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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018/03/13 - ADMIN - Minutes - Charter Commission - Regular OFFICIAL MINUTES CHARTER COMMISSION MEETING ST. LOUIS PARK, MINNESOTA March 13, 2018 5:30 p.m. – City Council Chambers, City Hall 1. Call to Order Chair Maaske called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. 2. Roll Call and Attendance Members Present: Maren Anderson, JC Beckstrand (arrived 5:40 pm), Jim Brimeyer, Lynne Carper (arrived at 5:55 pm), Jim de Lambert, Terry Dwyer, David Dyer (arrived 5:35 pm), Ken Gothberg, Andrew Rose, Sara Maaske, Erin Smith, and Henry Solmer. Members Absent: Gary Carlson (absence excused), Matthew Flory Others Present: Nancy Deno (Deputy City Manager/HR Director), Soren Mattick (City Attorney), and Melissa Kennedy (City Clerk) 3. Approval of Minutes a. Minutes of January 10, 2018 Charter Commission Meeting b. Minutes of February 13, 2018 Charter Commission Meeting c. Minutes of March 6, 2018 Charter Commission Listening Session It was moved by Commissioner Gothberg, seconded by Commissioner Rose, to approve the minutes of January 10, 2018, February 13, 2018, and March 6, 2018 as presented. The motion passed 9-0. 4. Old Business a. Proposed Charter Amendment related to Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) Chair Maaske asked for comments from the commission on the proposed Charter amendments. Commissioner Gothberg read a prepared statement: “I still don’t believe we need RCV in St. Louis Park. Although Minneapolis and St. Paul have been successful with RCV, anyone who has watched their divisive city elections in the past understands why they needed to do something different and it’s great that they have been successful. People say RCV will make elections more civil. St. Louis Park has a history of civil, positive elections for city offices. It’s only been state and federal elections that become divisive due to party influences. Some say it eliminates the “spoiler” issue. In any election with more than two candidates some candidates will be viewed as spoilers – particularly supporters of the non-winners. Single issue candidates will be reduced. There will always be some single issue candidates. In RCV the impetus is to tell all the voters what they want to hear. I would rather have candidates speak honestly. RCV claims to result in a clear majority winner. Actually, it results in a consensus plurality by eliminating voters’ votes. The result in RCV is some voters get two votes counted, Charter Commission Minutes -2- March 13, 2018 some get one vote and some get zero votes because they didn’t vote for the “right candidates”. I have always believed in one voter, one vote. General wisdom is that RCV encourages more non-traditional candidates. In my opinion, if I was a non-traditional candidate, I would feel more positive if I only had to receive more votes than the other candidate and win with a plurality. I believe RCV would encourage deal making between traditional candidates and try to shut out the non-traditional candidates. Beware of unintended consequences. Or, perhaps this is just a way to shut out non-traditional candidates. Is that the true objective of RCV in St. Louis Park? I hope not. St. Louis Park has always been a welcoming community. There is no evidence to support the need for RCV in St. Louis Park. By eliminating primaries we have shortened the duration of campaigns and made it more feasible for more candidates, both traditional and non-traditional, to enter city elections. With more candidates election interest should increase, raising voter turnout. I don’t believe we need RCV to do this. I may be wrong, but I would like to see some evidence that we need RCV before we take this step. One item that has not been publicized strong enough by City staff is that not only did we eliminate the primaries, we also increased the number of petition signatures required to be placed on the ballot. This needs to be emphasized much more broadly before the next election.” Commissioner Brimeyer stated that when the decision was made to eliminate primary elections he really felt it was for a good reason and he thought a natural progression from that decision would be moving to RCV. He noted that no voting method will ever solve the issue of divisiveness in elections because that is part of the culture. He agreed St. Louis Park generally has civil elections and he does not believe RCV is going to change that either, because that is not the culture in this community. He stated the major thing he learned from the Expert Q&A Panel was that RCV works and it is a good thing to have – the key is educating people. He referenced the comments received at the Listening Session, focusing on the concerns that were raised regarding fraud, flaws in the counting method, and that the voting process itself is complicated. He explained he disc ussed some of the concerns raised with the City Clerk to learn more about the counting process used in Minneapolis, the ballot styles used in Minneapolis and St. Paul, and the capabilities of the existing tabulation equipment. He stated although he acknowledges that parts of the counting process did seem a bit complicated, he feels that staff will be able to figure out an easier and quicker way of tabulating results. He added that St. Louis Park should have been the first city in the State to switch to this voting method for city elections. He questioned why the city should wait for a problem to happen and then react to it versus making a proactive decision. He noted that the education piece is extraordinarily important and he wants to make sure that is not overlooked. Commissioner Beckstrand stated he has considered this issue from the perspective of an unwavering desire to ensure that all eligible voters have an opportunity to vote and are able to have their ballot counted accurately and securely. He explained if voter turnout is actually increased, he is in favor of it. If candidate diversity will improve, he is in favor of it. If it diminishes overtly negative campaigning, he is in favor of it. At the same time if it instills fear or uncertainty because of the education component or prevents an eligible voter from exercising their right to vote, he is against it. If it increases the complexity in terms of tabulation or introduces avenues for fraud, he Charter Commission Minutes -3- March 13, 2018 is against it. If it overly homogenizes candidates’ messaging because there is too little differentiation between candidates, he does not like the idea of simply creating a false majority. He added that he also does not necessarily believe that there is a specific problem to be solved. He is of the mindset that the Charter can exist as a living document that can be changed to reflect the changing needs of the community. He stated he serves in an appointed position on the Commission, he is not elected, and he does not have to answer directly to the voters – that is the role of the council. He explained he does not want to stand in the way of the council being able to do the job for which they were elected, and he does not want to stand in the way of this moving forward. He noted he is extremely proud of the deliberative process the Charter Commission has gone through to consider this policy question and stated staff has been extremely helpful and easy to work with. He added that he values the diversity of opinions on the Commission and that they are able to have open discussions and work together in a respectful manner. City Attorney Mattick stated that a resolution was prepared that would formalize the Commission’s recommendation to adopt the proposed ordinance. Commissioner Dyer stated in his role as a commissioner he has to look at policy questions from the perspective of what is best for St. Louis Park as a whole. He explained when this discussion first started his main concern was making sure that people in St. Louis Park had a voice in this decision. He stated he liked the process the Commission went through to research, gather information, and hear from the people because it has helped him make a clear decision. He added he feels that the Commission has done its due diligence on this policy question. Commissioner de Lambert agreed with Commissioner Dyer’s statements. He thanked city staff and all those who participated in the Expert Panel discussion and Listening Session and he found all of the input to be valuable. Commissioner Dwyer thanked city staff for their hard work and the time they put in to assisting the Commission throughout this process. He stated although he will be voting in favor of moving forward with the amendment, it is not with the same enthusiasm he had at the onset of the Commission’s discussions. He noted that is a testament to how thorough the process has been to study and learn about this issue. He stated that RCV is not perfect. The process has shortcomings and he hopes that some of those shortcomings won’t materialize in St. Louis Park’s implementation. He noted in some respects RCV is a workaround to a broader process that is outside of the city’s control to fix. He stated he is hopeful that in the broader system the things that are not within our control but can affect us may cause us to revisit this issue in the future. Perhaps we will have a more engaged voting process, perhaps voting itself will be easier and more accessible. He reiterated that RCV is not perfect but this is not necessarily all about solving problems, it is about establishing and communicating the values we want this community to have. Commissioner Smith thanked city staff and stated throughout the process they were very responsive to the requests from the Commission and from the public. She also thanked her fellow commissioners for the thoughtful and respectful discussion throughout the process. Commissioner Maaske echoed all of the thanks other commissioners previously mentioned. She stated this has been a very fruitful process and an opportunity to dig deeper into an issue she initially did not know very much about. She agreed that RCV is one option for St. Louis Park to consider. She questioned if the city was a business serving a customer base the size of St. Louis Park and they were embarking on a system change for product delivery that would affect the entire customer base, would they just go with the company that made the most aggressive sales pitch. Charter Commission Minutes -4- March 13, 2018 She stated she believes the city would evaluate the options and choose the solution that creates the best value, the least impact on service, and improves the customer experience. She added that when asked why St. Louis Park needs RCV, they should identify the problems that exist and then determine what policy options are available to help address those problems. She noted that RCV is not the only option available to St. Louis Park. She stated advocates of RCV have presented data in a way that is persuasive and compelling for their case because that is what advocates do. However the analysis is incomplete because it does not take into account the other variables that affect how and why people vote or decide to run for office. She explained like Minneapolis and St. Paul, St. Louis Park also had a high turnout during the 2017 election cycle – the highest since 2001. The climate of the electorate is at least one other variable that factors into people going to the polls to vote. She stated she has also heard that by making this move they are reflecting the progressive values and the tradition of engagement in St. Louis Park, yet they have seen and heard from virtually the same faces and voices throughout this process. She noted she was personally disappointed in their ability to engage people whose voices aren’t loud and not typically heard. The result is a small group of people telling voters that they know what type of voting system is best, even though they have not truly heard from the populous or examined all of the options. She offered for consideration an incremental step for the next election cycle that would allow more time to examine all of the options. She stated combining the 2019 at-large races into one race in which the top two vote-getters are elected, mirroring the same voting process used for school board elections, it would make both seats more competitive and provide more consistency for voters across the ballot. She explained for all of the reasons she has outlined, she will not support a recommendation to council to advance RCV in St. Louis Park. It was moved by Commissioner Brimeyer, seconded by Commissioner de Lambert, to approve Resolution No. 18-001 recommending that the St. Louis Park City Council adopt a Charter Amendment by Ordinance Authorizing Ranked Choice Voting. The motion passed 10-2 (Gothberg, Maaske). b. Verbal Update on Amendment related to Campaign Finance Contribution Limits Ms. Kennedy stated that the Council adopted the ordinance to amend the City Charter related to campaign finance contribution limits on February 5, 2018. The amendment takes effect 90-days after passage and publication according to law, on May 16, 2018. She noted that the Charter would be updated and distributed to the Commission once the amendment officially takes effect. 5. New Business a. Proposed Annual Report for District Court – Year 2017 It was moved by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Brimeyer, to approve the 2017 Annual Report and to direct staff to submit to the report to the District Court. The motion passed 12-0. b. Election of Officers Chair Maaske stated that the Election of Officers for Chair, Vice Chair, and Secretary takes place at each annual meeting. Charter Commission Minutes -5- March 13, 2018 It was moved by Commissioner Dyer, seconded by Commissioner Dwyer, to appoint Sara Maaske as Chair of the Charter Commission until the next annual meeting of the Charter Commission. The motion passed 12-0. It was moved by Commissioner Beckstrand, seconded by Commissioner Rose, to appoint David Dyer as Vice Chair of the Charter Commission until the next annual meeting of the Charter Commission. The motion passed 12-0. It was moved by Commissioner Gothberg, seconded by Commissioner Rose, to appoint Terry Dwyer as Secretary of the Charter Commission until the next annual meeting of the Charter Commission. The motion passed 12-0. c. Legislative Update – Verbal Ms. Kennedy stated staff was notified on Monday that a bill had been proposed in the House regarding a prohibition of Ranked Choice Voting. She noted the bill was H.F. No. 3690 and the companion bill from the Senate had just been released, S.F. No. 3325. She stated staff would continue to monitor the progress of this bill and would keep the Commission apprised of any significant changes or actions. Ms. Kennedy also noted that the City Council had mentioned a need for a more thorough review of the Charter to update any outdated language, insert gender-neutral language, and to make sure there are no conflicts with State law. She stated this would be brought back to the Commission at a later date once more information and direction was received from council. 6. Future Meetings The Commission set the date of their next annual meeting for March 12, 2019 at 6:00 pm at City Hall. The Commission asked staff to inform them if a meeting was needed to conduct business prior to that date. 7. Communications a. Public Communications received by staff since February 28, 2018 meeting 8. Adjournment It was moved by Commissioner Beckstrand, seconded by Commissioner Brimeyer, to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed 12-0. The meeting adjourned at 6:16 p.m. Respectfully submitted by: Melissa Kennedy, City Clerk