Government for geeks: Revising the city charter

It took the framers four months to draft a federal constitution. But in Minneapolis -- the city of process -- we're entering our ninth year of trying to make the city's analogous document -- the city charter -- simpler.

If things go smoothly -- and that may be optimistic -- voters could get an up-or-down vote on the proposal in late 2012, the 10th year of the rewrite. The document spent six years gestating at the Charter Commission, which sent its proposal to the City Council two years ago this month. It could resurface as soon as Thursday in the council after a lengthy legal review -- if that doesn't get bumped from the agenda by a discussion of the Asian carp invasion.

Why does all this matter to Minneapolis residents?

The charter governs questions about city process: In which ward do you vote? Ranked-choice voting rules. Whether the public gets to vote if a mayor resigns. Or does the council get to appoint a new mayor?

It also deals with some controversial topics, such as limits on subsidies for pro sports facilities.

If you haven't tried to read the charter, don't bother. It's complex, cross-referenced and confusing. That's why former commission Chair Kari Dziedzic put revising it on the agenda in 2002.

The project was accelerated by the work of former commissioner Brian Melendez, a lawyer, former state DFL chair and, to use his term, "a plain-language nut." Although commissioners divvied up sections of the charter for review, Melendez and a succession of city attorneys did the heavy lifting. Melendez estimates he's spent about 1,000 hours on the pro bono work, staying on it even after he left the commission, producing 12 drafts, the last of which was forwarded to the council.

The commission's work had two overriding goals -- to make the charter easier to follow and to shift some provisions that don't relate to basic city governance into city ordinances instead.

The current charter runs to almost 71,000 words, or 15 times as long as the U.S. Constitution. The proposed revision is less than one-fifth the charter's current length. It's also easier to read, requiring the education of a ninth grader, three grade levels below the current charter. Archaic words, such as an English dialect's doth, were dropped. So were outdated provisions, such as those governing the Library Board, which no longer exists. Those changes were considered in tandem with the advice of city lawyers.

When the document was forwarded to the council in 2009, a whole new layer of review began, with more city lawyers and various interest groups, including the Park Board and labor.

"It has literally been hundreds of hours of review," said Council Member Elizabeth Glidden. "Each time we think we're ready to set a date, there's another layer of review. Honestly, it's like an onion."

That's all aimed at avoiding unintended consequences. "You're talking about a document that has developed all these case law interpretations," Glidden said. The lawyer in her has wanted to make sure all the ramifications of proposed changes are known. That review is virtually done, although it took nearly a year longer than her predecessor, Council Member Betsy Hodges, told the commission to expect. The council now is likely to send the list of suggestions from the attorneys back to the Charter Commission for consideration.

When it arrives, the commission that originated the proposal will need some reeducation, because only seven members remain from the 15-member group that forwarded the proposal two years go. Some, like Todd Ferrara, have grown impatient over the delay at the council level. He was hoping that the council would suggest changes that could be incorporated by the commission, which would send the document forward again and have the changes adopted unanimously by the council. That's enough for them to take effect.

But even though new commission Chair Barry Clegg thinks the council's suggestions are noncontroversial, adopting them isn't likely to attain that unanimous council vote. That's because several council members, including President Barbara Johnson, argue that even a simplifying rewrite of the charter should go to voters.

How would it fare? The history of Minneapolis is replete with charter battles. In 1920, after repeated rejection of proposed charters by voters, they adopted one only after then-existing special laws covering the city were bundled into a document and approved. Labor often was suspicious of the proposals of so-called reformers allied with business interests.

Even a relatively non-controversial charter change can be a hard sell. Last fall's proposal to make redistricting of city wards less partisan drew no organized opposition but still exceeded the 51 percent support requirement by only four percentage points. Just summarizing the plain-language charter revision for voters in a ballot question could be tricky. But some charter commissioners say that it's a necessary step before the city considers more substantive changes in how the city's political powers are distributed.

Breaking the color bar

Meanwhile, some folks living in Minneapolis have stepped up in response to the criticism that the Charter Commission is an all-white body. There were six minority applicants among the 12 people who applied for the commission's first opening of the year, and a judge has selected one of them, Nationia Johnson.

She was chosen over some prominent applicants, including former state Rep. Greg Gray, an attorney with internal audit experience at four companies. He has also headed a statewide commission on poverty and served on the House's redistricting committee. Redistricting is likely to be the commission's biggest job over the next year.

Another prominent name among the applicants was Earnest Belton, a state mediator who is a former Park Board commissioner. Other minority applicants included Khalif Jama, Troy Parker and Adosh Unni.

The most prominent applicant in the rest of the field is Dan Cohen, a president of the City Council in the 1960s, the 1969 Republican candidate for mayor and a planning commissioner.

Judge James T. Swenson selected Nationia Johnson, a development consultant holding a double masters in public administration and nonprofit management. She's served on the Council on Black Minnesotans and numerous other boards. At 44, she also brings down the commission's median age.

Two more openings also will be filled, with an April 8 application deadline, so some of the applicants for the first position may still find a home on the commission.

Minnesota Twins trivia

Dateline posed this question a month ago: What is the only last name that appears on the lists of mayors of both Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Steve Gershone, an aide to Hennepin County Commissioner Mark Stenglein, was the first to get it right: Farmer-Laborite Thomas Latimer (1935-1937) in Minneapolis and DFLer George Latimer (1976-1990) in St. Paul.

"I pride myself on knowing useless information," Gershone quipped.

Quote ... Unquote

"Beer is part of our history. Beer is part of our future. You don't have to drink it every day, but we need to change the laws." Mayor R.T. Rybak, supporting Surly Brewing's effort to sell beer on its premises.

Steve Brandt • 612-673-4438