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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-13-06 Minutes, Study CommissionMINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE CITY OF BOZEMAN, MONTANA LOCAL GOVERNMENT STUDY COMMISSION April 13, 2006 The Study Commission met in special session in the Conference Room, Municipal Building, at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 13, 2006. Present were Chair Loren Olsen, Brian Close, Marilou Turrentine, and Harold Fryslie. Bill Hayward was excused. Also present was Secretary of the Study Commission Celeste Janssen. The meeting was called to order by Chair Loren Olsen at 7:00 pm. Public comment There was no public present to give comment. Minutes — March 14, 2006 Brian Close motioned to accept the minutes of March 14, 2006. Marilou Turrentine seconded the motion, and the motion passed unanimously. Public Comment There was no public present to give comments at the time. Survey update Loren Olsen passed around the final survey, which incorporated all of the input from the last meeting. All 1,000 were dropped at the Bozeman post office today. Professor Swinford will give a preliminary report on the results at the April 25th meeting. Charter Section 2.05 (a) Brian Close wanted to clarify by adding "or any City board," which would be consistent with current practice. Brian Close moved to make the stated change, and Harold Fryslie seconded. Bill Hayward asked if a person who sits on the advisory board represent the city. Harold Fryslie asked to strike the word "governing". The motion passed unanimously and "governing" was removed. Brian Close talked about the second half of the first paragraph in Section 2.05 (a). He believes that it is a current practice to make sure a commissioner is not "given" a city job. The person can still apply for a city job, but a Board of Ethics would need to look at the issue. What if a commissioner voted to create that job, and then quit to do it. This board is a safety mechanism in case of future problems. Also, a waiver from the Ethics Board could increase confidence of a potential candidate (that there were no ethical problems.) Harold Fryslie said he isn't enthused to have an ethics board, but he won't vote against it and what Mr. Close says is true. Brian Close suggested leaving this section in, and then going back to review this section if the Study Commission later votes to not have an ethics board. Loren Olsen would blue the language up to "unless granted by a wavier." If the Study Commission doesn't create an ethics board, then Mr. Olsen would prefer not to have these two sentences. Brian Close said an ethics board would not be a huge burden and they would only not grant a waiver if something was serious. Brian Close motioned to accept the language, and Marilou Turrentine seconded the motion. Bill Hayward, Marilou Turrentine, and Brian Close voted for the motion. Loren Olsen voted against in. Harold Fryslie abstained. If the city wants to hire someone who is the best person for the job, Loren Olsen said he wouldn't have Pagel of 3 wanted someone to wait six months before he or she could begin. Loren Olsen also wonders about partisanship on the ethics board. Brian Close said that the ethics board doesn't have "binding" opinions, so the City Commission could choose to ignore them. Section V Bill Hayward had some comments on Section V. He asked if the website clause in 5.05 (c) sounded clear. Brian Close thought this section was good, not burdensome, and consistent with putting other information online. Bill Hayward doesn't think the state requires the website. The language was changed to "and be available on a website" instead of "and, if available, in a website." Section 5.10 (b) is okay. Section 5.10 (a) had a grammar mistake (singular versus plural). Paul Luwe is not required to review the charter, but the Study Commission values his opinion. Brian Close said the only outstanding legal item not raised concerns whether or not the charter can legally require something that happens three years after the charter is approved. Chair Olsen will email Mr. Luwe this question. Marilou Turrentine would like to have Anna Rosenberry look at Section V as it now stands. Celeste Janssen asked about Transfer of Appropriations. Bill Hayward said the discussion was to possibly cut this section because it is in state law. Brian Close noted that state law can be re -codified and changed. Brian Close suggested Bill Hayward do an annotated version. Brian Close moved to accept the entire Section V. Harold Fryslie seconded the motion. Everyone voted in favor of the motion. The Study Commission took a short break. Other Charter Topics The remaining black text will be green, and Celeste Janssen will make a new version of the charter that has only black text. Draft Report Brian Close asked Ms. Janssen to send him an email reminder about drafting language for sections discussed in the past. She will also send the draft report to all Study Commissioners again. New business The Study Commission has been asked to present an "Eggs and Issues" by the Chamber of Commerce. The date will be in mid -August, on a Wednesday or Thursday morning. The purpose won't be to ask for feedback, but instead to talk to them about the charter. Harold Fryslie said having all five Study Commissioners there is a good idea, but it is a fast moving program and there isn't room for that many speakers. Mr. Hayward suggested having Chair Olsen do the presentation, and everyone else there for backup. Celeste Janssen said the City of Bozeman has a great looking new website, but the Study Commission is either missing or very buried. Loren Olsen will send an email to Chris Kukulski. Bill Hayward will be gone on May 2nd. Brian Close will be in Bozeman until the end of June. Brian Close and Marilou Turrentine need to work on Public Service Announcements. Confirm date for next meeting April 25, 2006 at 7 pm in the Conference Room of the Municipal Building. Adjournment at 9:00 pm Page 2 of 3 There being no further business at this time, it was moved by Brian Close, seconded by Harold Fryslie Fryslie, that the meeting be adjourned. The motion carried unanimously. LOREN OLSEN OLSEN, Chair /_raIMMI CELESTE JANSSEN, Secretary of the Study Commission Page 3 of 3