The Crookston Charter Commission met on Monday in the City Hall council chambers and discussed issues that have been addressed by Crookston residents.
CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS DISCUSSION
The commission first discussed a topic that was brought to the city by an anonymous citizen regarding a possible decrease in city council members. “They basically indicated that our city is shrinking in population, and they wanted to look at if the council of eight is an appropriate number for a city of our size, which is approximately 7,500,” said City Administrator Corky Reynolds, “Some time ago we were a larger community, approaching 9,000 and we looked at if the members were too many.”
After a lengthy discussion with the commission, they came to a consensus that the council remain with eight members and the mayor, which makes a total of nine council members.
MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEMBER DISCUSSION
The next item on the agenda was a discussion regarding the possibility of council members giving up their seats if they happened to be running for mayor. “Because of the way our wards and elections are structured,” said Reynolds, “If you were a member of wards 1, 3, or 5 or at large (which is at the same time) you could run for another political office and not get that position but then return to your council seat because your time wasn’t up.”
The commission has appointed Reynolds to gather data from other cities before they meet again, in which the commission will determine if council members would have to give up their seats if running for other political positions.
CITY COUNCIL MEMBER ABSENCES REQUIREMENTS
The commission also had a discussion about council members and how many meetings they could be absent before being relieved of their duties. Currently, the city charter states if a council member misses six consecutive scheduled city council meetings, they will then be asked to give up the position.
There was discussion about possibly prorating the payment to council members based on meeting attendance. Currently, city council members receive a $6,000 annual salary, which equates to $500 per month, or (if they are paid by the meeting) $250 per meeting. There was no consensus reached during Monday’s meeting.
The final item that was discussed at the meeting was the review of the amount of time allowed to speak at open forums during city meetings. The current forum allotted time is fifteen minutes in total and not per individual. After further discussion the commission determined that no changes be made to the allocated time at the open forums.
The consent agenda included the approval of minutes from the December 5, 2022 meeting. There is no date set for the next Charter Commission meeting.
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