Three Minneapolis City Council members and the president of the Park Board have asked the Charter Commission to defer two proposed referenda for a year's worth of discussion aimed at achieving similar ends.
The letter involves proposals that a vote be held on charter proposals to make the quasi-independent park board a city department and to form a city administrator position. The commission is scheduled to decide at today's 4 p.m. meeting whether to advance those and another proposal to the fall ballot.
The letter carries political weight because it is signed by Council President Barbara Johnson and Park Board President Tom Nordyke, as well as council members Scott Benson and Lisa Goodman. They said that they want to see whether four-way study discussions involving the council, the park board, business representatives and residents can achieve the goals of streamlining operations and attaining greater efficiency without charter changes.
They have been in touch with the Citizens League, a nonpartisan nonprofit study group, to see if it would be interested in leading those discussions.
"Why not see if we can do this amicably and work together?" Benson said Tuesday, noting that previous discussions haven't succeeded. "I thought it was worth the try."
The proposal does not address a third proposal to abolish the tax-setting Board of Estimate and Taxation
STEVE BRANDT
