HomeMy WebLinkAbout19871001 Memo RE: By-LawsOctober 1, 197
H.enor-t of Comrnittee on Charter Commi sea on 13y--Laws and l~.ules of Procedure and
City Q~'ficaals' Conflict of Interest
This committee held four meetinp~s, two of which were attended by
Shawn Moynihan, Assistant City Attorney. Members of the committee also spent
same houx•s conversins~ with the P?ayor, the City Administrator, the City C:1erk,
present and former city couneilpersons, the Chairperson of the Planr.~in~ Com~
mission, and a representative of the Ts~a~ue of N;annesota Citaes. The league
sent us much he7_pful material, including several lengthy commentaries on these
areas of interest, as we 17_ as excerpts of charters from 17 cities of 'the tbix•d
class and 6 other cities in Minnesota. The committee a7_so obtained excerpts
from tkte state statute covering a code of ethics for state employees of the
executive branch and Pram the Hast~n~s City Personnel Policies.
1. Charter Commission members have already received our revised
draft of proposed by-laws and rules of procedure for 'the Charter Comma ssi on,
inc7_udin~ several su~~estions made at the inf ormal meeting of some members of
the Charter Commission an July 9.
2. The committee was asked for a recnmmenciation re ~ardin~ requiring
a 7.e~a1 publi_cati on of the i terns on the consent calendar. l~dc~ were to7.d that
this ha.~ been required by state statute, but that the law had been changed a
few years ago to no longer .reclui.re cities to publish. ThPSe Items, covering
miscellaneous payments, are included an the "packet" material ~;ven to members
of the City Council in advance o£ council meetings. Tn accordance with the
state open meeting statute, a copy of this packet is available to the public
who attend the council meeting', and the listins~ becomes part of the minutes of
the coune~7_ meet~n~. These minutes are available to the public at City Hall..
The present City Clerk does not remember anyone's ever asking to see those
items spec7-fically.
This committtee recommends that the charter not be changed to re~
quire publication of these items.
3. Conflict of Interest.
l~dath certain exceptions, Minnesota statutes forbid any public
officer who is authorised to take part in making a Sale, lease, or contract to
vo7"untarily have a personal financial interest in the transaction or to pex~-
„oi~a~L=1_y b€ne;•%~: f ~nancia:'_;Ly .fr•r~m, 7t® Th,_,s state}e appl,3e5 to memberu of the
Ca1;y Council. (A?a Secs. ~.71.~7~1~71®~~)
one of the exceptions allows a counci7member to partic3-pate in
making a contract between the city and the city"vo7.unteer fire department for
the payment of compensation to its members or for the payment of retirement
benef its to members."
There is a long history of court cases arzd state Attorney C~;neral~s
opinions covarin~ various aspects of conf lief of a.nterest, both in cases of
contracts and non contract situations.
The committee was asked to survey the practices of other cities of
the third class in this area.
-- ?_. -
10~ cities in Minnesota have home rule charters.
31 cities are in the third class (Population of 10,000 to 20,000.)
22 cities in the third class have name rule charters (Hastings
plus 21 others).
17 of the 21 have canf'lict of interest provisions.
$ of the 17 have a section on 1tlncampatible Offices". These,
with a few minor vari ati ins, are direct copies of Sect on 2.0,E of the League
of Cities Model Charter:
"No member of the council shall be appointed city manager, nor
shall any member hold any paid municipal office or employment under the city;
and until one year after the expiration of his term as mayor ar councilman no
former member shall be apgoi.nted to any paid appointive office or employment
under the city which was created or the compensation far which was increased
during his term as councilman.
For whatever reason, this provision is not included in the
Hastings pity charter.
All 17 of these third-class cities contain additional 3.anglaage
prohibiting city officials and often including city employees from being
interested in city contracts. Seven of these are brief statements of one
sentence. The other 10 contain stronger lang<zage, usually prohibiting city
councilparsons and city employees from soliciting or accepta.nP gifts of value
or preferential treatment from persons, companies? or public utilities doing
business with the city.
(State employees in the executive branch are similarly prohibited
from soliciting or accepting gifts of value from persons or businesses with
whom they deal in their state positions. MS Sec. /~3A,3$)
The matter of canf lict of interest, far Hastings city employees,
is covered in the city Personnel Policies, Sec. 23, Conf lict of Interest, and
Sec. 53, Prohibited Practices. "No employee shall receive or accept a gift
under circumstances from which it could be inferred that the giver expected
ar hoped for preferred or favored treatment in an official or department
matter"o
• It i s the majority (but not unanimous; recoa~mendati on of this comsai ~-
tee that the fol~_owin~ changes be made to the Hastinr~s city charter:
A. INGOMPATIBLF OF'FIGF;S. During the term for which he or she was elected,
no elected officer of the city shall be appointed Gity Administrator
nor be compensated for any municipal affi_ce or employment (except vo1-
untee r f i reman) other than 'ghat for why ch he or she was elected . For
one year after the expi rate on of hi s or her term, no former elected
officer shall be appointed to any paid a po~nt~ve office or employment
under the city (except volunteer f~reman~ which was created ar the com--
pensat~ on of which eras i nereased dur~ n~ hi s or her term as an e lectpd
officer, (cf . 9noka )
B. C0~?T~?.AC`1'S. Fxaapt as otherw-iso permuted by law, no e7.ected off~ice~° or
employee of the city who is authorized to take part in any manner in
mai~in~ a.ny cnntract with ar for the city shal7_ voluntarily have a per-
sonal f~nanc~al interest ;n or pe~°sonally ~k;enefi-t financial7~ from such
aim
contract. (~ violation of any of the provas~ons of th7s sect~an shall
d-Ysqual_ify the offender from cant?nuin~ ;n off;ce or -gin the employment
of the C'] f;~r9 and Yee o.r sY~e shall be remat7ed therefrom. (cf , F3e~~i d j ~ )
C, CON~'1"~TCT a~' 714;'~'EYi~`~`!', any member o:~ the C3tV Caunc;J. ar of any city
commission crho has a substantial financial interest in a matter wh7.ch
comps before that ~~ody f.'or d-i scuss7 an, deli berate on ar deco s~ an sha:L1.,
at the commencement of such discuss,ong deliberation or decis~an,
relinquish h7s or her place on such holy. He or she may participate in
such discussion' deli.berat~on ar decis?on only as a member of the
public9 and shah. resume h7s ar her place on such body on~_y after. that
matter has been dec9ded or otherwise disposed of from the agenda of
that meetin~e
Respectfull~r subm-itteds
~~~ ~_
Dick Dobr,ck
Chairperson
Judv G,lbert
Michael Hov~aard