purpose uh and um tease it up [10:38] to the annual meeting similarly uh each year um in November [10:45] December January time period I asked um all of the department directors and [10:51] division heads to read the charter um to remind them um of what's in it uh and [10:56] then also to flag things that are of concern or that don't make sense um or [11:03] highlighting things that we want to just keep on our radar and so that um also happens um [11:10] this past time um when when that question was asked we received some feedback um about some language that [11:19] there's a desire to change um references specifically to assistant city manager [11:25] there's a desire and a request to change that to the deputy city manager term modernization and that's much more [11:32] common to refer to them as deputies uh and then the other thing that we have [11:38] heard about and our city clerk is here tonight um and we're going to be talking about elections is um some communities [11:45] are looking at changing to evene elections for a whole variety of reasons [11:50] uh and our Charter requires odd-year elections for our government local [11:55] government offices so those are the two things that we have heard about um that are on our radar um but again um [12:03] we can we'll get into all of that so at the super high level um you know there are there were [12:09] these edits that came to chapter 4 mainly related to rank Choice voting and [12:16] there was a fair amount of back and forth that you'll see on the slides as we go through the legislative history is below each section and you'll see a lot [12:23] of a lot of languages a lot a lot of edits a lot of revisions over the years [12:28] and uh a lot of that came as a result of doing a very deep dive into our Charter [12:36] when we were preparing for rank Choice voting and um doing the the sort of [12:41] cleanup that would be required to modernize our our language but then also [12:46] to make the conversion to rank Choice voting and you'll remember probably that it was on the ballot um twice so far and [12:54] both times it um was adopted um by the voters to continue to be in the the form [13:01] of voting and then to stay the form of voting so um twice now uh the voters [13:06] have decided they want to haveing Choice voting in in the city so question yeah going back to Rod's [13:12] comment or just the example that he gave about amending the charter for the tech work why is that how do you know like [13:19] what would be a change to the Charter and what would be just a new ordinance why did that involve amending the [13:26] charter and not just passing an ordinance that would allow it was there something in the charter that prohibited [13:32] specifically uh yes um so chair and members the the charter had very specific language related to alcohol and [13:39] state law has very specific language related to alcohol in Charters and the [13:45] voting threshold to do so um we um as I learned during that process many years [13:51] ago there was a desire when the charter was being put together and when the city was becoming uh a mod City in the 60s is [14:01] um there was a desire to prevent bars um from being like saloons from existing in [14:08] in Bloomington uh and um having wet versus dry cities was a very big deal [14:14] and you had to vote to become a wet City and the so if you look at the border of the northern border of Bloomington it [14:21] sort of goes like this and there are little properties that go up and down and there was a fair amount of um [14:29] line moving uh and history about the city related to alcohol regulation so if [14:37] it's not in the charter it's it's regulated by essentially um chair members there is [14:44] the state law you know the federal law state law um and then the charter [14:50] um most I'm trying to figure out like how deep to get on the reads on this so when [14:57] Charter cities um um some Charter cities are very very old like Minneapolis and Ramsey County hpin County our Charter [15:04] counties as well um but there was a modern Charter model that was created um [15:11] in the 6070s um and rolled out in many cities adopted the model Charter and so [15:17] if you look at other cities um that are uh Suburban um like for example [15:23] Robinsdale or Richfield they have like the same structure they're talking about [15:28] the same sort topics um in the same like chapter chapter 4 in most of them is you [15:34] know it just follows the same because they all many of them started from the same uh and whatever was going on in the [15:42] world at that time they decided that these were the things that Charters should address um and when the charter [15:48] was originally prepared it was a document that came through the the [15:54] citizens and so that was what the citizens of Bloomington also thought [16:00] needed to be in the charter so it's a very Grassroots document but informed by [16:08] the model code that was in circulating at the time in the world at the time [16:14] yeah there was also model city codes as well so like if you're looking for liquor it's almost always in 13 so [16:20] there's just like things like that that have happened over time right any other questions before we [16:26] get started so um I want to just make sure everybody knows that we have the city [16:31] clerk here thanks so much to Jamie for being here uh she's extremely knowledgeable extremely knowledgeable [16:38] and and survived the last election uh and so I would want to encourage her to jump in um repeatedly um whenever she [16:46] wants and you can also through the chair obviously ask questions um I have no pride of answering them if Jamie is um [16:53] the better person to answer similarly with Peter Peter has um uh lived and [16:59] breathe the rank Choice voting and um has a deep knowledge of the language as [17:05] well so I'm not the only one who can answer questions tonight although I'm happy to the other thing to know is that [17:11] um by way of background there are State CH there's a lot of state law on [17:17] elections and and as you'll see in our Charter we we General law election laws [17:24] apply um and then there's also administrative rules um at the state level and they also apply and they [17:32] dictate all kinds of things from the size of the font to um ovals and I mean [17:38] very very detailed um regulations so uh this document is uh at a very high level [17:46] um in many cases but also very very specific in others so with that let's go [17:52] to the next slide all right so [17:57] 4.1 regular Municipal elections I wanted you to hear see here um obviously the [18:03] Cadence of it after the first Monday like you all accustomed to As Americans [18:09] and then um odd numbered years in the City Municipal elections are an odd [18:15] number years um the other thing I wanted you to know is the the council has to uh [18:22] designate where the elections are held um and um that is in our Charter here [18:30] Jamie or Peter you want to add [18:41] anything all right nothing in 4.2 uh 4.3 next [18:47] slide so the other thing is there are general elections and then if it's not a general election then it's going to be a [18:53] special election so for example if there's a vacancy on the council um somebody um [18:59] resigns um moves away something like that it creates the need to have a special election the C there is a [19:06] specific procedure both in our Charter but also in state law about how that [19:11] happens um ours is not terribly honorous and there's all kinds of very very [19:18] specific calculations about how that happens in stay [19:24] law I have a question on this is you the language uh with respect to the official [19:32] newspaper uh you know that used to have the Bloomington suncurrent now I think [19:38] it's suncurrent assuming that they're still in business six months from now is [19:43] that uh what is our official newspaper uh chair and members the official newspaper for the city of Bloomington is [19:49] the suncurrent and annually we did it um last Monday night um we declare what is [19:55] the official newspaper there is state law on how you figure out what that is it has to be a newspaper of General [20:00] circulation within the jurisdiction uh a couple of other things and so we [20:05] periodically will look at the rates in the circulation the last time I looked at it um it was affirmed that we would [20:13] continue to use the blomington suncurrent um based on for lack of a better term saturation in the city of [20:20] Bloomington and so there's enough uh enough distribution of some current [20:26] within the blooming to community that it's that the council feels comfortable [20:31] that that that that if someone wants to read something that uh it's going to show up on their [20:37] doorstep theoretically y um chair and members the other thing that we so we [20:43] usually look at the main ones that that that are often used are a trade magazine [20:49] called finance and commerce where a lot of like foreclosures and things are published and then the Star Tribune um [20:57] and the Pioneer Press and then the local newspaper if there is one um I think you [21:03] know the world is a very different place than it was when all these official newspaper requirements came to be um and [21:11] the city recognizes that and just like you can get our agenda packet in the mail you can also get our agenda packet [21:16] on the city's website and so we um everything that's required to be posted [21:22] on the in the official newspaper is also on the city's website it's the city website notices and they're all there um [21:30] whenever they're needed to be posted in the time that they're needed to be posted along with a link live links to [21:35] the actual text of the ordinance or the resolution or whatever that's being um discussed so um we comply with the [21:45] requirements on the official newspaper but the substantive interaction is happening through mailings and through [21:51] postings on [21:57] the all right next slide filing of C candidates um we did a fair amount of [22:03] editing on this Mo I shouldn't want to say editing it was editing but modernization there was a fair amount of [22:08] discussion on 4.4 over the years as you can see from the legislative history uh [22:14] some things that I wanted to point out to you uh is um any eligible person or [22:19] excuse me an eligible person um can uh file an Affidavit of [22:26] candidacy um that there was some cleanup that occurred with regard to that language um to make it a little [22:33] bit more clear um and then the um other [22:38] thing that we did was uh clean up um the language in there related to filing um [22:46] there was some very specific dates that were in chapter in section 4.04 like [22:52] numbers of days and we um in consultation with the charter Commission [22:58] concl uded that the applicable filing schedule would be a more durable way of referring to that um it's because if the [23:05] legislature changed their dates we would then have to do some editing of our Charter our Charter would be out of Step [23:12] but we wouldn't be able to comply with both so that was a change that was made and then there was a lot of discussion [23:18] um in years past about the fee uh and what was the right amount of the fee um [23:24] it ranges um throughout the the state um but this $50 fee was the one that was [23:31] ultimately put in the charter uh the city has to pay prepare [23:37] and pay for the ballot um prep uh this is becomes um a consideration when we [23:44] talk about the timing of our elections and the need to have a primary election [23:50] uh it's many tens of thousands of dollars to put on an election and so [23:55] preparing the ballots is a part of that cost uh and then similarly the um party [24:01] designation is not a part of the municipal candidacy on the ballot any [24:08] questions anything you want to add and just looking around the room [24:14] um probably most folks weren't around when we had the conversation with Fe but we had a this was back before we had [24:21] rank Choice voting when we have primaries the we had [24:26] a fairly regular occurrence where someone would file in an election and [24:32] trigger a primary um maybe you have three candidates for particular seat on the council but then one of the people [24:39] wouldn't actually do anything they wouldn't campaign they just would do nothing and as what [24:45] mentioned you know it costs a bundle of money to run a primary election and to run a primary election when people [24:51] aren't even putting any effort into going and doing it they just back then it was $2 so it was literally nothing um [24:59] know we had a conversation at the charter commission that didn't want that and so the we shift it from $2 to $50 to [25:05] more kind of test to see what that made people think about that a little bit um when the voters adopted rank Choice [25:11] voting the filing fee no longer kind of of has that same behavior so I but but that's the history behind the filing [25:18] feed change was that we got some of us got tired of spending our tax money on [25:23] elections where they wasn't really a useful thing to have [25:31] next one again what I mentioned before um this is statement that the general [25:37] election laws apply this actually became something that was a part of our rank Choice voting um arguments before the [25:47] state courts um and trying to sus out some of the what the law [25:52] me uh next slide uh this is a a um the term of art [26:00] uh the canvasing of Elections uh the council must meet in [26:05] canas there's a very specific time period in state law in which that has to happen often results in a Friday night [26:12] council meeting or Saturday morning um and then they declare the results uh [26:17] that gets filed uh the clerk is the custodian and of of all of these ballots and they have [26:25] to do all kinds of things to keep them secure here um and make sure that [26:31] everything is counted and coordinated and all the things that you would expect um any questions about the canvasing of [26:41] Elections all right next Slide the language about rank Choice [26:48] voting uh some things to note here um it is only the mayor and the city council [26:55] and that is the extent of it under the law right now now um and that is what [27:00] our Charter reflects uh and then also that we are um able to adopt the council [27:08] is able to adopt rules and regulations related to the procedures so our city code has a lot more detail about how [27:16] we're going to do this election so for example um it we we made an amendment [27:23] recently was it last year about the year before about how many uh names how many [27:28] blanks there were going to be um and that was informed by a whole variety of things including uh fitting it all on [27:35] the page so a lot goes into producing and preparing these ballots and [27:42] [Music] um sometimes you have to make tweaks and so this Charter provision allows for [27:47] those adjustments to be made next [27:54] slide this is chapter five which I mentioned in our [28:00] opening uh introduction this is we're not going to get we're not [28:05] going to have time to get into it uh and on there's 20 sections uh we did a fair amount of editing um of this section of [28:13] this chapter rather back in [28:18] 2021 um we received feedback from people um [28:24] that or we would have um challenge is figuring out whether [28:31] somebody was intending to do certain things that accomplish certain things [28:36] Allowed by chapter 5 so there was a fair amount of of um procedural like I don't want to say [28:45] cleanup but like giving them samples um sample form of petition so that it would [28:50] help them um help a person who wants to utilize the the options under chapter 5 [28:57] be more successful in meeting very very specific requirements uh so a lot of those [29:04] changes came in there and before we could have a conversation about it I would really like folks to take a look [29:09] at it um one thing I'll just mention that came up um uh [29:16] internally um in looking at this chapter I mean other two things I want to say one is that not every not every Charter [29:22] city has all three powers not every city has um the same P same power [29:28] so this Charter commission may decide that it wants to remove or um amend some [29:34] of the authority um to to bring these types of actions the other thing that has been talked about [29:42] is the percentages that are required in order to initiate some of these measures [29:48] um they are they they they have significant impacts and um there was a [29:55] suggestion that the charter commission may want to pay attention and have perhaps a discussion the next time we [30:00] get together about whether these percentages um to meet the threshold for these petitions to move on [30:07] to the later stages are still the right percentages in this state in you know [30:13] the TW in 2025 so those are the two things that have um that have risen up [30:20] um internally that um I thought would be relevant to mention to you we did a fair [30:25] amount of research um during the rank choice vot in um litigation uh related [30:31] to powers and what was intending to happen and similarly with also with [30:37] organized collection and um had done a fair amount [30:42] of of review of a lot of other cities Charters to see what powers they had relative to ours so just something to be [30:48] to be um aware of the other thing I'll add is that if you have um things that [30:54] you would like me to be prepared to talk about um in detail the next time we talk [30:59] about chapter 5 um I think that that would be really helpful to know in advance um because I want to one do a [31:06] good job but also because there it's a big chapter and it's really really the [31:13] the the part of a charter City it is reserving these powers only for the [31:19] citizens and it's very Grassroots and so I want to make sure that I can have a we [31:25] can have a qualitative discussion anything else on chapter five good question do you expect that that's going [31:30] to be more than one meeting likely totally up to you I me there's a lot I'm guessing that [31:37] it may be go beyond there's a chair members there's a fair number of sections that repeat themselves like the [31:42] form of form of form of those are pretty quick um and then after our cleanup there's a there's a fair amount of [31:49] repetition um based on what procedure people are trying to do but I'd also be [31:54] interested to hear feedback on whether you think it it's understandable um [31:59] because of all the chapters this was one that we'd want to make sure it's super understandable for [32:06] people in preparation for that I think one thing I'd be curious could bring [32:13] back is um insights into like the percentages so for instance 15% of total [32:20] um number of votes C for that referendum petition stuff like that what are the [32:26] numbers on that yeah just if there um historical context as and maybe some [32:31] of the mean behind those thresholds shair members I can certainly try to find I certainly can do the math [32:38] with Jamie's help um you know if like those were based on you know some of the stuff in the chter as we talked in some [32:45] of the previous meetings is based on um just like has historical context and [32:51] I didn't know maybe there was something like that so I can chair members I can certainly dig into that [32:58] any other questions on that before I move on right so um I I will defer to you all [33:05] if you want to move on to chapter six I prepared it um because I thought one particularly relevant has a lot of stuff [33:12] in there about the city manager um but then also um I I thought we could [33:17] probably have enough time to tackle it um during this meeting uh so all right [33:23] I'm seeing that in Heads next slid and we should probably mention if you didn't see the news that our city managers yeah [33:28] resigned and is now being is now the head of Catholic Charities so we have acting city managers yeah um um so when [33:36] you say it's particularly right that's because because we're in a process of [33:41] just the very early stages of selecting so from the headlines um so [33:49] this is chapter six administration of City Affairs uh and not a terribly long [33:54] chapter but it really is pretty um pretty heavy on the substance so uh next [34:07] slide there you go city manager um if you think about the the org chart the [34:14] city manager is is sort of like the COO uh CEO um of the [34:21] organization uh it is the only this position is the only employee of the [34:26] city council um the council chooses the manager um and you'll see here the the [34:36] manager doesn't have to be a resident um at the time of appointment um they are [34:42] appointed for an indefinite period of time and they can be removed by the council at any time uh it is not unheard [34:48] of for um a meeting to start and there will be uh an a request to a motion to [34:54] amend the agenda to add removal of the city manager uh or city administrator to [34:59] the the meeting and then the city and uh sometimes city manager is terminated [35:05] it's not unheard of um super unfortunate uh when that happens sometimes um if [35:10] it's a surprise but our Charter um uh has a very specific process laid out for [35:17] how long um and what removal looks like and um [35:23] reinstatement and lots of process so our Charter um and I I didn't go and look at what [35:30] happened in 88 um but maybe something happened in 88 that um that in another [35:37] community that suggested that this should be added so um with regard to uh [35:44] the final sentence here uh the uh there is a structure in place um [35:53] and under ordinary times there is the assistant city manager deputy which is [35:58] um often times uh fills in for the vacancy um of the city manager um if you [36:05] uh tuned in to item 3.19 on the consent agenda on Monday night that that was the [36:10] council designating um interim city managers um and so that's important for [36:17] all kinds of things you'll see in the charter as having very specific duties and responsibilities not only in this [36:23] chapter but throughout the city code and um other circumstances as [36:31] well next slide so just a little bit more of a comment you talked a little bit [36:36] about um city managers started being let go um just for historical context in [36:43] Bloomington since the charter was adopted in 1960 who had three city managers in 65 years and none of them [36:50] have been left left on their own milion two of them retired and one of them went where [36:56] his heart told go me we 1988 would be towards the end [37:05] of John pigeons yeah would have been pigeon it's right at the end there [37:10] because pigeon was a manager I think for 37 years I think um but yeah it's it uh [37:16] bling is one of the reasons why like if you hear the mayor talk about the city manager position it it really is for a [37:24] lot of people their dream job to come be the city manager of wilington because it's so stable um and it's an interesting place [37:30] to work um and it's considered to be well run and so um it shows because we've only had three people that have [37:35] done it they've stuck with it forever typically is a job where people will take the job and [37:41] it's it's going to be their final job until they retire so if someone is terminated it doesn't [37:48] have to be with just cause does it no it just you piss off for council member [37:53] is and the reason you're pissing them off might and Mark bartson used to say [37:59] to me that his job was to keep four City Council Members happy he said it didn't have to always be the same four can [38:05] change over time so all right so this next section 6.02 [38:14] uh it it it's I felt when I was reading this I was like it sort of pretends like it's specific but it's very high level [38:21] um there are some things but there there you know like Coos here in charge of the [38:26] direction and administration enforcement uh they control um the administration they have [38:33] to attend all the meetings unless they're excused um all the meetings of the council um they uh they recommend [38:42] the matters that the city council is going to be taking action on and that is [38:49] uh thankfully or conveniently what the process is also in writing for the rules [38:54] of procedure for the council as well um some sometimes people will ask how do I get an item on the agenda well there was [39:01] a very specific process to get an item on the council agenda um and the city manager recommending uh it is one of the [39:09] ways the city manager is also responsible for the financial condition uh and they have to prepare and and [39:16] transmit an annual budget um our Charter contains some specific language um about [39:22] that budgeting process and amending that budgeting process uh then the adoption [39:28] of the administrative code which in Bloomington is our city code and then you know the all encompassing other [39:33] duties as required parent are assigned any questions [39:40] questions one thing I'll just point out here is that hasn't changed [39:50] yet all right the next section 6.03 this is one of the very few cities that has a [39:57] Merit system and I don't I it's one of those areas of uh that [40:04] there aren't a lot of other cities I can't remember Peter are two other cities that have a merit system [40:09] that I want to say like Brooklyn Park maybe or there's a northern suburb [40:14] that's one and um one I think in like Southern Minnesota yeah not very many [40:20] other cities that have a merit system um so we have [40:25] um the council established this Merit system uh it's also exists in our city [40:31] code um and it covers regular employees um [40:37] and uh the city manager the City attorney the assistant city manager and the deputy City attorneys and assistant [40:44] City attorneys are not covered so there is in our employment rules there's the the folks that are covered by the Merit [40:51] system and then there's uh a page of rules for the people that are not covered um um the other thing is that we [40:59] have a merit board uh and it's a small Board of three people um that the [41:05] council appoints from um the people of the city and uh they have very specific [41:14] Powers um that are further described here and um they have hearings when [41:22] there are um alleged violations um they have very specific [41:28] Powers related to the employment rules and regulations uh [41:35] and meet once a month and then as needed [41:40] we meet quarterly quarterly any questions about the Merit [41:46] system one question I have no I have to emphasize this I have no opinions about the Merit system or not having the Merit [41:52] system but is removing the Merit system um some something that the the [41:58] charter commission could recommend I mean uh chair and members the charter commission could certainly recommend the [42:04] removal the Merit system uh I would say that the like the [42:11] the more common Le existing uh system is like the [42:17] classified service which a lot of communities a lot of cities have so we [42:22] use this Merit system uh format um I've never done a [42:28] side by side to compare and contrast the two of them maybe Peter has um specific [42:33] opinions about that but if before we would do that or recommen make that sort of a recommendation I would certainly [42:39] want to do that and see is you know and highlight for you the substance of differences sure and and again i' I'd [42:45] emphasize this is really out of the blue and but I'm when you indicated that it's [42:51] we're one of the few that still have a merit system makes me wonder well you know what do others do and [43:00] why a question from Peter since you attend these these meetings on regular [43:05] basis is it without naming people but give a couple examples of the types of [43:11] things that come to the Merit board sure uh chair members so for example one of [43:17] the big substantive changes the May for considered was in our employment rules which governs the terms and conditions [43:23] of employment when an employee was suspended demoted or terminated they [43:30] have appeal rights because we are government um employees have a property interest in their employment um they're [43:37] afforded due process and they under the old employment rules that process was [43:44] handled at the office of administrative hearings um through administrative law [43:50] judge and what we found is that process takes a very long time it's very [43:55] expensive upwards of $ 30 to $40,000 uh to separate an employee and [44:01] so and it could take a year and so one of the recommendations staff had to the Merit board was to change the employment [44:07] rules to make that process quicker and and more uh cost efficient and so they [44:14] have changed it to now utilize our independ independent hearing officer model that we have in existing code um [44:22] so that's just kind of one of the the changes that they've taken up um another [44:27] change that they've taken up is our paid parental leave program or policy and so because that was a termin and condition [44:33] of employment that had to go through the through the mayor board for consideration and ultimately to the city [44:38] council for approval so if a person has been suspended or or someone starts the [44:46] process of termination that individual can they appeal to the Merit board to to have a impartial hearing chair members [44:54] uh that is correct so there's a a Grievious process that's laid out in the employment rules and we'll go through a [45:00] variety of steps so if it gets to the point of an independent hearing officer that hearing officer will essentially [45:07] hold a mini trial where you'll present Witnesses evidence and the city Bears the burden that uh by a preponderance of [45:14] the evidence that um it had just caused to either suspend or demote or separate [45:19] that employee that independent hearing officer will make a recommendation to the Merit board they'll make a findings [45:26] of fact inclusion of law the employee then has an opportunity to actually kind [45:31] of raise some points or of disagreement with that recommendation to the Merit [45:36] board the Merit board can consider that and then they can either make their own decision reduce or change the whatever [45:45] the city decided or they can uphold that decision so over the last five years uh [45:51] what's the frequency of that type of an appeal process or hearing of a of a situ [45:57] a where someone has has been either potentially discharged or or some other [46:04] action brought against that person is it 10 times two times chair and members uh since I've been here which is five years [46:10] it's been long yeah have a much better understanding [46:16] what the Merit board does know there you yeah any other questions about the mer [46:29] this uh section talks about the administrative part uh again pretty [46:35] straightforward the council can create uh departments divisions and bureaus uh some City some City councils have in [46:42] codes have a very very they'll lay out every single Department in the city and get into the structure of every [46:49] Department in their codified code Bloomington does not do that um we have [46:55] some offices that are created for example the Office of the city clerk is created in our CH in our code AS is the [47:00] Emergency Management director uh that that that office is created in the code [47:05] city manager is created um and there are references um [47:11] to things but uh there isn't a uh very very specific structure that is codified [47:19] by the city council in the current structure of our city next slide em question [47:27] it gives them the power to cre what about uh chair members they could open [47:35] power so they could also remove [47:42] that this is what I was uh seeing up there the office of the city clerk is established uh this is uh because it is [47:50] a uh council's uh Charter created office um [47:58] when the city clerk position is vacant we have to name who that city clerk is [48:04] the city clerk has very specific duties and obligations in the law um not too um [48:09] dissimilar to the level of requirements for the city manager in every City's [48:14] structure is a little bit different but in some cities the clerk has to sign everything uh in Bloomington um they can [48:21] uh delegate that or they assign that to the recording secretary but in some cities the city clerk is signing every [48:27] single thing our city clerk signs a lot of things as well um but um this is just [48:32] a a create an an example of the creation of that specific [48:40] office anything you want to add see clerk happy to be [48:45] created all right um so this is a this section 6.06 and [48:51] 6.07 um we have talked about a fair amount um as a charter Commission um [48:57] there have been some tweaks um this is this these next couple of sections talk [49:04] about and I know the chair has um some more history on them um but essentially [49:10] they create a structure for the execution of documents uh and they refer [49:18] they use the structure um they defer to or they default rather to the structure [49:24] that is in state law um which is called the uniform form Contracting uh system I [49:29] believe um chapter 471 345 and it breaks out dollar amounts um [49:37] sort of tranches of dollar amounts in this the level of um process that's [49:43] required uh and what we have done in the city of Bloomington [49:49] is sort of overlay that with the structure that we use to execute documents so the city manager uh can [49:57] execute documents up to $175,000 and then above [50:05] $175,000 uh has to be executed by the city council it's more nuanced than that but [50:12] that's um sort of the essence of it uh and the [50:18] city uh the city mayor does not have independent authority to execute a [50:23] contract unless the city council adopts it um whereas the city manager can execute [50:31] a document below $175,000 because it isn't required by law to have been done by the city [50:38] council does that roughly make sense and so periodically over time um [50:45] things cost money different amounts of money and the dollar amounts that are in state law get updated and so we um [50:52] periodically will look at our dollar amounts and make sure they still make sense um we we have a we have a matrix [51:00] about the the process that's required based on the dollar amount and then we [51:05] also have Financial man this is outside of the charter but just because it's relevant we also have financial management policies and procurement [51:12] policies and purchasing policies that add greater gradiation to how one can [51:18] purchase in the approval process that's required all of that is Flowing up to [51:24] and from these next couple of sections in the city Charter and when they are [51:29] amended when there's a desire to amend them the council has to do that so if we amend our financial management policies [51:36] it's the council that's taking that action the other thing that's on here is [51:42] the ability to delegate to department heads so at the city of Bloomington up to $50,000 could be signed by a [51:47] department head um or the assistant city managers uh and the other thing that we've talked about here is that the City [51:56] attorney has to review and approve every contract [52:01] um which means a whole bunch of things um [52:07] but one thing that it means is that we know how many there are every year and um we almost uh crossed the Thousand [52:15] contract threshold this year uh and I we're just a couple below that we [52:20] executed um a lot more were started but a couple were abandoned um before they got signed so that's fill numbers that [52:27] we're dealing with a lot a lot of reviewing and approving uh there's a structure um underneath uh the City [52:34] attorney signature that creates uh a review and approval process um we talked [52:39] about this in previous meetings um the division head has to approve um and then [52:46] it goes up um well the attorney has to approve and then before it starts the [52:51] execution process the division Ed has to approve it and then it goes out to the vendor and then it comes back to me and [52:58] then it goes to either the department head or the city manager and or the mayor to sign so there's a whole [53:05] structure in place to make sure that things are being done according to the [53:10] law into our own financial management policies anything more you want to add [53:16] um and if you think that sounds cumbersome these processes aren't unusual in business so like I I did a [53:23] purchase order at work for a little bit under b or something and it required five [53:30] people it had to get around around five people to get approval so it's it's not at [53:36] all that sort of workflow to end up happening in [53:44] organization um I'm a firm believer of plain English and I think that all documents something the charter a [53:50] constitution should be written in language that an ordinary person can understand 6.07 has anyone ever [53:57] considered writing that one or 6.06 also in active verbs oh yeah passive there's [54:04] a second sentence in 6.06 that it's 67 words long any sentence more than5 [54:12] words been just doing you know the city manager and the mayor must some contracts and bonds yeah only the city [54:20] manager must sign these and even making those changes would make this accessible to more people in the city which is [54:26] important people should know what what the city Charter [54:36] says shair members um I see that you have another member do you want [54:42] recognize Mr bar welcome thank you sorry I'm no problem great glad [54:49] you're here watching the line of traffic going on the freeway and wondering how many people would be here now oh [54:58] uh chair members I I I think that's an excellent suggestion for everything that we do and how we do it um we [55:06] have um had discussions about that um in the [55:14] past and and try to do that in our writing in general modern uh drafting that we [55:21] do it would be the prerogative of the charter commission to direct me to do that [55:26] um and me know if you want me to we hold that thought until the end [55:32] here have that as a little topic of conversation at the end okay all right next [55:38] section uh why don't we do 6.07 a little bit um this is this is again uh it's [55:45] saying the city manager is the chief purchasing agent I've often wondered there's not a lot of difference now [55:51] between 6.06 and 6.07 it also could probably be [55:57] um tidied up and there's a lot of repetition between the two um but it [56:02] talks about um a lot of the things that I I talked about both of these kind of [56:08] together um it did you all did make a change that allowed me to delegate the [56:14] signature authority to another licensed attorney uh under certain terms and [56:20] conditions and so there is a delegation memo that I prepared after you all [56:25] authorize that to happen and it sets out the terms and conditions under which I'm [56:30] am authorized to delegate uh and um we [56:36] have um a process in place wherein that happens and oftentimes I delegate to [56:41] Peter and he signs when I'm out of the office for three or more business days [56:46] and um some Nuance on that one of the things that Peter and I have talked about is should that delegation be [56:54] changed one of the things that the um the charter commission has talked about is should we um broaden how that current [57:02] delegation policy is is drafted to to say um to have to take a particular [57:09] approach for example that contracts under $50,000 um could be signed by the [57:17] attorney that reviews them um so that might not always be me that might be one of the assistant City attorneys it might [57:23] wouldn't be Peter wouldn't be me um one of that's just one of the that we've been talking about is is there a way I [57:28] will say that there are also benefits to the current structure in that because I [57:33] see every single contract uh I I notice like for [57:40] example this is a silly example but it's very simple and easy to understand I [57:45] sign lots and lots of contracts with a particular person her name I I know her name right [57:51] now I sign a lot of contracts with her and uh there's small smaller contracts [57:57] and I I called up the originator and I said who is this her name is Pauline who is this who's Pauline we entered into a [58:04] lot of contracts with her um for doing a whole bunch of different things could we just do one contract and then we just [58:10] agree in advance that we're going to pay Pauline this amount every time we asked her to do the following eight things and [58:15] so we had a conversation and we cleaned that up um but because I see everyone of them I'm able to say able to do that and [58:23] notice that similarly um we have um other other situations where where that [58:30] is also the case you just see things because uh or um and then you know it [58:39] also creates just a lot of um opportunity to know what's going on too [58:45] and I can ask if I see something that doesn't make sense and and I you know per periodically ask Peter questions [58:50] like why why did you make that choice help me understand why you made that choice and then I I know what's going on [58:57] as well so there is a there is a helpful function to it [59:02] too next slide just one thing I want to point out here and you mentioned kind of [59:08] a little bit of History if you look you look down on the bottom and the kind of list of changes and you see that this [59:14] section and the next section have the change from 1987 and the 1987 change is is one of [59:22] the changes to the Charter that was a reaction to something that happened and it was the the initial Mall contract [59:28] which cythia you remember because you were around for the mall contract and the mayor at the time went [59:35] and kind of cut a deal on the mall kind of kind of back of napkin is kind of [59:41] deal um that was the initial kind of contract for the mall and it wasn't clear in the in the charter whether the [59:49] mayor at that point had that power and so the the charter commission you know [59:55] and ended up kind of changing the charter to kind of clarify that because of that particular situation and so I [1:00:02] mentioned at the beginning of the meeting that sometimes changes in the chter our reaction to things that happen and this [1:00:08] these sections reflect that about happening it's great that's great [1:00:14] history thank you chair all right um I wanted to highlight a couple [1:00:21] of things on here the council Awards uh those contracts that are over 175 that [1:00:27] we have to do competitive bidding on um some things to just know about is that [1:00:32] it doesn't happen very often but every now and then um the council will reject [1:00:38] all bids or there there will be a staff recommendation to reject all bids that um can happen for a whole bunch of [1:00:44] different reasons but one of those one of the reasons is if there isn't enough money um to pay for it um there isn't [1:00:52] the budget so there's a oftentimes an engineer's estimate about something's going to cost and then if they go out [1:00:58] for bids and the world has changed um or they didn't realize a really important [1:01:04] thing was present that wasn't accounted for in their estimate uh and the bids come in and they're way out of um Reach [1:01:12] For What was budgeted um the council has the authority to just recheck them all so that's a important [1:01:17] power um that the council has the other thing I wanted to highlight is this notion of the lowest responsible bidder [1:01:24] uh and oftentimes there a notion that the government has to contract with the with the cheapest bidder and while [1:01:32] that's often also the lowest responsible bidder every now and then there are situations where um when when the bid is [1:01:41] being reviewed um or um or uh we find [1:01:48] out that the bidder is on the deartment list or something like that um and or if [1:01:55] the bid has characteristics where the people that are reviewing it it's like you know a million dollars cheaper than [1:02:01] everybody else's bid like why maybe they didn't think of something um is that a responsible bid so just to just to know [1:02:09] that there's more than just the cheapest bid it has to be the lowest responsible [1:02:14] bit all right next with emphasis I assume un responsible I mean it's obviously a [1:02:22] squishy term but yeah I mean it does come up every now and then [1:02:27] so on for H sometimes there would be a developer [1:02:33] that you just know is probably not given their size and capable doing the project [1:02:40] maybe the lowest bitter among the lowest biders is probably not the responsible responsible decision to [1:02:48] go yeah essentially what's to letter a contract [1:02:53] to award award yeah yeah to your earlier Point good yeah all [1:03:01] right all right that's it um so a reminder of the calendaring um next [1:03:09] slide um is the teeing up the question here and [1:03:14] then um I know that Adrien pulled you all on a bunch of dates um we will not [1:03:21] be meeting on any additional Thursdays in Janu January if you had a hold on [1:03:27] them um those dates aren't going to work um for us to to meet um to continue our [1:03:33] periodic review and so Ron were you able to PLL M February and March yes yeah um [1:03:42] not everybody replying I don't have exactly who I did get okay right now but [1:03:49] um people okay I think it looks like it's going to be um April okay [1:03:57] for people who reply looks like April is when most people are free okay great so [1:04:03] um watch we will uh if you haven't already replied uh to bronwin please do [1:04:09] that uh so that we can make sure we have a quorum and then we'll send out a save [1:04:14] the date um and just a reminder that the packet uh comes out on [1:04:23] um we changed our rules so it doesn't come out um so so so many days in [1:04:28] advance um but this this particular time and and we'll Endeavor to do it next time as well um to get it to you as soon [1:04:35] as possible um and obviously also meeting our Ro but just to remind that we're going to be talking about chapter [1:04:41] five and you can start looking at it tonight the other thing is that our [1:04:46] annual meeting date you all set that last year and that's May 1 um so if you [1:04:52] um are able to join us on May 1st that would be great because that annual meeting lots of stuff happens at that [1:04:59] meeting did you say you're going to be sending around a list of carer members and members and all that or was um uh [1:05:07] chair and members we have a list um of ground did you bring that list yeah it's [1:05:13] okay we have it we'd like everybody to take a look at it it has people's um cell phones and um and work phones on [1:05:21] there so we didn't necessarily want to wanted to make sure that it was correct it hasn't been updated in a while so we didn't want to have a bunch of copies [1:05:27] circulating around if it had out ofd so if you want to take a look at it [1:05:32] before you leave to make sure your information is correct that great going back to the review um Karen did have a [1:05:39] suggestion that we consider taking I don't know maybe it would be 6. six seven and eight and see if [1:05:46] there's a combination of those and a rewriting that makes it I wanted to get the sense of the [1:05:53] group to see if they felt like we ought to consider that and I didn't hear any substantive changes it's more about making it so that people it's more go [1:05:59] ahead Rod yeah to Karen's follow up there is I just looking at [1:06:05] 607 is that and maybe it's the way I comprehend information but uh but if that was [1:06:12] broken into four different areas with some spaces in between is that uh uh I [1:06:18] probably would not be overwhelmed with the legal ease without changing a word M [1:06:28] yeah but I'm not I'm not hearing an objection so I think discuss kind of lightweight edit that [1:06:36] Rod talked about putting some paragraphs in there or maybe a little more substantive than together but I didn't [1:06:43] hear anybody proposing hey I want to change how this works it's more keeping the [1:06:51] same and then so chair and members given that we're probably going to meet in April would that be something that you [1:06:56] might want me to bring to you in April for your was ready a look at yeah good [1:07:05] R anything else on the charter review before we're done [1:07:12] with not hearing anything we'll move on to adjournment do I hear a motion toj don't move is there a second second [1:07:20] and second all those in favor [1:07:27] the record that was Thorson and hunt [1:07:36] Okay you turn off the [1:07:44] recording that Mouse is terrible it's not you all the dates and March are off the [1:07:51] table Yeah so um we were doing a bunch of social and they put [1:07:58] that and uh we just couldn't quite [1:08:03] figure out what Adrian had generated for [1:08:10] data SK the list of dates that it falling [1:08:16] for kind of the updated schedules that we knew of and then I sent out an email [1:08:21] with dates and I think that those are the ones that brought I know [1:08:27] I only asked because I changed the