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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCharter Review Commission Minutes 2024.08.26 1 City of Brookings City Charter Commission Mee�ng 3 August 26, 2024 Mee�ng Notes Members Present: Bob Burns, David Gilbertson, Van Fishback, Lisa Hager, Jeanne Manzer, Dianne Nagy, Ashley Ragsdale, Gail Robertson, Roger Solum, and Tom Yseth. National Civic League Team Members Derek Okubo, Senior Fellow – Lead Facilitator. Brookings Staff: City Manager Paul Briseno, City Attorney Steve Britzman, City Clerk Bonnie Foster, Deputy City Manager Jake Meshke, Assistant to the City Manager Sam Beckman, and Finance Director Ashley Rentsch were also present. Members Absent: Keith Corbett Outcomes: • Finish identifying topics for review and addition to the City Charter • If time permits, begin addressing “easy” topics I. Welcome David Gilbertson called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. II. Agenda Review Derek reviewed the agenda – the outcome targets for the evening were to: • Finish identifying the areas to be reviewed by the commission, • Review and select the council/staff recommendations for review, and • Begin discussing and making final decisions on the “easy” items that were selected for review. III. Finish Identifying Areas for Review by Commission – Derek Okubo A. Article VI – Brookings Municipal Utilities and Brookings Municipal Hospital • A question was asked if Council can override decisions of the Brookings Municipal Hospital Board and – yes, Council can override – creation of City Ordinance (ORD can be modified and decisions following reasonable protocol could alter the outcome). o With the Brookings Municipal Utilities – no, Council cannot override. • No changes were identified for review for Article VI B. Article VII – General Provisions 2 • A question was asked if there is a violation, who holds the council member(s) accountable? There is no process identified if a CC violates their Code of Ethics. Staff answered that the City Attorney deciphers if there is a violation or not. There is an existing Conflict of Interest ordinance to supplement this process. The ordinance is more comprehensive than the South Dakota Codified Law. Decision – no change necessary. • Decision: Change “Handicap” to “disability” (Section 7.02, subsection a.1.) • Add sex and gender identity* o David cautioned about potential lawsuit at state level • Section 7.A.1 – Activities Prohibited o A question arose whether this applies to volunteer board members or those who are hired or appointed? Answer: It applies to everyone - volunteers, employees, appointed staff, etc. o Decision: Change to: “employed, appointed, …” (remove ‘hired’) • Section 7.A.4 – 5 o A brief discussion occurred with this section. David Gilbertson informed the commission that this is another area being litigated presently. o City is an a-political organization. o Decision: Keep as is • A question arose if the Charter should have anything on campaign finance o Decision: Follow state law C. Article VIII – Charter Amendment • Section 8.01 – Proposal of Amendment o Decision: Subsection A – ‘manner provided by law’ – add ‘initiative and referendum” • Section 8.02 – Election o Decision: Remove ‘one or more newspaper’ and replace with ‘news media’ • City shall review Charter ever 5 years (Yseth) o Gilbertson – ensure still have staff around to provide background o Decision: ? 3 D. Article IX – Transition/Separability Provision • Section 9.05 - Schedule o Decision: Delete 9.05 • David Gilbertson – emphasized the importance of keeping 9.06 separability, in the Charter. Consequences could be legally serious if it was dropped. E. Areas to Add for Review • Discuss adding role of public engagement and DEI* IV. Review Council/Staff Recommendation – Agreement/Decisions on “Easy” Items Commissioners reviewed the recommendations from the staff and council for the purpose of choosing which ones to include in the revision. Derek combined the review of council/staff recommendations with discussions that concluded with final decisions on certain items to help expedite the process. A. Preamble • Decision: Add equity language in the Preamble • Derek will research other city charters to see if equity language was included and will bring back to the commission* B. Article I • Section 1.03 – inter-gov’t relations w/in Model Charter – bring back for more discussion* • Decision: Section 1.04 – remove C. Article II • Section 2.04 – Compensation o Decision: Remove salaries • Section 2.06 – Felonies, o Decision: keep as is; if currently on council, council member may be removed o If running for council, can run if civil rights have been restored • Section 2.08 – Clerk o Decision: Procedure will be that the City Manager makes a recommendation to Council; Council confirms; Supervision of the clerk will be the responsibility of the City Manager with consultation with City Council • Section 2.09 Investigations o Decision: Add a third party to conduct the investigation; replace “make” with “authorize” 4 D. Article IIA • Renumber as Article III – change other subsequent Article numbers • Section 2A.01 – Appointment; Qualifications; Compensation. o Decision: While the commission recommended listing a few qualifications in the previous meeting, this was changed to keep as is o Decision: Require residency with 90 days transition with council extending the 90 days if needed. o Social Equity Requirement discussion – staff had suggested adding support of equity into this section.  Decision: Do not put social equity language into the qualifications. Instead, put it in the job description or ordinance. Put social equity language into the preamble. o Decision: Strike “as a city manager or assistant city manager.” • 2A.02 Removal o Decision: Add resignation as an option • 2A.04 – Powers and Duties of the City Manager o Align existing responsibilities in the Brookings City Charter (1-14) with the Model City Charter and bring back for discussion and final decision* o Decision: Change five-year to ten-year on subsections 6-7 o Decision: Replace subsection 8 BCC with subsection 8 of the MCC o Council commented on needing clarity regarding communicating with staff directly. Paul stated there is a city policy already in place requiring council to communicate through the city manager rather than going directly to staff. The existing policy is clear. o Decision: Subsection 9 – Model Charter includes: ‘concerning the affairs of the city’, which participants felt was archaic language. Instead, replace with “Update Council on all matters of the city”. E. Article III – Legal Officer • Decision: Add “licensed city attorney in South Dakota” • Decision: Change appointment process to the same as City Clerk. F. Article IV – Financial Procedures • Section 4.02 Submission of Budget and Budget Message o Decision: Change date from 8/1 to 10/1 • Section 4.04 – City Council Action on Budget o Decision: Update language A-D w/ Model Charter language and current practices. • Section 4.05 – Appropriation and Revenue Ordinances 5 o Decision: A and B does not comply with appropriation practice. Update language to align with updated state statute. • Rest of Article IV - Bring back the Financial Director’s language suggestions for this Article for review at a future meeting* G. Article V – Elections • There had been discussions about inserting language with keeping April elections despite conversations at the state level of changing them to November. o Decision: It was decided to keep the language as is since state law supersedes local code. H. Article VI – Brookings Municipal Utilities and Brookings Municipal Hospital • No changes I. Article VII – General Provisions • MCC Section 7.02 Bring back to discuss* • Section 7.02 – Prohibitions o Decision: Change “handicap” to “disability” o Staff had recommended to not include Land Use from the MCC. Commission agreed. J. Article VIII – Charter Amendment • None identified K. Article IX – Transition/Separability Provision • Again, staff had suggested eliminating this section. o Decision: Commission chose to delete only Section 9.05 V. Adjournment Chair David Gilbertson and Vice Chair Lisa Hager adjourned the meeting at 8:02 p.m. Next Meeting: September 19, 2024; City and County Government Meeting, Room 300; 5:30 – 8:30 pm.