City attorney outlines draft technical charter amendments; no action taken

Assistant City Attorney Andrea Neff presented a working draft of technical amendments to the Minneapolis charter, describing structural, civil-service and funding clarifications intended to align the charter with the government-structure ordinance approved in 2022.

Neff walked commissioners through color-coded draft language and margin comments: red text came from the 2023 proposal, blue from the commission’s plain-language group, and purple from the government-structure work group. She said the draft moves some funding and civil-service language into Article 9 and Article 1 for centralization and simplification, clarifies vacancy and removal procedures, and restructures Article 7 to reflect three executive offices (Public Service, Community Safety, City Attorney) nominated by the mayor and confirmed by council. “This draft remains in the work group for continuing discussion and further refinement,” Neff said, and she confirmed no action was requested at this meeting.

Commissioners asked about alignment with state law on removal procedures and whether certain technical changes could be enacted by unanimous ordinance rather than a ballot question. Neff said removal language was revised to conform to Minnesota constitutional standards and case law, and Chair Ginder said the commission would pursue unanimous ordinance passage for noncontroversial technical changes when feasible.

The presentation updates commissioners on the substance and structure of the draft and signals further work by the government-structure work group; staff will return with additional recommendations after continuing review and consultation.