Only one member of Albert Lea’s &uot;Think Tank&uot; group showed up at the city’s charter commission meeting Monday. It wasn’t that the group had lost interest &045; it was that they knew they were going to be turned down before the meeting started.

&uot;I’m not surprised,&uot; Don Blake, the only group member in attendance, said. Blake has been one of two promoters of the charter changes proposed by the group. The Think Tank has a loose membership, but he and Albert Lea resident Tony Trow have been its spokesmen.

In May, the group proposed changes to the city’s charter which would give the mayor a four-year term instead of two years; spell out that the mayor can communicate with city employees at any time; require performance reviews twice a year for the city manager; have terms of appointment for the city manager to be renewed after performance appraisals; have the city manager do biannual reviews of department heads and officials; and have a long-term plan for the city that includes business, people, community and revenue.

The commission, which is comprised of members of the community and headed by former Albert Lea Mayor Niles Shoff, voted the proposed changes down unanimously Monday night in their third meeting on the issue. In their two prior meetings, most of the commissioners made statements that made it clear the issue was destined for that vote.

Before the commission made its decision official Monday, City Attorney Steve Schwab made recommendations on the changes.

Schwab’s sentiments were along the same lines as the attorney who spoke to the commission in mid-May, David Kennedy. Kennedy had helped the city revise their charter in 1994 and has made a name for himself doing likewise throughout Minnesota. He thought the Think Tank’s proposals could be made into rules and ordinances, but thought the changes were too detailed to be put in the Constitution-like document that is the city charter.

Schwab agreed.

&uot;A city charter is very much like the Constitution,&uot; he said. &uot;It’s supposed to be a framework … that is filled in by the council.&uot;

He said that rules on reviews, terms and the long-term plan were all things that didn’t need to be set by the charter.

&uot;If we are going to make a change to the charter, we need to have good reasons to do so,&uot; he said.

Schwab said that of the six proposed changes to the charter, one of them was, in his eyes, viable. Only the term extension for the mayor was a plausible change, he said. Still, he argued that having the mayor on two-year terms means the &uot;electorate has a chance to change the majority of the council every election.&uot; Three of the six council members are also up for election every other year.

Some of the changes were intended to give the mayor more power, but Schwab said the mayor already has all the power the position can have in a city-manager-administrated city. Schwab said the the request to make the city manager appointed on a regular schedule &045; which would have given the position two four-year terms, followed by one-year terms, with annual reviews &045; would actually give the city manager’s position more stability. As the charter is written, he added, the council could review and fire that employee at any time, without having set terms.

After the commission voted down the proposed changes, Nancy Vanderwaerdt, a commission member, asked that Shoff present the ideas of the Think Tank to the city council.

&uot;A lot of this is business best practice,&uot; she said. &uot;There ought to be an annual review with the city manager so that he knows where he stands.&uot;

She said that many of the issues brought up by the group have merit and should be known to the council.

For Blake and his group, there are three main issues: accountability, communication with the community and developing a strong strategic plan. While the commission turned down their changes, there are still many avenues available to the group.

Blake said the Think Tank will definitely pursue the changes, but isn’t sure how. He mentioned taking the proposed changes to the city council to be voted on as rules and ordinances. One other possibility that has been mentioned is that the group will gather a petition to put the charter changes to a city-wide referendum.

(Contact Peter Cox at peter.cox@albertleatribune.com or 379-3439.)