269992 � �NF�IITE - CITV CLERK �����i��
PINK - FINANCE COl1I1C1I ��' �' o��'g��"�
CANARV - DEPARTMENT G I TY .OF SA I NT PALT L File� NO.
BLUE - MAYOR
Cou cil esolutio
Presented By LICEIvSE COlt�iffTT� ./
Referred To Committee: Date
Out of Committee By " Date
RESOLVED: That Application P 11�.87 for Class C3-Drive-In H�staurant License, a�plied for by
Gilbert and Beryl i�,osenthal at 1��0 :1. Lexin.gton Avenue, be and the same is hereby
granted, subject to the followin� conclitions� that the debris be picked up and re-
moved daily from the premises, tl�at the grounds be prepared and maintained so as to
be dustless and that the sidewalks around the property be cleared of snow and ice
during the wi.nter.
Drive-In i3.estrictions
COUNCILMEN Requested by Department of: '
Yeas Nays
Butler
Hozza [n Favor
Hunt �
Levine __ Against BY
Roedler
Sylvester .
Tedesco
Adopted b ouncil: Date �CT 2�7 �977 Form Approved by City Attorney
Cer ied Pas by Coun i Secretarhr BY
5977
Appr d by Mayor. Dat , ��C+T 3 i Approved by Mayor for Submission to Council
B By
4�J3LiS�it� �`�v'd 5 1977 �
- „ �� � -- CITY OF SAINT PAUL C�� � � � � �Z
r�i� � - .
a�, '
.� �1 .� ;. OFFICE OF THE CITa.' COIINCIL
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�}:: �a t e ; November 8, 197?
�-'l:� ..-A.� . . .
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� COMNil1"TEE REP � F��'
TO : Saint Paut City Council
FROM � Committee on Le�;i�latlon
David Hozza , chairman, makes ihe to[Iowing .
report on C. F. [�] Ordihance
❑ Resolution
� Other
. TtTLE :
On October 21, 1976 the City Council referred to the Legislation
Committee a letter from Council President Sylvester and an opinion
from the City Attorney relatin� to the position of constable. .
The Legislation Committee 'did discuss the matter, then laid it over
pending action from the Charter Commission. The Charter Commission
recommended that the offices of constable at lar�,e and for the sixth
ward be abolished. On November 8, 1977, the City Council gave final
. approval to an ordinance which abolishes the offices of constable, so
no further action from the Le�,islation Committee is needed.
CITY HALL SEVENTH FLOOR SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA SSi02
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� • CITY OF �AINT PAUL �
OFFIOE OF THE CITY COIINCIL
-�� -
ROBERT SYLVESTER
Councilman
Octobex 18, 1976
Mx. A1 Olson
City C1erk's Office
Room 386
City Hall
Dear A1:
Wou1d you please place tfiis letter and the attached City
Attorney's opinion relating to the position of constable
on the Council's agenda at the earliest possible date.
T would suggest that this matter be referred to the
Legislation Co�nittee.
Cordia ours,
o er ylvester
Council President
RS:da�
CITY HALL SEVENTH FLOOR SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA 55102 612/298-4475
O
.> �• �
., .
,� . . •
C tTY �F SAi NT PAUL
! QF�ICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY
Septemhe"r, 23,; 1976 HARRIET LANSlNG
� Council President Robert Sylvester
Saint Paul City Council ���
719 Ci ty Ha.l l �
�
Saint Paul, Minnesota 55102
SEP 2�= ►�i d
; Re: 6th Ward Constable '
CL�tJl�lCiL PR�S3�ti�y�
Dear Council President Sylvesters �Q��}r�' SY�,��1�Si�R
In the recent municipal election. held April 27, 1976; no person
filed for the pasition of constable of the 6th ward pf our city.
A write-in ca.ndidate won this position and by letter, dated
June 15,. 1976, has resigned tha.t post. This action creates a
vaca.ncy in the position.
The Council has inquired of us as ta the historical backgr.ound
of this position, whether it is necessary to appoint a person
to fill the position and the process of doing so. - :
The office of constable was first forma.lized in medieval times
during the reign of King Edward I of England. For the preserva-
tion of the King's peace, it was necessary ta have a resident
peace officer �n the growing townships and precincts that co�n-
prised the then basic unit of government, the eounty. Most
states of the Union carried over this concept .and the position
of constable as town and villages grew in America, but most -
often made the office an elected position. Minnesota, follow-
ing this pa.ttern as to the City of Saint Paul, by Special Laws
of 1874, Cha.pter l, created a constable' s pQSitior� for each of
the then five wards of the city.
Fourteen years later by Special Iaws of 1889, Chapter 423, our
present constabulary �ras established with twa constable posi-
tions elected at-large for the city and one consta.ble position
elected for the 6th ward. This structure still exists although
the need for and duties of such a position have been preempted
by the rise of our modern police and sheriff departments . The
developzn�nt of radio and the telephone system, along with the
invention of the automobile, led the public to depend on the
police and sheriff departments and use tI�.em for law enforcemen.t
protection. Dependency on a resident peace afficer has thus
rapidly declined.
City 1-�alt, Saint Paul, Minnesata 55102
612 298-512�
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�
f Robert Sylvester
Page Two
t September. 23,. 1976
;
The statutes of Minnesota still vest duties and obliga.tions in
' constables. Du.ties range from enforcing game and -fish laws
` (Minn. Stat. � 97.52, Subd. 1) ; to enforcing Metropolitan Air-
f: ports Commission ordinances and regulations (rlinn. Stat.
� § 473.608, Subd. 17(2 ; to serving summons and complaints
(Minn. Stat. � 357.12� . Our research reveals, however, that
each duty of the constable as set forth in various laws is
sha.red by other law enforcement officers, such as police, �ame
wardens, highway patrol and sheriffs. Even the constables
chief source of income, that of serving legal process, has Zon.g
been sha.red by countless law clerks, office clerical help, and,
indeed, any adult person. Yet the office of constab}.e continues
to exist with 'its duties ha.ving been cha.nneled by Zega1 alterna-
tives and public expectations and dependency to other agencies,
departments and persons.
Since the position is provided by statute for the Ci:ty of
Saint Paul, it is an elective office under Section 2.0I of the
City Cha.rter. Accordingly, when a vacancy in such a municipal
office exists, procedures for filling such 'vacanczes are found
in Sections 2 .04 and- 2.05 of the Cha.rter, which read as follows:
Sec. 2.04. Vacancy. An elective office becomes
vacant when the incumbent dies, resigns by a
writing filed with the city clerk, is convi�ted
of a felony, ceases to reside in the city, or is
adjudged incompetent by a court of competent
jurisdiction.
Sec. 2.05. Filling of Vacancies. If an elective
office becomes vacant, t e council shall elect a
qua.lified voter of the city to fill the same for
the rema.inder of �he unexpired term. If a tie
vote occ�u.rs in the filling of a vacancy in the
office of councilma.n, the mayor shall vote to break
the tie.
The question arises as to whether the Council must appoint a
�erson to fill the constable vacancy, given the use of the verb
sha.11" in Section 2.05 of the Charter, or whether the Council
properly ma.y leave the position unfilled.
The Minnesota Supreme Court, in the case of In re Trus�tee�shi
vf First Minnea olis Trust Co. , 202 Minn. 187,��Si3�
, state t t provisions which are ma.ndatary in farm
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Robert Sylvester
Page Three .
5eptember 23, 1976 :
are often held to be directory and those which are dir�:ctory
in form are often held to be ma.ndatory, because such wards as
'ma.y, ' 'sha.11, ' 'must' and 'will' are often used without dis-
crimina.tion. All of them are elastic and frequently treated
as intercha.ngeable." Further, in State ex rel. Laurisch v.
Pohl, 214 Minn. 221, 8 N.W. 2d 227 , t e our� sai t t
in resolving the problem of the mandatory or directary meaning
of a pa.rticular statute, "consideration must be given to the
legislative history, the langua.ge of the statute, its subject
ma.tter, tlze importance of its provisions, their relation to
' the general object intended to be accomplished by the act, and,
finally, whether there is a public or private right involved."
Most importantly, the Court stated that "there is no universai
rule by which directory provisians in a statute may, under all
circumstances, be distinguished from those which are mandatary.:''
The multiple considerations as set forth in Pohl have given the
courts wide latitude in deciding various fact s tuatians, and,
<- accordingly, it is difficult to predict which factors wi Tl be
accented in a particular case and which will not. 0ur research
indicates tha.t the courts will hold a particular Iaw to be man-
datory rather than permissive if facts are established to support
one of the three following (and overlapping) argvments:
1. Tha.t the obvious meaning of the Iaw compels some
action to be taken; or
2 . Tha,t the facts involving applica.tion of a law
reveal a clear attempt to contravene it; or
3. That the failure to take some action under the
Iaw results in the loss of a vital governmental
operation.
For example, in Brand v. Common Council of Cit of Detrait, 271
Mich. 221, 261 N.W. , t e Commissioner of Par s d the
power to appoint a secretary under Detroit's city cha.rter which
stated that, "the commissioners shall appoint a secretary. . . ." '
(Emphasis supplied) . The city council did not appropriate funds
for the position, and the commissioners assumed the secretary's
duties without additiona.l comgensation. The discha.rged secre-
tary sued.
The argument was advanced tha.t the appointment was mandatory
and was beyond interference hy the council. .The court held that
.. � ' �
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• .
P.obert Sylvester .
Page Four
.September. 23, 1976
the cha.rter was permissive on this point because the action
represented "a laudable Endeavor by way of doubling U:p services
of essential employees, to the elimination af the nonessential,
and thereby adjust expenditures to available means. . . . Such a
pos�tion is not an office with salary as an incident, but art
employment with compensation fixed by the council."
� In Crariak v. Link, 219 Nlinn. 112, 17 N.W. 2d 359 (1944) , our
Ifii.nnesota upreme Court dealt with a case where the Secretary
� of the Board of Estimation and Taxation of Minneapalis, a civil
7 service position, had to retire because of age. Rather tha.n
` fill the vacancy by civil service procedures as it was a civil
` service job, the board hired the retiree as _"technical consul-
tant" with the same duties he ha.d as secretary. The argument
was ma.de tha.t the ap�ointment was permissive and not ma:ndatory, :
and, therefore, the 'technical consulta,nt" contract was proper.
The court, however, said tha.t the cha.rter required that as all
checks issued by the board "sha.11 be drawn by the president and
secretary of the board," it is mandatory that a proper appoint-
ment be ma.de if such checks are to be binding and valid.
In State ex rel. Sa � er v. Ma.n ini, 23I Mi�.n. 457, 43 N.W. 2d
775 , our state court dea t with a case involving the
non-appointment of the plaintiff-lawyer to the position af first
assistant city attorney in Minneapolis. The position was c�v-
ered by civil service. The cha.rter provided that "the city: �
appoint an assistant city attorneyt� who sha11 be designated as
the first assistant �ity attorney. (Etnpha.sis supplied} . Fur-
ther, the first assistant was empowered by charter to act as the
city attorney in his absence or inability.
The court held that while the appointment appeared to be permis-
sive in form, it was actuaZly mandatory in tha.t if there were
no first assista.nt, there would be no one at all to lead the
legal department if the ci�y attorney were absent or unable to
act.
These cases reflect the court's concern with examining the
totality of the circumsta.nces involved before decidin.g the
obligatory na.ture of the verbs "sha.11" and "ma.y." Apglying
this test to �the issue of whether the Council must` �ill the
6th ward constable pasition, we are of the opinion tha t such
action is discretior�ary. Given the histary af the positi.on,
_. its apparent lack of importance in servicing present-day needs
.:
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� Robert Sylvester
Page Five
September 23, 1976
and the obvious intention that Sections 2 .04 and 2 .05 of the
Charter were intended pr'imarily to apply to vacancies in the
offices of Ma.yor or Council, we see no obligation to fill this
position. Perha.ps the most telling factor is the lack of in-
terest among residents of the 6th ward to see the position
filled, and it is , accordingly, appa.rent tha.t no public or
private interest is left wanting by not filling the vacancy.
The Council may wish to request that the two constables-at-large
appear before it to exglain wha.t duties, if any, they still per-
form. Such information would enable the Council to determine
whether failure to ma.ke an appointment wil� impair any vital
government services or result in any penalty to anyone. If the
Council decides that the position" should be filled, the candidate_
must be a resident of the 6th ward.
If e can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate
to contact us.
. Y urs truly,
� .
RRIET LANSING
Attorney
c i
, �
PAUL F MC OSKEY �
Assistant ity Attorn
HL:PFM:er
cc:Mayor La.timer
City Council Members