Brooklyn Center Charter Commission Sends ‘Strong Mayor’ Proposal to Council
Tuesday night at Brooklyn Center City Hall, something happened that’s not usually seen at a charter commission meeting: a full house.
“Usually our meetings have nobody attending except for us,” one commission member said during the meeting.
At issue is a petition signed by more than 1,100 Brooklyn Center residents aimed at changing the city’s power structure and creating a “strong mayor” system.
“This petition process is new for all of us,” said Mark Goodell, chair of the Brooklyn Center Charter Commission. “I don’t think anybody here has been through the process of a petition.”
Earlier in July, the commission met to talk about that petition. The people who signed it want to put the mayor in charge of the city versus the city manager. It’s similar to how Minneapolis runs its city government.
Brooklyn Center Charter Commission Chairman Mark Goodell addresses his fellow commissioners.
“Our job for a citizens petition is to pass it onto the city council in one of three ways, either approving it, to be submitted as an ordinance or as something to go on the ballot, or as no recommendation at all,” Goodell said to his fellow commissioners. “That is our only job.”
However, at its last meeting, the charter commission opted not to send the petition onto the city council.
That decision prompted a group called “Citizens for a Full-Time Mayor” to file a lawsuit mandating the commission to send it to the city council.
A court hearing on the matter was originally scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, But at Tuesday night’s meeting, the charter commission decided to send the petition to the city council after all, although some had reservations.
“When you see something like that, it at least begs the question that we should be looking at this, not rubber stamping it,” said Stanley Leino, a charter commission member. “I think that there’s a huge public policy issue here that could come into conflict with this proposed charter amendment.”
Now, the issue will be up to the city council, and very likely, the voters of Brooklyn Center.
Meanwhile, city officials say the next step in the process is for the Brooklyn Center City Clerk to verify the 1,103 signatures collected on the petition. The number of required signatures from Brooklyn Center voters is 886.
This is not the only potential charter change on the ballot in November. See Also: Brooklyn Center Council Considers Charter Changes to Adjust Mayoral Duties
