The Crookston Charter Commission met Monday evening at the Crookston City Hall Council Chambers.
The commission approved the December 4, 2023, meeting Report.
The first agenda item was a discussion of decreasing the number of Council Members on the Crookston City Council. The Charter Commission members considered going with six council members, and even an At-large council would work in Crookston. The Commission was unsure of going with an At-large council as it could cause conflict over who represented what and if the best interests of all would be covered. The Commission also felt the council’s size seemed to work for the City of Crookston. “Discussions were about decreasing the number of Council Members if that was going to stay at eight, go to six, or what it was going to do,” said Charter Commission chair Nick Nicholas. “It was decided to stay at eight going forward.” No action was required from the Commission.
The next item on the agenda was whether or not a Council Member should give up his/her seat if running for Mayor. The Commission felt that by giving up his/her seat to run for Mayor if the Member was not elected Mayor, they would not easily be able to keep his/her spot on the Council. After discussion, the Commission members decided not to change things. Currently, a Council Member does not have to give up their seat if running for Mayor. No action was required from the Commission.
The final item discussed was about absences by City Council Members and how to address this issue. Currently, the Charter states that six consecutive unexcused absences are grounds for removal from the council. It was felt that six is too many. Add that on top of excused meetings, a council member is allowed to miss months’ worth of meetings at a time. The commission decided to send a recommendation to the Crookston City Council. “Recommendation from the Charter Commission is that if you have three consecutive unexcused absences, you could be removed from the council,” said Nicholas. The Charter Commission voted unanimously for this to be brought to the City Council. This will now be handed to legal to draft up for a future City Council meeting.
The Crookston Charter Commissions meeting was adjourned at 5:53 p.m.
