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<br />member; nor a vote by telephone; nor
<br />a vote by a prm.:y could be a valid vote
<br />on a statutory city council issue.
<br />Some boards have authority to con-
<br />du eetings by telephone. For exam-
<br />ple, t tate municipal board can
<br />conduct me's and hearings by elec-
<br />tronic media, times councils and
<br />other boards may ac 'thout meeting.
<br />In certain circumstances, example,
<br />statutory city councils can app e pay-
<br />ment of bills before meeting by h 'g
<br />a majority of the council members
<br />endorse the bill for payment. *
<br />A charter city probably could have
<br />
<br />the charter provide for holding council
<br />meetings via electronic media, The city
<br />would have to devise procedures that
<br />would comply with the open meeting
<br />law. For example, it would have to be
<br />easily possible for members of the
<br />public to listen in on the meeting, to
<br />hear all comments from all meeting
<br />participants, to identify who is making
<br />each comment, to identify how each
<br />member votes, and so on.
<br />In a situation where most memb
<br />ere physically present and one em-
<br />be's participating electro ' ally, a
<br />fairly , Ie speaker-ph e arrange-
<br />
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<br />
<br />Crack sealing city streets in Owatonna
<br />
<br />Now, a hot-pour rubberized crack and joint sealant
<br />with a three-year guarantee is available for your
<br />roads. This sealant conforms to specifications:
<br />ASTM01190, 03405, AASHTOM173, Federal SS S-164,
<br />SS S.1401 B.
<br />
<br />Phone
<br />(612) 544.3413
<br />
<br />1.800.284.4907
<br />FAX
<br />(612) 550.1536
<br />
<br />e
<br />
<br />Bergman Companies!I Inc.
<br />
<br />Suite 275 · 3501 Xenium Lane N. · Plymouth, MN 55441
<br />
<br />
<br />ment might be sufficient. If
<br />members were participating ctroni-
<br />cally, other arrangement might be
<br />necessary to assure th the public is
<br />aware of the meetin and can observe
<br />the council's deli ations.
<br />Procedure such as designating a
<br />proxy to end the meeting and vote
<br />on th absent member's behalf, or
<br />pe tting an absent member to submit
<br />s vote in writing, seem more ques-
<br />tionable. By designating a proxy, the
<br />elected official would be delegating dis-
<br />cretionary duties to another person.
<br />While that kind of delegation might be
<br />legal if the charter authorized it, having
<br />someone other than the person the
<br />voters selected make discretionary
<br />decisions seems questionable from a
<br />public policy standpoint.
<br />Similarly, permitting an absent mem-
<br />er to submit a written vote seems
<br />inc istent with the notion of the
<br />counc' a deliberative body. The
<br />absent me er would be making a
<br />decision withou ving heard or partic-
<br />ipated in the discus' of the issue.
<br />We don't know of cities that
<br />. have adopted charter pr . sions for
<br />meeting by electronic media. your
<br />city has done so or has consider it,
<br />we'd appreciate hearing about yo
<br />expenence.
<br />
<br />Ratifying vOlunteer~.
<br />
<br />firefighter benefit
<br />
<br />increases
<br />
<br />The January 1990 column discussed
<br />increasing volunteer firefighter relief
<br />association retirement benefits. A relief
<br />association that has generated a lot of
<br />income from other sources such as
<br />charitable gambling may ask the council
<br />to ratify an increase in retirement ben-
<br />efits with support from gamblin
<br />income. Bu~by'ratifying:'aberiefit
<br />in~ease;'the. cOul1cilis cornn1ittingthe~]\
<br />tcitjrto pi-ovid~;si1f:fic:ienffundsftomtax ~
<br />~re"eriu~sto support that level of bene- ,-,..
<br />fits even if the' relief association's other
<br />\revenue sourcescIiYup ;,,'>';
<br />The statutes allow a relief associa-
<br />tion to increase benefits unilaterally
<br />without council ratification if the asso-
<br />ciation has sufficient funds. But if in the \
<br />future the funding is no longer suffi- ~
<br />cient, benefits then revert back to the .IJ:'
<br />previous level that . the council had
<br />ratified. The article suggested that
<br />cities consider this alternative as a way
<br />to permit firefighters to benefit from
<br />
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<br />34 Minnesota Cities
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