A group calling itself the “think tank” is trying to change the city charter to give the city council and the mayor more authority. However, judging from the reaction of the Albert Lea Charter Commission head Niles Shoff and other commissioners, the chances of those proposed amendments to the charter have a small chance of being adopted.

“We think with these proposed changes we have here, it will promote greater accountability,” Don Blake of Albert Lea, a member of the “think tank,” said. He gave the presentation to the Commission on the proposed revisions.

Under the proposed changes the following would happen; the mayor’s term from two to four years starting next election; the city council and mayor would have to approve appointments of city officers and department heads; removal of city officers and department heads would have to be approved by the council; the city manager position would be on a four-year term; the manager’s term could be renewed only once, after which the manager could serve an unlimited number of one year terms; the council would conduct semi-annual performance reviews of the city manager; the city manager would conduct semi-annual performance reviews of every city officer and department head; and the city would develop both a long term and short term plan for business, people, revenue and community development.

Blake said the group has been meeting over the past year. They came up with the plan in order to make the city council and mayor more accountable.

The “think tank,” according to Tony Trow, a member, has a fluid membership which varies from meeting to meeting. Members of the group who spoke at Monday night’s meeting included Tony Trow, president of Destination Albert Lea, Blake and Orvin Drangstveit.

Trow said he feels the council hasn’t been active enough in setting goals and achieving them.

“We’d like to make them more proactive in the community,” he said. “We want to challenge the city council to live up to their responsibility.”

Trow said he feels the city has not grown in 25 years, and thinks the reason for that is a complacent city council.

Former city councilman Dave McPherson disagreed. He said that the economic landscape of the city has changed dramatically over that time period, pointing to the change from having the Wilson meat-packing plant being the largest employer to having a diversified economy with the hospital, Minnesota Corrugated Box, and Mrs. Gerry’s Kitchen.

McPherson also said that the council serves as the legislative branch and the city manager serves as the executive branch in the city government. He said that by adopting the proposal those lines would be “blurred.”

Niles Shoff, head of the commission and former city mayor, agreed. He had a negative reaction to the proposed changes.

“I reject completely every proposal they’ve made,” Shoff said. “I lived with this charter for 10 years and found no problems with it.”

The charter is set up with a city manager based government, by which the city manager does all the administrative work for the city. The city manager form has been in place since 1926. Shoff said many cities throughout the state have adopted Albert Lea’s model.

After Monday’s meeting, Orvin Drangstveit complained that Shoff had influenced the rest of the commission with his reaction, which came before the rest of the commission responded.

Shoff defended himself, saying that his statement provided a means for discussion. Most commissioners did agree with Shoff, but in the end they agreed to have further meetings on the document.

Rev. Milton Ost, a member of the commission, among others recommended further discussion. He said that the “think tank” had obviously put a lot of time and thought into the proposal and that the commission would do so as well.

The Charter Commission did not vote on the proposed changes, but voted to have another meeting to discuss the changes in more detail and without public discussion. The meeting will likely take place within the month, Shoff said.

Blake said if the commission does not pass the amendments the &uot;think tank&uot; might make a petition to bring the decision to a voter referendum.

The last time the charter had changes made was in 1994. The commission meets once every year.