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Home My WebLink About1982/07/26 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session MINUTES CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION ST. LOUIS PARK, MINNESOAT July 26, 1982 1 . Call to Order Mayor McQuaid called the meeting to order at 7:15 p.m. 2. Council members present Ronald Backes Keith Meland Lyle Hanke Jerrold Martin John Ralles Phyllis McQuaid • 3. Goals and Objectives The City Manager suggested that the Council may want to schedule a session which would use the Nominal Group Technique (NGT) to develop its goals and objectives. NGT would facilitate understanding between Council members and between Council and staff as well as provide the Council with an im- proved sense of direction. Council decided to use NGT at the October 25 study session. The City Manager will have staff provide some background information on NGT before the study session. 4. Budget Meetings Council will discuss departmental objectives at the August 9 & 23 meetings. The City Manager's budget proposal will be presented to the Council on August 27. 5• Reorganization of Public Works The City Manager brought up the idea of reorganizing the Public Works Department. As the City has entered a post-development phase, the role of Public Works has been changing from that of builder of new construction to maintainer of existing construction. The skills of the department's personnel should change accordingly. The City Manager and the Director of Public Works would like to see consultants used on major construction projects and shift part of the engineering function to that of managing the Planned Public Works computerized inventory system. 6. P_posed Amendment to the City Charter In attendance were Charter Commission members Mike Schwartz, Sandy Bar- tholow and Geoff Driscoll . The Commission's amendment proposed that the Mayor and the two at-large Councilmembers be elected together for four year terms and that the four ward Councilmembers be elected together two years later for their four-year terms. During the transition from the present system to the proposed system, one �,,�� .41 City Council study session July 26, 1982 at-large Councilmember and two ward Councilmembers would be elected to serve only two-year terms. (See attachment) A number of issues were discussed including: a. Substance and wording of the referendum - Council questioned the propriety of rearranging the entire election schedule when the Charter Commission had said it was only looking into lengthening the Mayor's term. It also felt that the question on the referendum was confusing and was concerned that citizens understand the ramifications of the proposed changes. b. Efficiency Pro 1 . The elections could be less confusing to voters. The City-wide positions would be separated from the neighborhood positions. The Mayor/At-Large elections would concentrate on City-wide issues; the ward elections would concentrate on neighborhood issues. • 2. A four-year term would allow the Mayor to function more effectively. A large portion of the first year of a term is spent learning the job. For those who wish to get re-elected, a large portion of the second year is spent campaigning. Con 1 . A longer mayoral term may result in more mid-term vacancies. The two-year term allows the Mayor more career mobility. c. Accountability Pro 1 . A longer term of office could generate more competition in mayoral races by decreasing the frequency and so the cost of campaigning as well as by increasing the effectiveness of the position. Con 1 . Under the proposed amendment a more powerful voting coalition could be formed than is possible now. With the existing election schedule, a four-person majority can be formed for two-year periods between any combination of Councilmembers. Under the proposed election schedule, a four-year majority coalition could be formed by the ward Councilmembers. 2. A longer mayoral term means less voter control over the Mayor. City Council study session July 26, 1982 3. Ward elections under the present system may be more interesting and thus generate greater voter turnout. The voters in the first and third wards vote not only for their ward's Council- member but for a Mayor and one at-large Councilmember in the same election. Two years later they vote for the other at-large Councilmember. Voters in the second and fourth wards vote for their Councilmember and one at-large Councilmember two years later. Under the proposed system, the voters in each ward would vote in one election for their Councilmember and two years later for the Mayor and both at-large Councilmembers. INFORMATIONAL NOTE: Vacancies would be handled in the manner prescribed in Chapter 2 Section 2.05 of the City Charter. Chapter 2 Section 2.05 of the City Charter. 7. Sign Ordinance The Council discussed whether to adopt a new ordinance now or, since new signs seem to be well-designed, wait for national turnover to eliminate all but a small percentage of the signs which don't meet the requirements of the new ordinance. This would spare a majority of the sign ownersthe cost of upgrading their signs immediately. It was suggested that an ordinance governing only new signs would ensure that turnover produces signs of the desired quality. The Council decided to get in touch with the billboard company and ask them if they would like to attend a future study session to discuss the proposed ordinance. 8. Redesign of Council Chambers The City Manager explained progress to date. 9• dournment - The meeting adjourned at 10:00 p.m. aaei atz_,72 Arthur Osten Jr. , Recording Secretary -A i . { 1 [ 1 J ,_ — 1.:". ; .P + o r4 ut w VT' P 1 P -) -�- ¢- r — , - o p 0 P 3 O � 0 PS • 0 0 • ; _ o _ ._ _ ir o • o 1 5 O • —6, O O 5 0o — bo _- F I I , - - KEY ?ra,sant -" o Ghan9d -.11.- Tr0.n6itiofn p 0 0 0 N Fwk.uxo► -