You may be interested that, despite the information in the message below, the
Charter Commission's draft revision guarantees the establishment of "a civil rights
department, with jurisdiction over every board, department, and officer for the
purpose of enforcing civil-rights legislation." If you're looking at the fifth draft,
the one that the Commission approved in May for soliciting public comment, this
provision appears in section 6.2(d). The provision was purposely kept in the charter
because an ordinance cannot give a City department jurisdiction over "every board,
department, and officer" in the City government. The Charter Commission was unanimous
when it voted to retain this provision in the charter so that the civil-rights
department would maintain its historically broad jurisdiction over other governmental
bodies, including the independent boards that the City Council can't regulate.
By the way, I'm acting as the reporter for the charter-revision project. If
you would like to get a comment to the Commission without mailing a letter to all 15
commissioners, you can send it to the Commission Coordinator, Jan Hrncir, at [EMAIL
PROTECTED]; or to me at [EMAIL PROTECTED] We have been circulating all comments
received -- which number more than a hundred to date -- to all the commissioners.
BRM
Brian Melendez
Lowry Hill (Ward 7)
Charter Commissioner
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Behalf Of Brandon, Ronald G
Sent: Tuesday, September 28, 2004 6:08 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [Mpls] Minneapolis Charter Commission Proposed Changes
To : Concerned citizens of the City of Minneapolis
From: Jayne Baccus Khalifa, Director
Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights
Subject: Propose change to the Minneapolis Charter/Public
Hearing
Date: September 27, 2004
Purpose of the Minneapolis Charter Commission and the process(s)
required to amend charter commission language ("housekeeping" changes
vs. "substantial" charter language changes): see attachment A.
Proposed Change: The Charter Commission has proposed deleting
(eliminating) the following language from the Minneapolis City Charter
as part of what it has termed "housekeeping" changes to remove supremacy
language. "Notwithstanding any other Charter provision or ordinance to
the contrary all city departments, boards, commissions, agencies, and
branches of City of Minneapolis shall be subject to the jurisdiction of
the Minneapolis Civil Rights Commission. No exemption of the
jurisdiction conferred by this section shall be allowed to exempt any
city departments, boards, commissions, agencies, or branches of the City
of Minneapolis."
Charter Ch. 11, Section 18.
The Charter Commission is recommending that Ch.11, Sec.18 be codified in
a city ordinance rather than in the City Charter.
Issue: The Minneapolis Charter is like the Constitution of the City of
Minneapolis and is the overriding legal document governing the operation
of the city and all city departments, boards and commissions. The
stated rationale of the Charter Commission is that the proposed change
is harmless because the Minneapolis Civil Rights department was created
under special law and it mirrors the State Human Rights Statute. The
City of Minneapolis Civil Rights Ordinance actually has broader coverage
than the State Statute. The change makes the Minneapolis Civil Rights
Department susceptible to diminished authority if the Minnesota Human
Rights State Statute is substantially changed.
The Charter Commission members are appointed by the chief judge of
Hennepin County and are non-partisan. As non-political representatives
of the general citizenry they are appointed to represent the best
interest of city residents without regard to political philosophy or
party affiliation. The City Council members and the Mayor are elected
officials where membership and political philosophy can change every
four years. A change to the City Charter requires a 13-0 vote by the
elected members of the City Council. An ordinance change requires only
a simple council majority.
Concerned citizens should note the following:
* The proposed Charter change which removes the Minneapolis
Department of Civil Rights Commission from it's constitutional document
at a time when the city has the greatest diversity, in it's history,
would be a bad public policy message to send. Charter language
supercedes ordinance language.
* It takes a vote of 13-0, from the Minneapolis City Council, to
amend or change Charter Commission actions. A 13-0 vote on any issue is
difficult to obtain, thus very few changes occur.
* It takes a vote of 7-6 by Minneapolis City Council to amend or
change ordinance actions, which creates the potential for change to the
Civil Rights authority based on philosophical or political changes in
Council membership.
* The Citizens of the City of Minneapolis, both new and old,
look to the Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights to protect their
civil and human rights free from political pressure or interference.
* The Charter Commission has violated their own rules by
characterizing a substantive change as a "housekeeping" amendment.
* Remember...current times continually remind us... that when we
talk of civil liberties we are discussing civil rights, when we deal
effectively with civil rights we must deal courageously with political
power and political structures...Discrimination left unchallenged is
discrimination accepted...The Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights
is committed to embracing the struggle for equality and effectively
challenging discrimination. Part of that struggle is preserving the
legal power base of the Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights.
What to do: If you oppose the proposed Charter Commission language
change you must:
* voice your concerns, against the language change, at the
public hearing on Wednesday, September 29, 2004 at 7:00 pm in
Minneapolis City Hall-City Council Chambers or Wednesday, October 6,
2004 at 4:00 pm in Minneapolis City Hall - City Council Chambers.
* And contact by mail Minneapolis Charter Commissioners and
state to them that you feel that the language should not be altered.
Below are the names and addresses of the Minneapolis Charter
Commissioners.
Jim Berstein, Chair
5216 Ewing Ave. South
Mpls., MN 55410
Gary Thaden, Vice Chair
Pettersen and Associates
830 Transfer Road, Suite 25A
St. Paul, MN 55114
Barry Lazarus, Secretary
156 Groveland Terrace
Mpls., MN 55403-1148
Tyrone P. Bujold
117 Portland Ave. # 602
Mpls., MN 55401
Barry Clegg
163 Island Ave. East
Mpls., MN 55401
Karen Collier
4201 Upton Ave. South
Mpls., 55410
Margaret Dolan
5849 2nd Ave. South
Mpls., MN 55419
Karen Dziedzic
514 - 3rd Ave. NE
Mpls., 55413-2288
Todd Ferrara
410 West Lake Street
Mpls., MN 55408
Brian Melendez
1777 Dupont Ave. South
Mpls., MN 55403-3066
Mail to: Faegre & Benson LLP
2200 Wells Fargo Center
90 South 7th Street
Mpls., MN 55402-3901
Jana L. Metge
2812 15th Ave. South
Mpls., MN 55407
Sue Ponsford
4129 Portland Ave. South
Mpls., MN 55407
James Theurer
4945 16th Ave. South
Mpls., MN 55417
Attachment A.
Minneapolis Charter Commission
Membership
There are fifteen Commissioners appointed by the Chief Judge of the
Hennepin County District Court to four-year terms, which are renewable
once. Commissioners may request to be reappointed for a second full
four-year term. Members must be qualified voters in the City of
Minneapolis. Members of the judiciary are not eligible for appointment.
Organization
The Charter Commission adopts rules governing its operation. Commission
officers include a Chair, Vice-Chair and Secretary elected in January
for a one-year term. The Commission meets monthly and files an annual
report with the District Court.
Purpose
The Commission reviews and formulates Charter proposals. To accomplish
this they solicit ideas from citizens, city staff and elected officials.
Amendments to the Charter
An amendment may be proposed:
* by citizen(s),
* by the City Council, or
* by the Charter Commissioners.
Proposed amendments must be submitted to the Charter Commission and
enacted only after recommendation by the Charter Commission and approval
by the City Council on a 13-0 vote or after placement on the general
election ballot.
See the City of Minneapolis website for more information on the
Minneapolis Charter Commission.
www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/charter-commission
REMINDERS:
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before continuing it on the list.
2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait.
For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html
For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract
________________________________
Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy
Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
REMINDERS:
1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
before continuing it on the list.
2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait.
For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html
For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract
________________________________
Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy
Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
