04-28-1998 Charter Commission Regular Meeting - 1 -
Minutes of the Hopkins Charter Commission
April 28, 1998
The Hopkins Charter Commission met on April 28. Present were Commission members: Robert
Anderson, Richard Brubacher, Marjorie Mathison Hance, Charles Kritzler, Paul Lund, Henry
Pokorny, James Shirley, Harry Smith, and Warren Woodrich. Assistant City Manager Jim
Genellie and Finance Director Lori Yager were also present.
The meeting was brought to order at 7:00 p.m.
Approval of the Minutes of the Previous Meeting.
The Commission approved the minutes of May 13, 1997.
Election of Chair and Vice-Chair for 1998
Commissioner Kritzler moved, and Commissioner Anderson seconded the nomination of Harry
Smith for Chair. The nominations were closed and the election was made by unanimous ballot.
Commissioner Anderson moved, and Commissioner Mathison Hance seconded the nomination
of Charles Kritzler as Vice-Chair. The nominations were closed and the election was made by
unanimous ballot.
Reports
There were no reports.
Consideration of Communications.
There were no communications.
Unfinished Business
There was no unfinished business.
New Business
The Commission had received several proposals to amend the Charter from Lori Yager, the
City’s Finance Director. Prior to discussing the Charter amendments, Commissioner Woodrich
moved to table the discussion. Commissioner Pokorny seconded the motion.
Commissioner Woodrich explained that, in his opinion, the proposed amendments should be
presented to the City Council for their review prior to the Charter Commission considering them.
The issues dealt with financial procedures that he thought the Council should have input on.
Lori Yager said that the proposed actions had to be addressed through the City Charter since it
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was the Charter that determined what procedures needed to be followed.
Jim Genellie explained that under the Commission’s by-laws no action could be taken at this
meeting. The Commission cannot take formal action on any changes to the Charter at the
meeting where the changes were first proposed.
The motion to table was voted upon. Commissioner Anderson, Nay; Commissioner Brubacher,
Nay; Commissioner Mathison Hance, Nay; Commissioner Kritzler, Nay; Commissioner Lund,
Nay; Commissioner Pokorny, Nay; Commissioner Shirley, Nay; Commissioner Smith, Nay;
Commissioner Woodrich, Aye. The motion failed.
Commissioner Smith asked Lori Yager to explain her proposals. She said that she is proposing
three changes to the Charter.
1. Amend Section 6.06 of the City Charter. Staff is recommending raising the amount of money
that the City Manager could approve for purchases without City Council pre-approval from
$5,000 to $25,000.
2. Amend Section 6.07 to raise the dollar amount of contracts that would have to have formal
bids from $15,000 to $25,000.
3. Amend Section 7.10 to remove the requirement of having all checks be approved by the City
Council prior to payment.
The Commission discussed these proposals. Several Commissioners felt that there were
sufficient internal controls to prevent problems. Other Commissioners thought that the amount
of money that the City Manager could spend without Council approval was too high. A few
Commissioners were also uncomfortable with the idea of checks being issued without prior City
Council approval.
The issues that the Commission identified included:
1. Pre-approval of checks
2. The amount of money that the City Manager could spend without Council approval
3. Whether consultant contracts should be included in this expanded spending authority
4. The amount of money that is “wasted” by the current procedures
Mr. Genellie suggested that the Commission could schedule its next meeting after the City
Council had had an opportunity to review and comment on the proposed amendments.
The Commission set its next meeting for Tuesday, May 26 at 7:00 p.m. in Room 222. Staff was
instructed to prepare a report on any issues that the City Council has with the proposed charter
amendments.
Adjournment.
Commission Shirley moved and Commissioner Lund seconded the motion to adjourn. The
meeting adjourned by unanimous consent.