Based on the context provided in the text (mentions of titles, roles, and names), here is the transcribed townhall meeting with speaker names and estimated timestamps. **[00:00] Mayor:** Why? Okay. All right. Let’s—we’re gonna get it together now. All right, we’re gonna call the meeting to order. Will the clerk please note those in attendance? All will be noted with the exception of Council Member Ed Berg, who is excused for the evening. Thank you. Will you please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance? **[00:20] Group:** I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. **[00:35] Mayor:** All right. I trust everyone's had a chance to read the minutes from the regular city council meeting on May 23rd. I'd entertain a motion to approve the minutes. **[00:43] Council Member:** Motion. **[00:44] Council Member:** Second. **[00:45] Mayor:** All those in favor say "Aye." **[00:46] Council Members:** Aye. **[00:47] Mayor:** Any opposed? Motion carries; minutes are approved. Item three: adoption of the agenda. Any changes to the very light agenda that we have? Seeing none, I'd entertain a motion to approve the agenda. **[00:58] Council Member:** Second. **[00:59] Mayor:** I have a motion and a second. All those in favor of adopting the agenda say "Aye." **[01:03] Council Members:** Aye. **[01:04] Mayor:** Any opposed? We have an agenda. Moving on to item four, the consent agenda. I’d entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda again. **[01:12] Council Member:** I have a motion. **[01:13] Council Member:** Second. **[01:14] Mayor:** All those in favor say "Aye." **[01:15] Council Members:** Aye. **[01:16] Mayor:** Any opposed? Motion carries. Consent agenda is approved. Item five: visitors and presentations. We have nothing scheduled, so the only thing we have on the agenda is item six: public hearings. Item A: first reading of an ordinance amending the city Charter. Ms. Crawford? **[01:32] Ms. Crawford (City Manager):** Thank you, Mayor, members of the council. We have the Vice President, Mark Aouni, from the Charter Commission here tonight to present a couple of proposed amendments to the city Charter. This is your first reading and then you will conduct a public hearing. **[01:48] Mayor:** Very good. Mr. Aouni, welcome. **[01:50] Mark Aouni (Charter Commission VP):** Thank you. Thank you, Council. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, for having me. Um, I’ll give you just a brief rationale of each part of the resolutions before you and then you can certainly answer any questions you have too. Above all, City Charter must be clear. In the fall of 2021, the Charter Commission began reviewing language in the charter and found three basic categories that needed clarification. The first issue to address involved multiple references to elections that were unclear. They were often confusing either because they referenced annual elections, which no longer happen annually, or it was unclear what type of election was being referenced—was it a general election, a special, a primary, or was it a municipal version of either of these elections? The second issue deserving attention was the use of some gender-specific terms, such as "foreman." Deleting these terms, we found, would not create a material change in the meaning of their respective sections and it seemed like the appropriate time to remove them. And finally, the third issue involved references to specific State statutes. We realized that an amendment to a state statute could ultimately cause confusion in the reading of our Charter, and a general reference to these statutes could be made without changing the context. Therefore, we wanted to remove these references to specific State statutes. So the clarification of these three issues—elections, gendered language, and reference to State statutes—is accomplished through Resolution 23-1. This had been previously approved by unanimous vote. It was originally presented to the council, you might remember last year, as Resolution 22-2 but was sent back to the Charter Commission for a little more consideration on the advice of the City Attorney to make similar modifications, which we've done. And coincidentally, this would serve to provide a segue into the second resolution in the amendment before you tonight. Speaking of the City Attorney, City staff had asked the Charter Commission to review Section 4.20, which currently grants the council the power to appoint an attorney or attorneys for one year. City staff had suggested that there could be practical benefits, including possible financial benefits, if Council was allowed to appoint an attorney for multiple years. And the Charter Commission agreed by a vote of nine to two that Council should have the power to appoint an attorney for multiple years, but not to exceed five years. And this is Resolution 23-2. Thank you. **[04:41] Mayor:** Thank you, Mr. Aouni. Quick, quick question for you. **[04:44] Mark Aouni:** Yes, sir. **[04:45] Mayor:** So I know it was at my urging and staff's urging to extend it beyond one year for the City Attorney, and I believe we requested three years. Can you tell me a little bit about what the rationale was to go from three to five? **[04:58] Mark Aouni:** Yes. Um, it actually was, I'll just say, a great discussion. And as I noted, it was not a unanimous vote. But there was a lot of back and forth on multiple years. We felt that "multiple years" would be just too ambiguous and although it seemed unlikely, having the possibility for a 10-year term or something of that nature just wouldn't be prudent going forward. But we also thought there might be a case beyond three years. So through a lot of back and forth, we settled on five years. That seemed to be just the sweet spot where we felt comfortable, and we thought it would help the city accomplish the purpose of considering the resolution. **[05:43] Mayor:** Very good. Thank you. Council, do we have any other questions for Mr. Aouni? Great, thank you very much. **[05:49] Mark Aouni:** Thank you so much. **[05:51] Mayor:** Well, this is only a first reading so we can talk about it if we want to or we'll discuss it. I'll just note for the record that Ms. Crawford and myself kind of brought this to everyone's attention because we were entering into a discussion and negotiation with our city prosecutors, and it became quite clear that entering into a multi-year contract was financially advantageous to the city to have a longer-term contract than one year. That really was the genesis for it. It also provides more efficiency with City staff to be able to deal with a contract like that less frequently than every single year. So that was again the genesis behind that. To me, this and the other provisions' recommendations for amending the charter are kind of no-brainers. So if anyone else has any comments we can address it; otherwise, we'll have a second reading where we can discuss it then. At this time, I will open it up for a public hearing if anyone would like to speak to this issue. Going once... going twice... seeing none, I'll close the public hearing and bring it back to the Council. Any final comments on this? *[Council Member Ed Berg enters the room]* **[07:03] Mayor:** Council Member Ed Berg, just for your benefit since you just showed up, I want to—I'll vamp and give you a chance to open your packet. We just had a presentation from Vice Chair Mark Aouni from the Charter Commission. If there's anything you wanted to speak to with regard to item 6A, I'll give you that opportunity. And if not, that's no problem as well. **[07:25] Council Member Ed Berg:** [Indistinguishable/Nods] **[07:27] Mayor:** All right, very good. All right, we'll move on to item seven. Well, if you have some comments, Ms. Crawford? **[07:33] Ms. Crawford:** Mayor, members of the council, the second reading—we are scheduled to have that at our upcoming city council meeting. It does require a unanimous 5-0 vote to approve any Charter Amendment, so we are looking for all of your attendance at that meeting. Thank you. **[07:49] Mayor:** Very good. Thank you. Item seven: we have nothing scheduled. Item eight: nothing scheduled. And item nine: nothing scheduled. Ms. Crawford, do you have any communications for the council tonight? **[08:01] Ms. Crawford:** Marketfest is here this Thursday and that runs through July 27th. Obviously, that's downtown from 6:00 to 9:00 PM. "Bears Building Community"—that is an exhibit by the White Bear Lake Area Historical Society at the Armory that opens on Thursday as well and runs through August 1st. Manitou Days parade is this Friday, June 16th. That is also downtown at 6:30 PM. The City Council again will be in the parade. If you can meet here at 6:00 PM at City Hall, that would be wonderful. Um, there's a ribbon cutting for Beecroft Marketing and Events. This is a new location, Wednesday, June 21st at 3:30 PM. The new location is in the Avalon Mall. And we have our free Bike Rodeo Saturday, June 24th at Public Works from 1:00 to 3:00 PM. More information and sign up can be found on the city's website. And then lastly, Council Member Walsh and I will be attending the League of Minnesota Cities Conference next Wednesday through Friday in Duluth. Thank you. **[09:05] Mayor:** Very good. Council, any questions for Ms. Crawford? **[09:08] Council Member:** Ribbon cutting? **[09:09] Ms. Crawford:** 3:30 PM on June 21st. Thank you. **[09:12] Mayor:** All right, thank you. That concludes our very light agenda. I would entertain a motion to adjourn. **[09:17] Council Member:** Motion. **[09:18] Council Member:** Second. **[09:19] Mayor:** All those in favor say "Aye." **[09:20] Council Members:** Aye. **[09:21] Mayor:** We’re adjourned! 12 minutes—that’s impressive. **[09:25] Council Member:** Yeah, no, I don't know if I’ve ever had one that short. **[09:28] Mayor:** It might be the shortest meeting I've ever sat in my chair. **[09:32] [Music]** **[09:35] [Laughter]** **[09:37] Council Member Ed Berg:** I’ve been prepping for an hour out there! **[09:40] [Laughter]**