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04-27-2016 CHCMCHARTER COMMISSION MINUTES April 27, 2016 - 5:30 p.m. 1. Call to Order Chair Walser called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. Members Present: Marlin Torgerson, Roger Tiede, James Brodd, John Hassinger, Don Walser, Chris Kleiman, Steve Mulder, and Mark Lewandowski Member Absent: Mary Inglis Others Present: Marc Sebora, City Attorney and Matt Jaunich, City Administrator 2. Approval of Minutes from December 1, 2015 Motion by Tiede, second by Kleiman, to approve the minutes as presented. Motion carried unanimously. 3. Review Ordinance No. 16-755 — Adopting Revisions to Section 2.04 of the City Charter as Approved by the Hutchinson City Council Marc Sebora, City Attorney, presented before the Commission. Mr. Sebora explained that on March 8, 2016, the City Council approved Ordinance No. 16-755 which amends the City Charter to change mayoral terms from two years to four years. State law requires the City Council to forward the ordinance to the Charter Commission for their feedback. The Charter Commission can either propose amendments to the ordinance or not. The intention of the Council is to submit the Charter revision as a question to the voters at the general election in November. Marlin Torgerson provided history on the topic of changing mayoral terms from two years to four years. 2010 voted down by CC. 2013 discussed again and left as is. 2014 discussed again. The Council then turned down the ordinance. Brought to the CC for the fifth time in 2015. Now bringing to the CC again in 2016. Torgerson questioned the Council's trust in the CC. Mr. Torgerson provided data on various cities and their mayoral term lengths. Mr. Torgerson also reviewed the various forms of government. Torgerson questioned the learning curve timeline for a new mayor and does not believe that it takes more than two years. Kleiman asked if this issue has been before the voters before. Lewandowski mentioned that he spoke to several people regarding this and they were comfortable with two year term. They were okay with it going to a vote, but indicated that they would still vote for a two year term. Mulder asked about the process and why this is coming back to the Charter Commission. Mr. Sebora explained that the Council has the authority to adopt an ordinance for this Charter amendment. Statute requires it come before the Charter Commission prior to it going to the voters. Brodd questioned having the mayor's term be voted on during a presidential election year. Jaunich noted that the Council's rational was higher voter turnout. Motion by Brodd, second by Lewandowski, to not approve Ordinance No. 16-755, keeping mayoral terms at two years but keeping other revisions as written. Mulder noted his merits of the terms. All in favor 6, against 2. Motion carried 6 to 2. 4. Review Ordinance No. 16-758 - Ordinance Adopting Revisions to Sections of Charter as Previously Discussed and Approved by Charter Commission Marc Sebora explained that last year the Charter Commission had forwarded proposed changes to eight sections of the City Charter to the City Council for their approval. The Council was in agreement with six of the eight changes and therefore could not approve the proposed ordinance because it could not separate out the sections. Mr. Sebora provided a proposed ordinance for the Charter Commission to consider which included the six sections of the Charter that had been proposed revised previously that the Council was in agreement with. These revisions are mostly housekeeping issues. Mr. Sebora explained that Motion by Brodd, second by Hassinger, to approve various sections of the Charter to forward to the Council for their consideration. Motion carried unanimously. 5. Items From the Floor Matt Jaunich, City Administrator, spoke about Section 2.09 of the Charter. Mr. Jaunich stated that the Council felt that since these revisions were made by a vote of the people in 2000, it should remain as written. Mr. Jaunich noted that with the additional language now contained in 4.02, where an election can be canceled, it takes care of some of the concerns that the Charter Commission had previously. 6. Adj ourn Motion by Tiede, second by Torgerson, to adjourn at 6:00 p.m. Motion carried unanimously.