City Council - 06/06/1995 - Workshop 1IIINUTES
EDEN PRAIRIE CITY COUNCIL
TUESDAY, JUNE 6, 1995 6:00 p.m. CITY CENTER
COUNCIL/STAFF STUDY SESSION Training Room, 8080 Mitchell Road
COUNCIL 1V EMMERS: Mayor Jean Hams, Councilmembers Ron Case,
Nancy Tyra-Lukens, Patricia Pidcock, and
Ross Thorfinnson, Jr.
CITY COUNCIL STAFF: City Manager Carl Julie, Assistant City Manager
Chris Enger, Assistant to the City Manager Craig
Dawson, Director of Human Resources and
Community Services Natalie Swaggert, Director
of Parks, Recreation and Facilities Bob Lambert,
Police Chief Jim Clark, Director of Assessing and
MIS Steve Sinell, Director of Finance John
Frane, Director of Inspections Kevin Schmieg,
and City Attorney Roger Pauly
I. CALL TO ORDER
The meeting began at 6:30 p.m. The Council and staff had had dinner in the Garden Room
beginning at 5:30 p.m.
U. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION
City Attorney led the Council and staff through a discussion of the following laws and their
implications:
A. Ethics
The City's Code of Ethics for Public Officials appears in Section 2.04 of the City Code.
B. Conflicts of Interest
Officials have a conflict when there is there is a personal financial interest or they will
personally benefit from an action (Minn. Stat. 471.87), or where they are directly or
indirectly interested in a contract (Minn. Stat. 412.311). Several exceptions are defined in
the statutes. A violation of the law voids a contract. In non-contract cases. there is a five-
factor test to determine whether a person has a disqualifying interest and should be required
to abstain from voting.
C. Gifts
Minn. Stat. 471.895 defines under what few conditions gifts can be made to or accepted by
public officials. An interested person may not give a gift to a local official, nor may a local
official accept a gift from an interested person. An interested person has a direct financial
interest in a decision that a local official is authorized to make. The statutes are inconsistent
on how far down in a public organization one can be considered to be a local "official".
City of Eden Prairie, Minnesota
June 6, 1995 Minutes--CounciUStaff Study Session
Page Two
(C. Gifts -- continued)
Efforts to amend the stringent 1994 law were not successful during the 1995 session of the
Legislature. The 1994 law has only minor sanctions against violators; it was thought that
negative publicity for violations would be a sufficient deterrent.
D. Open Meeting Law
The Minnesota Open Meeting Laws are found generally in Chapter 471 of Minnesota
Statutes. Pauly discussed the circumstances under which discussions by the Council should
be considered a "meeting" and thus posted and open for public observation.
Pauly distributed summary memoranda on these topics and answered questions posed by the
Council and staff.
M. ADJOURNMENT
The study session concluded at 7:24 p.m.