Remarks by Walter Burk
15 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 1 of 1
I really like the Richfield Public Art Tour. I like that map. And I just want to thank everything that you're all doing. It's important to bring art and inspiration to the city wherever you are in the city. Looking at the map, I'm realizing that West Richfield is looking pretty lonely as far as art, and I highly encourage efforts to bring some art to the West End. We appreciate art, too. So hopefully you can bring some out to us.
Thank you, Mayor. So the item for consideration is consider approval second reading and summary publication of an ordinance amending sections 4.05, 5.04, 5.05, 5.10, 5.12, And 5.15 Of the Richfield city charter related to elections and petition requirements. Charter commission is recommending amendments to several sections of the Richfield city charter related to election petitions. The proposed amendments would align the charter with petition form and content requirements established in and reorganized the Charter's petition requirements to make them easier for residents to use and for city…
So I will move to consider approval of the second reading. Second.
One thing that was brought to our attention is that there will be efforts made to help staff who are going to be no longer have employment with the store, and I appreciate the staff's efforts to help them out with that. Like you mentioned, it's a dramatic move, dramatic, but I appreciate the efforts that have been done to try to keep the store viable, but change is necessary, and hopefully the best thing can be done for the staff that are there. So thank you for those efforts.
I move approval of the consent calendar. Second.
Just one quick comment. Definitely looking forward to Ultimate Frisbee program here in Richfield. It's a great sport. It's known being unique among sports that people who are young can engage in because there's no referee. The children involved, the athletes involved kind of self-regulate and they referee themselves. So it's definitely a unique sport and I'm very glad to see it coming to Richfield.
The way you've described it is that it's the person who's living there that gets the notice and not the owner of the property, correct?
I can see the confusion for an owner that, I mean, typically the person who has the obligation is the person who's given notice. And here it gives the impression that the person getting notice is not the person obligated. And so I can understand the confusion on the property owners that why am I not getting the notice If I'm not the person, when my understanding is that I've contracted with someone else to be responsible for it. And so the city's actions kind of gives the impression by giving the notice to the person residing there and not the person who's responsible for the debt. It kind of…
I understand that, and there is a question about whether it's a good idea to contract with the person you're renting to. It's a questionable idea whether they should be contracting that responsibility, kind of foisting the responsibility on the rental. Renter, I get that. That is questionable whether they should be doing that. However, I can see also how the city's actions can confuse an owner because the notice is going to the person who's renting. And so hopefully that is something, as you mentioned with the renegotiation of the contract, that seems like an important thing to address and to…
So the item for consideration is I have public hearing consider approval of the first reading of an ordinance amending sections 4.05, 5.04, 5.05, 5.10, 5.12, and 5.15 of the Richfield City Charter related to elections and petition requirements. The Charter Commission is recommending amendments to several sections of the Richfield City Charter relating to election petitions. The proposed amendments would align the Charter with petition form and content requirements established in Minnesota rules and reorganize the Charter's petition requirements to make them easier for residents to use and for…
So... There will be, as mentioned, a public hearing. Any resident wishing to participate in the public hearing, please proceed to the podium one at a time and provide your name and address prior to your comment. Council will hear your comment. If you would like staff to follow up, please include your name and phone number or email on the sign-in document located at the podium. To ensure everyone has time to speak, each comment will be limited to three minutes in length. As a reminder to residents, the public hearing is a time for council to listen but not respond. questions are asked they may…
So I move to approve the changes to the city charter on the staff report. Recommend action on the staff report. Second. Second.
Yep. As the liaison to the Human Rights Commission, I want to thank the Human Rights Commission for being so open to having discussions about FLOC Sometimes, as a past member of the Human Rights Commission before I got here, sometimes I did wonder at times what we were doing there. And I'm glad that the public is getting more of a sense of what the Human Rights Commission is for. It is a place to bring concerns from the public to a commission. And then the commission reaches out to the city council and city governance to have those issues addressed. addressed I think considering what the…
I want to thank the Human Rights Commission again for their efforts to draft and present this proclamation to the city. It is important to recognize and remember all the different groups in the community, and right now we're recognizing Hispanics and their contributions. And again, thank you to the Human Rights Commission.
So the item for consideration is the appointment of a youth commissioner to the Sustainability Commission. Youth members serve one-year terms on city advisory commissions, with current terms expiring August 31, 2027. The City Manager's Office recruits young youth applicants on an ongoing basis to fill vacancies. For recruitment, the city shares information on its website, Facebook page, and reaches out to local high schools. The city manager's office forwards all applications to the city council for review. Anything the staff wants to add? So I move to approve the appointment of Ellie London…