Charter Revision Commission Meetings

MINUTES Charter Revision Commission Meeting Wednesday, December 8, 2021 at 4:00 PM Carnegie Town Hall, 235 West 10th St., Sioux Falls, SD 57104 1. Call To Order Commission Members Present: Catherine Dekkenga, Anne Hajek, Lawrence Long, Justin Smith, Carl Zylstra Commission Members Absent: None 2. Approval of Minutes A. Wednesday, November 10, 2021 A motion was made by Commission Member Hajek and seconded by Commission Member Long to approve the minutes. Voice vote to approve. 5 Yes: Dekkenga, Hajek, Long, Smith, Zylstra; 0 No: (None). Motion Passed. 3. Old Business Item 3B was heard at this time. See item for action taken. A. Formal Recommendation #1 by Mike Zitterich: City Council composition/redistricting. 1) Answers to questions requiring further review/investigation posed by Chair Smith at the 9/8/21 meeting and amended at the 10/6/21 meeting. Discussion was held regarding how the increase in districts would reflect the population increase in the City of Sioux Falls. Hajek spoke about the Districting Commission and their responsibilities in relation to the adjustment of districts and whether that commission could bring proposed changes to the City Council instead of amending the City's Charter. Discussion was held about whether or not inserting this stipulation in the Charter would duplicate responsibilities held by another city commission. A motion was made by Commission Member Hajek and seconded by Commission Member Zylstra to not place Formal Recommendation #1 on the ballot.  Roll call vote to not place. 5 Yes: Dekkenga, Hajek, Long, Smith, Zylstra; 0 No: (None). Motion Passed. B. Formal Recommendation #2 by Anne Hajek: Council Members being able to provide their resignation for a future date enabling them to run for another office while they are a sitting City Council Member. A request was made by Commission Member Anne Hajek to withdraw Formal Recommendation #2 from further consideration. C. List of Formal Recommendations for Revision to the Sioux Falls Charter to be Maintained (the items on this list will be addressed at a future meeting and will be placed on the relevant Agenda at that time). The status of the listing of formal recommendations was reviewed. 4. New Business A. Formal Recommendation #6 by Mike Zitterich: City Council action on budget - adding review steps if the Council fails to adopt the budget by September 30th. Zitterich spoke about his recommended procedures for approving the budget. He stated he did not think it needed to go on the ballot this year and that his proposal was for encouraging future discussion and review in this area. Hajek stated she did not think the Commission had the authority to authorize a delay in an approval beyond September 30th as this is a deadline per state law. Smith asked Zitterich if clarification on his proposal would mean that, if an extension beyond September 30th is not possible, would his proposal be modified to mean that the budget would duplicate the previous year's budget if an agreement was not reached by September 30th, Zitterich agreed. Zylstra asked Zitterich if he felt like he needed additional time to tweak his proposal and Zitterich replied that he could do an additional review for updates in the future, if needed. A motion was made by Commission Member Zylstra and seconded by Commission Member Long to not place Formal Recommendation #6 on the ballot. Roll call vote to not place. 5 Yes: Dekkenga, Hajek, Long, Smith, Zylstra; 0 No: (None). Motion Passed. B. Formal Recommendation #7 by Joe Kirby: Removal of the Mayor from the City Council and expansion of City Council majority vote exceptions. As Joe Kirby was unable to attend the meeting, David Knudson provided additional insight into this proposal on his behalf. Knudson stated that the proposed amendments would provide a sharper separation of powers between the Legislative and Executive branches of city government. Knudson stated that Kirby noted the original Charter should have had a sharper delineation between the executive and legislative powers, wherein the Mayor should not have had power to veto.  Discussion was held regarding the specific proposed changes to the Charter and inquiries were made regarding if this item was a duplicate of previously submitted proposed changes to the Charter from two years ago. Hajek asked about the Mayor's role during Council meetings and expressed concern about the access the average citizen would have to the Mayor if he were not considered a member of the City Council and attending the Council meetings. Discussion was held about other options the Mayor would have for citizen interaction if this were to occur. Knudson noted that he could make a phone call to Kirby to get clarification on other issues, such as the bond terminology, and provide an additional update to the commission. At this time, he excused himself from the meeting. Item 4C was heard at this time. See item for action taken. After speaking with Kirby, Knudson returned to the meeting and made amendments to the initial proposal. After review, Chair Smith clarified the amendments by stating the following updates: To keep in Section 2.02(b) Eligibility as is. Kirby's original proposal was to strike this subsection; the revised proposal is to keep this subsection in with no changes made. To keep in Section 2.02(c) Election and terms as is. Kirby's original proposal was to strike the first sentence of this subsection; the revised proposal is to make no changes to this subsection. To renumber the new paragraph in Kirby's original proposal at the end of Section 2.02 entitled Leadership from subsection (c) to subsection (d). To remove the proposed changes to the last sentence of Section 2.11(c) Voting. The only proposed change to Section 2.11(c) that would remain would be the removal of: "the mayor shall only vote as necessary to break a tie" found at the end of the third sentence. Zylstra moved to divide the question for clarification. Smith noted that Section 2.02 (c) in redline would become Section 2.02 (d), and the word "chairman" would be changed to "chair". Clarification was made on the proposed changes regarding renumbering. A motion was made by Commission Member Hajek and seconded by Commission Member Long to not place Formal Recommendation #7 on the ballot. Roll call vote to not place. 5 Yes: Dekkenga, Hajek, Long, Smith, Zylstra; 0 No: (None). Motion Passed. C. Formal Recommendation #8 by Jeanelle Lust: Ranked choice or approval voting. Lust spoke about adding the option for "approval or rank choice voting" to the City Charter Section 6.01, City Elections. Lust stated the main reasons she is proposing ranked choice voting at this time are because: there is another city election coming in April, 2022, which will more than likely result in the need for a run off election; the runoff election can cost the taxpayers over $80K; the  timeline for a run off election is very close to the initial election which could cause a delay for absentee military voters who are overseas; and the voter turnout for run off elections is less. Zylstra inquired about previous research done on this topic and whether or not state law already addressed rank choice voting in the past. Lust responded by explaining that she did not think there was anything in the statutes that prohibits this type of election method. Lust quoted from SDCL 12-20-39 which reads: Election by plurality. "Except when otherwise specially provided in all elections for the choice of any officer, the person receiving the highest number of votes for any office shall be deemed to have been elected to that office." Discussion was held regarding whether or not the City Council could approve rank choice/approval voting now and if there was anything in the Charter that would prohibit them from doing so. A motion was made by Commission Member Zylstra and seconded by Commission Member Hajek to not place Formal Recommendation #8 on the ballot. Zylstra made preparatory remarks prior to making said motion and subsequently withdrew the motion to correct the improper procedure. A motion was made by Commission Member Hajek and seconded by Commission Member Long to not place Formal Recommendation #8 on the ballot. Roll call vote to not place. 5 Yes: Dekkenga, Hajek, Long, Smith, Zylstra; 0 No: (None). Motion Passed. D. Other Proposals Submitted In Advance of this Meeting Unrelated to the Articles Under Consideration Above. There are no pending recommendations at this time. There were no additional proposals submitted in advance of this meeting. E. Setting a Deadline for Submissions to the Charter Revision Commission. There are no pending recommendations for review. The deadline has passed for items to be submitted for the Charter Revision Commission Meeting scheduled for Wednesday, January 5, 2022, at 4 pm. 5. Public Input Mike Zitterich thanked the Commission members for their service. He spoke about how he enjoyed being involved in the process and is encouraged about how the process works in our city. 6. Open Discussion Discussion was held about term limits for the members of the Charter Revision Commission. It was noted that May 23, 2023 is the ending term date for Commissioners Hajek, Zylstra, and Smith. 7. Adjournment  A motion was made by Commission Member Long and seconded by Commission Member Hajek to adjourn the meeting at 5:25 p.m. Voice vote to adjourn. 5 Yes: Dekkenga, Hajek, Long, Smith, Zylstra; 0 No: (None). Motion Passed. Tamara Jorgensen, MMC, City Clerk Future Charter Revision Commission Meeting(s): January 5, 2022, at 4:00 p.m. All meetings at Carnegie Town Hall