Hereâs an update from the Wednesday Committee of the Whole meeting, regarding
filing fees.
I left before the filing fees item came up, but watched the video, it was on a
report from the Intergovernmental Relations Committee, and drew no comment or
discussion.
This post includes a recent news release I sent out on the filing fee issue.
Captain Jack Sparrow was also at the meeting during the first half hour or so.
News Release: Hennepin County Commissioner Candidates and 2013 Mayoral
Candidates call on City Council to postpone action on proposed Filing Fee
Charter Amendment â ask for legal opinion on whether Charter Commission
illegally failed to hold hearing
Contact:
âBeetle-browedâ Bob âAgainâ aka âthe Floggerâ aka âfly-on-roadkillâ Carney Jr.,
Cell Phone: (612) 812-4867, <email obscured>, candidate for Hennepin
County Board, third district; Incumbent: Greene; contested primary;
Captain Jack Sparrow, Phone: (612) 386-6538, <email obscured>,
candidate for Hennepin County Board, fourth district, Incumbent: McLaughlin; no
contested primary.
For Immediate Release
NEWS AVAILABILITY â Captain Jack Sparrow and âbeetle-browedâ Bob âAgainâ aka
âthe Floggerâ aka âfly-on-roadkillâ Carney Jr. will be available to speak with
journalists and members of the public Wedesday, July 30th, at 9:45 AM at the
Minneapolis City Council Chamber
Minneapolis, July 30, 2014 â Current Hennepin County Commissioner candidates
Captain Jack Sparrow and âbeetle-browedâ Bob âAgainâ aka âthe Floggerâ aka
âfly-on-roadkillâ Carney Jr. are calling on the Minneapolis City Council to
postpone action for one Council cycle on a proposed Charter Commission
Amendment to raise filing fees. They both attended the Charter Commission
meeting that approved the proposed Amendment, and observed that the Charter
Commission failed to either set a public hearing on the proposed Amendment or
waive that requirement by a two thirds vote. Sparrow and Carney claim the
Commissionâs failure to do either is a clear violation of the Commissionâs own
rules. Carney and Sparrow, who both paid $20 in 2013 to run for Mayor, are
calling on the City Council to obtain a legal opinion from the City Attorney as
to whether putting the Amendment on the ballot without the required public
hearing is illegal.
Sparrow and Carney have recently had a commentary and a letter to the editor
(respectively) published on the Star Tribuneâs editorial page, challenging the
proposal to raise filing fees.
The Charter Commissionâs rule 5.1 provides as follows for proposed Charter
changes:
âA public hearing is required prior to placement of a proposed Charter
amendment on the ballot unless two-thirds of the Commissioners present and
voting vote not to hold a public hearing.â
The Charter Commissionâs Chair, Barry Clegg, acknowledged to Carney that the
proposed Amendment was a separate and distinct process, undertaken according to
State law after the City Council did not approve the Amendment by Ordinance,
another method of amendment that requires a unanimous vote.
At the last Intergovermental Relations Committee meeting a second proposed
Charter Commission Amendment was postponed one election cycle, to allow time to
study a possible revision of the ballot language. Council member Andrew
Johnson believed alternate wording would be more clear to voters.
âIf the Intergovernmental Relations Committee could postpone an Amendment to
tweak the ballot language, surely the Council can postpone an Amendment to
investigate whether there is illegality in the amending process. We would both
frankly prefer to avoid the necessity of challenging the proposed Amendment in
Court,â Carney said.
<end>
The news release was distributed to all Council members before the meeting
started. It had a note at the top, requesting any Council member to make a
motion to postpone for one Council cycle.
Before the meeting started, I spoke with City Clerk Casey Carl, who acknowledge
he had provided incorrect information to the Council at the meeting where the
Amendment by Ordinance was defeated â that required a unanimous vote â Council
members Gordon and Yang voted no. Unfortunately, the Council had been told by
Mr. Carl that if the Amendment by Ordinance was defeated, the Council would
have an opportunity to revise ballot language for anything the Charter
Commission put on the ballot â including the ability to change the dollar
amounts.
Mr. Carl told me that he had made that statement after speaking with an
attorney. Apparently, the attorney got it wrong. He said the City Attorney,
Ms. Segal, told the Council about the incorrect information after the meeting,
but of course by then the Amendment by Ordinance had already been defeated.
I spoke briefly with Council member Gordon before the meeting. After Captain
Jack and I left, he headed off to another meeting, and I returned after about
half an hour, and went to the Council office to try to reach Mr. Gordon by
sending in a note, or by e-mail. An e-mail was sent to him, asking if he would
make the requested motion to postpone. He appeared to confer briefly with Ms.
Segal, and then came out the side gate to speak with me briefly, telling me
Segal thought the hearing process had been followed âgood enoughâ â since there
had been a Charter Commission hearing in connection with the failed effort to
amend by ordinance. I donât see it that way, but thatâs what Mr. Gordon
reported, and he then told me he would not offer a motion to postpone.
So⌠at this point, it appears the Charter Commissionâs proposed filing fee
Amendment â with increases to $500 for Mayor and $250 for Council members â
will be sent to the voters, unless someone wants to challenge it in court,
based on information I provided in an earlier thread, which has been abandoned
in favor of continuing the discussion on this thread. Due to my own
priorities, I canât and wonât do anything further on this before the primary,
and may not be able to do much before it comes to the voters in the fall,
again, unless someone else wants to challenge this in court.
I am of course disappointed in how poorly I think this was handled by both Mr.
Carl, who provided incorrect information before a crucial vote, and by the
Charter Commission, who in my opinion clearly failed to follow their own rule
regarding public hearings.
âbeetle-browedâ Bob âAgainâ aka âthe Floggerâ aka âfly-on-roadkillâ Carney Jr.
East Harriet Farmstead
âcandidate-journalistâ; Candidate for Hennepin County Commissioner, District 3;
âwriter-wingâ Republican