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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017/02/22 - ADMIN - Minutes - Charter Commission - RegularOFFICIAL MINUTES CHARTER COMMISSION MEETING ST. LOUIS PARK, MINNESOTA February 22, 2017 6:00 p.m. – Westwood Room, City Hall 1. Call to Order Chair Carper called the meeting to order at 6:15 p.m. 2. Roll Call and Attendance Members Present: JC Beckstrand, Gary Carlson, Lynne Carper, Jim de Lambert, David Dyer, Brian Fiderlein, Ken Gothberg, Ron Jarvi, Jr., and Henry Solmer. Members Absent: Maren Anderson (absence excused), Jim Brimeyer (absence excused), Terry Dwyer (absence excused), Matthew Flory (absence excused), Sara Maaske (absence excused), and David Obray Others Present: Melissa Kennedy, City Clerk (staff liaison) 3. Approval of Minutes a. March 22, 2016 Charter Commission Meeting It was moved by Commissioner Beckstrand, seconded by Commissioner Dyer, to approve the minutes of March 22, 2016. The motion passed 9-0. 4. Old Business - None 5. New Business a. Proposed Charter Amendments regarding Municipal Primary Elections and Candidate Filing Requirements Ms. Kennedy reviewed the staff report that was provided in the Charter Commission agenda packet. She explained the proposed changes involved eliminating Section 4.03 of the City Charter related to Primary Elections and amending Section 4.06 to reflect the elimination of the option for municipal primary elections, adjust the filing period to match the timeframes established in state law, increase the number of signatures required on a nominating petition, and to increase the filing fee. She discussed the rationale behind the proposed amendments, citing several concerns raised by the City Council including: a history of holding primary elections for one office to narrow the field of candidates from 3 or 4 down to 2, historically low voter turnout at municipal primary elections, undue burdens placed on candidates to run campaigns for potentially both a primary and general election, lack of serious candidates filing for municipal offices, cost of holding primary elections and the devotion of staff resources related to the administration of primary elections. She noted that the council asked for input from the Charter Commission on the proposed amendments and for a recommendation on the number of signatures that should be required on a nominating petition and the cost of the filing fee. Chair Carper asked Ms. Kennedy to review the timing of the actions that would be required to amend the Charter. Ms. Kennedy explained historically amendments to the Charter have been done by ordinance. This process is regulated by Minnesota Statute 410.12. She stated within 30 days of a recommendation from the Charter Commission the City Council has to call for a public hearing to consider the Charter Commission Minutes -2- February 22, 2017 proposed amendment. The public hearing must be held not less than 2 weeks and not more than 4 weeks after notice of the hearing is published. She added that the City of St. Louis Park requires two readings of an ordinance. The first reading would be held in conjunction with the public hearing and the second reading would be scheduled for a subsequent regular council meeting. She noted that the ordinance is only enacted if it receives a unanimous vote of all members of the council. The ordinance does not take effect until 90 days after passage and publication. Within 60 days of passage and publication a petition requesting a referendum on the ordinance may be filed with the city clerk. The petition must be signed by at least 2,000 registered voters in the city. If the requisite petition is filed within the 60-day period, the ordinance does not take effect until it is approved by the voters at the next general election. Ms. Kennedy noted that in addition to those deadlines the city would also be required to pass the amendment eliminating the option for municipal primary elections by April 15 in order to meet statutory notification requirements to Hennepin County elections and the Secretary of State’s Office. She stated she was working closely with the City Attorney to establish a timeline that would allow the amendment to be in effect for the 2017 election cycle. Commissioner Beckstrand stated he originally had a number of questions and concerns regarding the proposed amendment, but after a more thorough review of the information and discussions with family, friends, and the city clerk, he could not find a reason to oppose the proposed amendments. He explained he did not feel that the city would be losing anything by eliminating the option for municipal primaries. He clarified that the amendment would not apply to State or Federal elections. Chair Carper questioned when the candidate filing period would be if the proposed amendment was approved. Ms. Kennedy stated candidate filing would occur August 1-15 if the amendment was in effect for the 2017 election cycle. She added if the amendment was not in effect for this cycle candidate filing would occur May 16-May 30. She explained this is one of the questions she and the City Attorney were still exploring options on given the 60 day petition period and the 90 day effective date. She stated if the amendment was approved, the 60-day petition period would fall within the early candidate filing timeframe in May. She noted that although the proposed amendment would be in effect prior to the candidate filing dates in August, if a petition was filed the ordinance would not take effect and the city would not have the opportunity to go back and open up the candidate filing period. She added that if the city attorney and city staff did not feel there was a viable option to remediate such a situation, the recommendation would likely be that the amendment not take effect until the next municipal election cycle. Commissioner Beckstrand questioned if the city could call for a special election and set a candidate filing period if a petition was filed within the 60-day period. Ms. Kennedy stated she was not sure if that would fall within the statutory provisions related to special elections and would discuss the option with the city attorney. She noted moving forward with the amendment as proposed would not preclude anyone from filing for office, it would simply push the filing dates back to August. Commissioner Beckstrand questions if Ms. Kennedy had spoken to the Secretary of State’s Office. Ms. Kennedy stated she had received direction from the Secretary of State’s Office through the Hennepin County Deputy Elections Manager. Charter Commission Minutes -3- February 22, 2017 Commissioner Fiderlein stated he was opposed to the proposed amendment to eliminate the option for municipal primary elections. He explained he did not see how the proposed amendment would solve the concerns that were raised by the council. He stated he believes that having the option for primary elections increases discussion in the community and encourages a more informed electorate. Chair Carper stated while he understands Commissioner Fiderlein’s concerns, he feels if a primary election is held it diverts the city’s resources and the candidates’ resources over a longer period of time. He explained in the past several municipal elections there has been an overall lack of interest in terms of the number of candidates filing for office and the number of people voting at the primary. He noted eliminating the primary would also be a first step towards potentially switching to the Ranked Choice Voting method in the future. Commissioner Beckstrand stated he shared many of Commissioner Fiderlein’s opinions and was very cautious about making amendments to the Charter. He explained he thought the open election that was held in 2015 for Mayor would have drawn more candidates and more interest from the public, and that did not happen. Commissioner Dyer stated he initially had similar concerns regarding elimination of the primary, but after seeing the historical data regarding the number of candidates filing for office and voter turn-out, he would support the proposed amendment because it may result in the public being more interested in serving in public office and more serious candidates filing for office. It was moved by Chair Carper, seconded by Commissioner Beckstrand, to move forward with the proposed amendments to Chapter 4, Sections 4.01, 4.03, 4.04, 4.05, 4.07, and 4.08 of the St. Louis Park Home Rule Charter and to direct the city clerk to prepare the recommendation of the Charter Commission for presentation to the City Council in the form of an ordinance amendment. The motion passed 8-1 (Commissioner Fiderlein opposed). Chair Carper asked for discussion and a recommendation regarding the proposed changes to Section 4.05 related to the number of signatures required on a nominating petition and the filing fee. He asked Ms. Kennedy to review the current candidate filing requirements. Ms. Kennedy stated candidates are required to pay a $20 filing fee and to submit a nominating petition with at least 15 signatures from registered electors qualified to vote for the office on the petition. She noted the changes suggested in the staff report were merely suggested as a starting point for further discussion. Commissioner Dyer suggested increasing the filing fee to $25 and increasing the number of signatures required to 35 or 40. He stated that increasing the number of signatures may result in more serious candidates filing for office. Commissioner Solmer suggested increasing the number of signatures to 100 and increasing the filing fee to $50. He noted his suggested filing fee was a compromise because he could make an argument for increasing it further. He stated candidates should have to get out into the community and put forth more effort to demonstrate they are truly invested in running for office, and it takes more effort to gather signatures. Charter Commission Minutes -4- February 22, 2017 Chair Carper agreed with Commissioner Solmer’s comments and stated he did not think a $50 filing fee would be prohibitive to people filing for office. Commissioner Beckstrand agreed that it took more effort to gather signatures than to write a check. He cautioned the commission that raising costs will typically raise more ire from the general public. Commissioner Gothberg questioned if city staff had to verify the signatures on each petition filed. Ms. Kennedy stated her staff is responsible for verifying that the individuals signing each petition are registered voters qualified to vote for the office and that they have not signed more than one petition for that office. The commissioners discussed not increasing the signatures by so much that the verification task became overly burdensome on staff resources. Commissioner Jarvi suggested increasing the number of signatures to 50 and to leave the filing fee at $20. Commissioners Fiderlein, Dyer, and Gothberg concurred with Commissioner Jarvi’s suggestion. Chair Carper stated there seemed to be a consensus to focus on increasing the number of signatures rather than the changing the filing fee. Commissioner Carlson suggested that the recommendation to the council reflect that the Charter Commission chose to increase the number of signatures in lieu of fee increases to ensure that running for office did not become cost prohibitive for potential candidates. It was moved by Chair Carper, seconded by Commissioner Fiderlein, to move forward with an amendment to Chapter 4, Section 4.06 of the St. Louis Park Home Rule Charter to increase the number of signatures required on a nominating petition from fifteen (15) to fifty (50) and to direct the city clerk to prepare the recommendation of the Charter Commission for presentation to the City Council in the form of an ordinance amendment. The motion passed 9-0. Ms. Kennedy reviewed the Charter Commission’s recommendations and reiterated that the effective date of the amendment may be delayed until the next election cycle if the city attorney and city staff are not able to find a viable option to move forward within the statutory timeline requirements. Commissioner Carlson stated he would still support moving forward with the amendments even if they did not take effect for the 2017 election cycle. The Charter Commission agreed with Commissioner Carlson, stating they would also support moving forward with their proposed recommendations to amend the Charter. 6. Future Meetings Ms. Kennedy stated the next meeting of the Charter Commission is scheduled for March 21, 2017 at 7:00 p.m. The meeting will be held in the Westwood Conference Room on the 3rd floor of City Hall. Charter Commission Minutes -5- February 22, 2017 Commissioner Beckstrand informed the Commission that he would be traveling and unable to attend the meeting on March 21. He requested that his absence be excused. 7. Communications - None 8. Adjournment Chair Carper adjourned the meeting at 7:25 p.m. Respectfully submitted by: Melissa Kennedy, City Clerk