HomeMy WebLinkAboutCharter Review Commision Minutes 2024.08.08
City of Brookings, South Dakota
Brookings City Charter Commission
August 8, 2024
Community Room 300, City and County Government Center
Mee?ng Notes
Present: Bob Burns, Keith Corbe?, David Gilbertson, Van Fishback, Lisa Hager, Jeanne Manzer,
Dianne Nagy, Ashley Ragsdale, Gail Robertson, Roger Solum, and Tom Yseth
Not Present: Van Fishback, Roger Solum
Na?onal Civic League: Derek Okubo, Senior Fellow – Lead Facilitator, and Doug Linkhart,
President
Brookings Staff: City Manager Paul Briseno, City A?orney Steve Britzman, and City Clerk Bonnie
Foster
I. Welcome – David Gilbertson, Chair
Mee?ng was called to order by Chairman Gilbertson at 5:30 p.m.
II. Agenda Review and Approval of Minutes
Motion was made by Gail Robertson, seconded by Keith Corbett, to approve the
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Minutes of the July 11 meeting. Motion passed by a unanimous vote.
III. Review of the Last Mee?ng
Derek reviewed the key points of the previous mee?ng and how that work leads into the
focus on tonight’s mee?ng.
IV. Orienta?on to City Charters, Structure, and Topics – Doug Linkhart
Doug Linkhart, President of the Na?onal Civic League, presented on the history, purpose,
and structure of Model City Charters. Some of the key points included:
The first Model City Charter was created in 1900 by the Na?onal Civic League (then
known as the Na?onal Municipal League) to professionalize city government at a
?me when corrup?on, ineffec?veness, and inefficiency was prevalent at the local
level.
The Model City Charter gave birth to the Council/Manager form of government and
the profession of City Management.
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In 2021, the ninth edi?on of the Model was updated by a large interna?onal
commi?ee of stakeholders that included elected officials, city managers, academia,
and representa?ves of civic organiza?ons.
City Charters are the cons?tu?on of local government – it’s governmental structure,
procedures, values and principles.
Wards/Districts vs. At-Large for City Council: NCL would recommend that as a city
gets larger, has diverse pockets of popula?ons, and presents more challenges to run
for office due to size (knocking on doors, adver?sements, costs to campaign), then
wards/districts may make more sense.
What should not go into the Charter:
o Specific staff posi?ons under departments
o Dollar Amounts and Technology – due to constant change
o Fiscal Mandates – due to changing ?mes
o Commissions – can be an ordinance
o Anything located in South Dakota Codified Law (SDCL) does not need to be in the
Brookings Charter
Insight for the Commi?ee:
o If it doesn’t need to be said in the Charter, don’t say it.
V. Iden?fying Brookings City Charter Topics for Review
Derek led the commission in an exercise to iden?fy the areas in the exis?ng charter for
review. He shared a document that included input from city council and city staff on
areas they recommended for review from their day-to-day experience.
The commissioners iden?fied the following areas un?l ?me ran out at 8:30:
Ar?cle I – Powers of the City
1.04 Limita?ons
Not necessary
Recommenda?on: Remove
Ar?cle II – City Council
2.04 Compensa?on; Expenses.
o Recommenda?on: Remove salary number.
2.06 Vacancies; Forfeiture of Office; Filling of Vacancies
Recommenda?on: Review and poten?ally change Felons (2.06.c4)
o State law is moving away from mandatory protocol regarding felons.
2.02.c Terms
Recommenda?on: Remove all transi?onal language. Language no longer needed.
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2.07 Judge of Qualifica?ons
Recommenda?on: Add a process for the judicial appeal process
o Review SDCL 1.26 State Administra?on Appeals Sec?on – discuss whether to
adopt and include as the Brookings system.
2.08 Clerk
Recommenda?on: Review and clarify who appoints and supervises Clerk
o Currently the CM reviews the Clerk and includes Council.
2.09 Inves?ga?ons
Recommenda?on: Clarify what is required and the process to make inves?ga?ons.
Resolu?on, majority vote, ordinance?
2.10 Independent Audit
Recommenda?on: Review language in the Model City Charter, sec?on 5.11, and
consider whether to add.
Ar?cle IIA – City Manager
2A.01 Appointment; Qualifica?ons; Compensa?on
Recommenda?on: Discuss if residency in Brookings should be required of the City
Manager.
Recommenda?on: Discuss qualifica?ons to poten?ally add some specific
requirements.
2A.02 Removal
Recommenda?on: Add resigna?on as an op?on.
2A.04 Powers and Du?es of City Manager
Recommenda?on: Explore adding visionary language regarding equity and
engagement.
Recommenda?on: Subsec?ons 6 and 7 – review and update; Currently 10-year cycle
rather than five-year.
Recommenda?on: Review #11-13 of Model City Charter to poten?ally include
Recommenda?on: Update #8
RE-NUMBER ARTICLE II TO INCLUDE IIA?
Ar?cle III – City A?orney
3.02 – Legal Officer
Recommenda?on: Add language that the City A?orney must be a licensed a?orney
in South Dakota.
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Ar?cle IV – Financial Procedures
Add equity language in Ar?cle IV.
4.02 Submission of Budget and Budget Manager
Recommenda?on: Update budget date.
4.05 – Appropria?on and Revenue Ordinances
Recommenda?on: 4.05.a – Add specifics of toward the council control of enterprise
fund use.
Recommenda?on: 4.04.d – add electronic media.
Ar?cle V – Elec?ons
Recommenda?on: Discuss wards/districts.
Due to ?me running out, the exercise stopped at Ar?cle V and review of remaining
sec?ons will be completed at the next mee?ng.
VI. Next Steps
Derek will produce the mee?ng notes and organize the review recommenda?ons. He
will set a mee?ng with Chair David Gilbertson and Vice Chair Lisa Hager to further
organize the commission recommenda?ons with council and staff recommenda?ons. In
addi?on, Derek will work with David and Lisa on priori?zing outreach targets.
VII. Mee?ng Adjourned at 8:30
Next Mee?ng: August 26, 2024, 5:30-8:30 p.m., City and County Government Center,
Community Room 300
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