04-23 Work Session
CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
Richfield, Minnesota
Special City Council Work Session
April 23, 2019
CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order by Mayor Regan Gonzalez at 6:00 p.m. in the Bartholomew
Room.
Council Members Maria Regan Gonzalez, Mayor; Edwina Garcia; Mary Supple; Simon
Present: Trautmann; and Ben Whalen.
Staff Present: Katie Rodriguez, City Manager; Jeff Pearson, City Engineer; Mary Tietjen,
City Attorney; Elizabeth VanHoose, City Clerk; and Jared Voto, Assistant to
the City Manager.
Item #1 I-494 PROJECT LOCAL GOALS FOLLOW-UP
City Engineer Pearson discussed the draft goals and specifically those that were changed or
added based on comments made at the previous work session on April 9, 2019.
Council Members thanked staff for the update, incorporating the input received, and
commented that this could be a practice incorporated in other processes.
City Engineer Pearson stated he would finalize the document.
Item #2 PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE CITY OF RICHFIELD CHARTER
City Manager Rodriguez discussed the purpose of the work session and an overview of the
memo from City Attorney Tietjen.
City Clerk VanHoose discussed a handout on voter turn over the last four elections; three
special and one regular. She also discussed the possibility of looking into adding a special election to
a school board election, which are in odd years, in case the Council is interested in not waiting the two
years.
Council Member Garcia asked about the cost of the most recent election.
City Clerk VanHoose stated she didn’t have the latest numbers but it is comparable to the
2015 special election that cost approximately $50,000.
Council Member Whalen commented about the cost of adding a special election to a normal
election is under $1,000.
City Clerk VanHoose concurred and stated the only cost would be the legal notices.
Special Council Work Session Minutes -2- April 23, 2019
City Attorney Tietjen discussed the memo she prepared concerning this matter. She also
discussed the process for the Charter Commission recommending a change of the charter to the City
Council and then the Council would need to unanimously approve the changes for them to go into
effect. Lastly, she discussed five points for the Council to consider in changes to the charter, of which
three of them are mainly housekeeping items.
Council Member Whalen asked about going above and beyond in the notification of special
elections, such as Facebook and our website.
City Clerk VanHoose and City Attorney Tietjen agreed those methods would still be used and
the items listed in the charter would be more official postings for the newspaper and website and
doesn’t preclude any other notifications.
Council Member Trautmann thanked City Clerk VanHoose for her work on these recent
special elections. He stated the path of the statutory cities seemed most clear.
City Attorney Tietjen further discussed the two larger policy considerations raised in her memo
that have to do with the amount of time remaining in a term of office before a special election is
required and appointment process and the appointment process.
Mayor Regan Gonzalez asked if at some cities there is a formal recognition if someone is
appointed that they will not run for the seat in the next election.
City Attorney Tietjen was unsure if that is the case and the constitutionality of such a
prohibition.
Council Member Garcia discussed her resignation from the City Council in 1985 when she was
elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives and the issues that were raised when a vacancy
wasn’t declared by the Council. She also asked about the process to change the charter.
City Attorney Tietjen responded the Charter Commission makes a formal recommendation to
the Council, similar to adopting an ordinance and other procedural requirements.
Council Member Garcia discussed the history of the Charter Commission including when
members of the City Council were all elected at-large and not by ward, as is the case currently. She
stated that the change to wards was voted on by the residents of Richfield.
Council Member Supple commented that she was in favor of extending the requirements for a
special election from six months, as it is currently, to nine months or one year but thought an
appointment for two years, as State law allows, was too long.
Council Member Garcia concurred with having it at one year.
Council Member Whalen discussed the difficulty separating the two issues of when a special
election is required and also only holding them at the same time as a general election and asked for
clarification on this.
City Attorney Tietjen responded you would have the option of holding the special election
earlier but have the option of waiting until the next general election.
Council Member Trautmann asked for clarification if they would appoint an interim council
member and then hold a special election on a general election date.
Special Council Work Session Minutes -3- April 23, 2019
City Attorney Tietjen responded that is one option and that it is not required to wait until the
next general election, but not a requirement, and a special election could be held on any of the dates
allowed by State law.
Council Member Trautmann discussed having a special election outside of a general election
date does not remove the administrative burden on the City Clerk’s office.
City Attorney Tietjen discussed additional policy considerations before the Council and
discussed the current provisions in the charter and asked if the Council was interested in adding
flexibility by making appointments, as some other charters have available.
Council Member Supple asked if charters generally outline the procedure for making the
appointment.
City Attorney Tietjen responded that most charters are more broad and do not get into that
detail. She stated every city has its own process and up to the Council.
Council Member Supple commented that she would be in favor if it was less than 90 days the
incoming official could start early, but was unsure if 30 days was enough time to interview people and
make a selection.
City Manager Rodriguez commented that the vacancies occurring recently happen due to
elections and having an appointment for 2 years coincides with the next general election, while there
is a negative to this because it is a longer appointment. She stated if appointments were for a year or
less it would not remove the administrative burden of needing a special election.
Mayor Regan Gonzalez summarized that a majority of Council agrees in revisiting changes to
the charter to make something more efficient makes sense and felt that additional information and
options may need to be brought forward to fully understand the implications of changes.
Council Member Whalen agreed and stated he is open to changes, including increasing the six
months to one year, and suggested having a few options provided for changes to the charter and how
those changes would have affected recent scenarios that we have had with special elections.
City Attorney Tietjen agreed and suggested having another meeting with different scenarios
and commented that there appears to be support on the Council to move the six month restriction to
at least one year and providing more flexibility.
City Manager Rodriguez stated that this would a good discussion and a number of Charter
Commission members in attendance could take the information discussed and propose some
changes or scenarios.
Mayor Regan Gonzalez thanked the Charter Commission for giving the input and commented
it might be helpful to have the Charter Commission at the next work session on this topic.
ADJOURNMENT
The work session was adjourned by unanimous consent at 6:46 p.m.
Special Council Work Session Minutes -4- April 23,2019
Date Approved: May 14, 2019
Maria Regan Gonz
Mayor
J red Vot� Katie Rodriguez
Assistant to the City Manager City Manager