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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHousing & Redevelopment Authority Packet 03-23-2023 - SpecialHousing and Redevelopment Authority 1 of 1 March 23, 2023 CITY OF PLYMOUTH AGENDA Special Housing and Redevelopment Authority March 23, 2023, 5:45 PM 1. CALL TO ORDER 2. TOPICS 2.1 Training Session on Open Meeting Law, Data Practices, Conflict of Interest, Gift Law, and Rules of Order Training Materials 3. ADJOURN 1 Special Housing and Redevelopment Authority March 23, 2023 Agenda Number:2.1 To:Housing and Redevelopment Authority Prepared by:Jodi Gallup, City Clerk/Administrative Coordinator Reviewed by:Maria Solano, Deputy City Manager Item:Training Session on Open Meeting Law, Data Practices, Conflict of Interest, Gift Law, and Rules of Order 1. Action Requested: Attend training session on open meeting law, data practices, conflict of interest, gift law, and rules of order. 2. Background: City Clerk/Administrative Coordinator Jodi Gallup will present information and answer questions on open meeting law, data practices, conflict of interest, gift law, and rules of order. 3. Budget Impact: N/A 4. Attachments: Training Materials 2 224649v1 TRAINING MATERIALS for Open Meeting Law Data Practices Conflicts of Interest Gift Law Rules of Order for City of Plymouth Council, Staff, & Commissions January 2023 3 1 224649v1 I. OPEN MEETING LAW A. OPEN MEETINGS. Pursuant to Minnesota Statutes § 13D.01 - .07, almost all meetings of the City Council must be open to the public. A meeting exists when a quorum of the city council is together and: 1. Make a decision concerning city business; or 2. Discuss city business; or 3. Obtain information on city business. Be wary of serial communications: do not use the “reply all” function in emails. If a discussion occurs on social media, then that discussion must be open for participation by the public. B. OTHER ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION. Serial communication occurs when one councilmember consults another, who consults another, and so forth. This is not permitted under the Open Meeting Law. One of the main goals of the Open Meeting Law is to ensure that deliberations take place in a public setting. 1. It is not advisable to substantively discuss City matters via text message even with one other councilmember. Text messaging and/or other electronic communication to other councilmembers during a meeting about City matters is also not permitted. Be careful about engaging in discussions on your personal devices. Discussions about city matters are generally public data, subject to mandatory retention periods and accessible to the public upon request. Deliberations and discussions must occur in a public forum. 2. Similarly, a quorum of members having a discussion about public business on social media, such as in the comment section of a private Facebook page, could constitute a meeting in violation of the Open Meeting Law. Minn. Stat. §13D.065. C. NOTICE REQUIREMENTS.The City Council must give the following notices: 1. A schedule of the regular meetings shall be kept on file at the Council’s primary offices. Regularly scheduled meetings on your adopted meeting schedule require no additional notice. 2. Special meetings require mailed & posted or published notice at least three days before the day of the meeting. 3. Emergency meetings - as soon as reasonably practicable. D. CLOSED MEETINGS. Notice of the meeting is required stating why the meeting will be closed and the subject of the meeting. The meeting is still recorded. Closed meetings are allowed in limited circumstances: 1. Labor negotiations. 2. Pending litigation. 3. Preliminary consideration of charges against an employee. 4 2 224649v1 4. Evaluation of a person subject to its authority. 5. To determine the asking price of property being sold. 6. To review confidential appraisal data. 7. To develop counteroffers for the purchase or sale of property. 8. To discuss active investigative data. 9. If it would identify victims or reporters of criminal sexual conduct, domestic abuse, or maltreatment of minors. E. PENALTIES. If a court finds that an individual intentionally violated this open meeting law, penalties include: 1. Individual fine of $300.00 per occurrence for an intentional violation, which may not be paid by the City. 2. Three intentional violations in three separate actions can result in removal from office. 3. Additional costs and attorney's fees may be imposed up to $13,000.00. The City may pay this amount. 5 3 224649v1 II. DATA PRACTICES A. DATA. The Data Practices Act (Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13) presumes that all government data are public. The Data Practices Act obligates all levels of state and local government besides the legislature and the courts to preserve created data and respond to data requests. 1. “Government data” means all data collected, created, received, maintained or disseminated by state or local government, regardless of its physical form, storage media, or conditions of use. Data includes: paper documents, emails, CDs, videotapes, and computer files. B. CLASSIFICATION. To balance the need for transparency with the need to protect individual rights, state and federal law provide for classifications to limit access for private or confidential data. 1. Requests for data can come from the subject of the data (such as an employee) or a member of the public. Responses to data requests depend on how the data is classified. C. THE LIFE CYCLE OF A REQUEST. 1. A person submits a data request to the Responsible Authority in the City. If the request is for private information, the City may ask for proof of identity. It is impermissible to request for a member of the public’s identity when fulfilling a request for public data. 2. If the request is from the member of the public, the City must respond within a “reasonable amount of time.” 3. If the request is from the data subject, meaning the data is about the requesting individual, then the City is required to respond within ten business days. 4. The City staff then retrieves the data responsive to the request, if there is any. 5. Then the City review the data and determines if there is a justification to deny access to some or all of the data. If responsive data is withheld the City must inform the requestor and cite to the specific law that allows the redaction. 6. The City provides access to the data and collects copy costs, if requested. 6 4 224649v1 III. CONFLICTS OF INTEREST A. CONTRACTS. Under Minn. Stat. §471.87, with limited exceptions, a council member may not have a personal financial interest in a sale, lease, or contract with the City. This law applies to all public officers who are "authorized to take part in any manner in making any sale, lease, or contract in official capacity." Exceptions and special approval procedure may be available in a given fact situation. Simply abstaining from voting is not enough. Violation of this prohibition is a crime. B. NON-CONTRACTS. The general rule is that any official who has a personal financial interest in a non-contract action is disqualified from participating in the action. Courts evaluate certain factors to determine when a conflict requires disqualification. These include: the nature of the decision being made the nature of the financial interest the number of interested officials the need, if any, for the interested official to make the decision other means available, if any, such as an opportunity for review of the decision, that serves to insure that the officials will not act arbitrarily to further their selfish interests. C. BEST PRACTICE. If you have an actual or potential financial interest in a decision to be made, disclose the conflict, abstain from voting, and do not participate in the discussion. If you have any concerns, discuss them with the city attorney. Avoid even the appearance of a conflict. D. ABSTAINING. Abstaining means to refrain from a vote. In this case, a member of a body would be present at the meeting but would not partake in discussion or voting of the issue before the body. 7 5 224649v1 IV. GIFT LAWS. A.Pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 471.895, “An interested person may not give a gift or request another to give a gift to a local official. A local official may not accept a gift from an interested person.” “Local Official” means an elected or appointed official of a city. “Interested Person” means a person who has a direct financial interest in a decision that a local official is authorized to make. “Gift” means money, real or personal property, a service or loan, forgiving a debt or a promise of future employment without the giver being paid equal value. Exceptions include: campaign contributions plaques or mementos recognizing service trinket or memento of insignificant value food if you appear to make a speech gifts given because of your membership in a group, a majority of whose members are not local officials gifts by a member of your family When the City receives a gift/donation, it must be accepted by a two-thirds vote of the City Council. Minn. Stat. § 465.03. 8 6 224649v1 V. RULES OF ORDER A. Robert’s Rules. Except where other procedures are specified in statute or ordinance, the City Council does business using Robert’s Rules of Order. City Code §200.17 B. Motions. All formal council actions must be by motion. 1. The language to make a motion must be similar to, “I move to ______.” 2. Motions must be seconded, and the council may consider only one motion at a time. 3. Once a motion is duly made and seconded, the Mayor shall state the question before the council and open the matter for debate. a. The maker of the motion shall be permitted to speak first. b. Everyone who wishes to speak on the motion must be allowed to do so before any member may speak a second time. C. Secondary Motions. While the council considers a motion, members may make secondary motions. Secondary motions do not require a second. 1. Motion to amend the original motion. A motion may be amended only twice before it must be withdrawn and resubmitted, 2. Motion to take a brief recess of no more than 20 minutes, 3. Motion to withdraw the motion by the motion’s maker, 4. Motion to divide a complex question, 5. Motion to defer consideration to a later date, 6. Motion to refer an issue to committee, 7. Motion to limit debate, 8. Motion for an immediate vote on the issue, or 9. Motion for a call to order. Secondary motions do not require a second, and must be resolved before returning to the original motion. Motions for an immediate vote and motions for a call to order are the only motions that may be made interrupting the current speaker. A motion for an immediate vote may only be made after 20 minutes of debate or after every member has been permitted to speak at least once. 9 7 224649v1 D. Other Motions. Other specific motions include: 1. Motion to adjourn. Motions to adjourn are made by the Mayor or presiding member, are not subject to debate, and do not require a second or a vote. 2. Motion to go into closed session. Must be made pursuant to the Minnesota Open Meeting Law, using language similar to, “I move to close the meeting in order to consider ____________ pursuant to ______ of the Minnesota Open Meeting Law.” 3. Motion to leave a closed session. “I move to open the meeting.” 4. Motion to revive an issue. Made to request consideration of an issue tabled, deferred, or referred to committee at a prior meeting. 5. Motion to reconsider. Made to request reconsideration of an issue voted upon previously at the same meeting. May only be made by a member on the prevailing side of the prior vote. 6. Motion to rescind or repeal. Made to repeal an action taken at a prior meeting. 10