Minnetrista to draft code of conduct policy, send to planning and parks commissions

Minnetrista City Council agreed to develop and adopt a code-of-conduct policy for elected and appointed officials and to route the draft to the planning and parks commissions for review.

The move is framed as a preventative governance step: Mayor Lisa Whalen said the policy is not a response to any current problem but a common best practice in area cities and recommended the planning commission review and advise. "A lot of them, I was surprised already have a code of conduct and we don't," Whalen said, adding the document would be a policy rather than an ordinance and that it could give the city a basis to remove commission members if they violated the standard.

Council members and staff noted limits to enforcement. Staff counsel (Sarah) and Mayor Whalen explained a policy cannot remove an elected councilmember from office — removal would require recall or other statutory process — but it could be used to remove volunteer commissioners. Councilmembers discussed simply signing a code at the start of service; staff cautioned that any formal enforcement beyond advisory measures would be limited.

The council asked staff to transmit the draft policy to the planning commission and the park commission for feedback. If commissioners recommend substantial changes, the policy will return to council as a business item; otherwise staff will place it on a consent agenda for adoption.

No final policy adoption occurred at the work session; councilmembers emphasized the city is not responding to an active misconduct issue but creating a proactive guideline.

Next steps: staff will share the draft with the planning and parks commissions, collect feedback, and return the policy to a future council agenda for action.