Greetings From ‘Minnesota Cities’ Mag: May-June Issue Now Available

The May-June issue of Minnesota Cities magazine mailed this week to subscribers, and is available online for your digital consumption. Many of its articles intersect with ideas you can explore further by attending the 2014 Annual Conference, June 18-20.

What’s inside? Take a look at these three highlights:

Cities will change rapidly over the next decade due to demographic shifts, civility issues, sustainability, and our new digital economy. Ready to adapt and thrive? The 2014 Annual Conference agenda and theme, “Shaping the Future,” are dedicated to preparing attendees for these opportunities, as well as for handling the perennial issues cities have been facing for the past hundred years. Find out more in “Creating Vibrant 21st Century Cities."

When matter-of-fact or flashy efforts to brand your city fall flat, what could be missing is an emotional truth, according to Annual Conference keynote speaker Peter Kageyama. Kageyama explains the story of how three cities’ branding efforts have been impacted by the emotional truth of their campaigns. What can the leading producer of cowboy hats in the U.S. teach Minnesota cities about branding their community? Read on, pardner: “City Branding: Keep It Emotionally True.”

The power of connection can turn a city into a community, and Annual Conference speaker Mark Scharenbroich wants to help you achieve that. Minnesota Cities magazine asked Scharenbroich a few questions about his “Nice Bike” philosophy, creating connections, and other characteristics of great leadership. Read what he had to say in “Let's Talk: Building Connections the ‘Nice Bike’ Way.”

As always, columns such as From the Bench (summaries of recent court cases), Bits & Briefs (timely tidbits and other news), and Ideas in Action (check out collaboration in the city of Jordan) are all available to inform and engage you in issues affecting local government.

Read Minnesota Cities magazine's May-June issue

Learn more about the 2014 Annual Conference

Research Q of the Day: Getting Ready to Run for Office (5/8)

Question: I want to make a positive impact on my community, and I think public service would be a good fit. What do I need to do to run for office?

Answer: First of all, congrats on your decision to run for office. While winning an election isn't easy, filing to run is a relatively simple process.

To have your name placed on the ballot, you must file an affidavit of candidacy with your election administrator at the city or county and pay the required filing fee. The fee depends on the size of your city and the form of government you have.

•     Candidates in Statutory Cities of the 2nd Class (20,000-less than 100,000 in population): $5
•     Candidates in Statutory Cities of the 3rd Class (10,000-less than 20,000 in population): $5
•     Candidates in Statutory Cities of the 4th Class (less than 10,000 in population): $2
•     Charter City Candidates: Fee varies, see the city’s charter.

The affidavit of candidacy is a fancy name for a pretty straight-forward document. The affidavit declares what office the candidate is running for, provides contact information for the candidate, and declares that the candidate is eligible to hold office. Generally, a candidate for elective office in a city must meet a few important criteria to be eligible to hold office.

Candidates must be:

• A qualified voter in the state of Minnesota.
• A U.S. citizen.
• At least 21 years of age on the date he or she would take office.
• A resident of the city for 30 days before the election.

Filing of the affidavit of candidacy must take place during the specific time outlined by state statute. For cities with a primary election, the candidate must file between May 20-June 3, 2014. For cities without a primary election, the candidate must file between July 29-Aug. 12, 2014. Candidates may file by mail but the affidavit must be received by the last day to file—none of that “it’s in the mail” guff will fly.

Candidates may have additional filing requirements depending on the city and whether or not the candidate is fundraising to support the candidacy. For more information on this, please discuss these requirements with your local election official or visit the Minnesota Secretary of State’s website.

This blog post conveys general information. It’s not legal advice. Please check with your city attorney before acting on this information. 

Research Q of the Week: Collegiate Baseball Bats and Brewskies (4/30)

Question: I heard that beer can be sold at collegiate baseball games now, but I thought we had a local ordinance prohibiting alcohol on city fields. What’s the call?

Answer: Batter up! Thanks to a 2011 change in state law, you can have a beer or glass of wine to sip as you take in a great game—even on a city field.

Cities may issue an on-sale wine license and an on-sale malt liquor license to a person who owns a summer collegiate league baseball team, or to a person holding a concessions or management contract with the team owner. This license allows beverage sales at a ballpark or stadium located within the city during baseball games—notwithstanding any law, local ordinance, or charter provision. Minn. Stat. § 340A.404, subd. 1 (d).

So what and where are these summer collegiate baseball teams? Nine teams comprise the northern division of the Northwoods League, where top college baseball players gain experience. Many go on to play in the major leagues. There are nine more teams in the southern division, buy hey, that’s Wisconsin and Michigan.

In the Northwoods League you can take to the bleachers to watch the Alexandria Blue Anchors, Duluth Huskies, Mankato MoonDogs, Rochester Honkers, St. Cloud Rox, or the Willmar Stingers take on each other and the Thunder Bay Border Cats, the Waterloo Bucks or the Eau Claire Express.

So grab family and friends, map your route to one of the nearby cities hosting these local stadiums, and have some outstanding outdoor ballpark fun.

This blog post conveys general information. It’s not legal advice. Please check with your city attorney before acting on this information. 

Be Like Mike! Attend the 2014 LMC Annual Conference in St. Cloud

What parts of LMC's annual conference do you look forward to each year? Energizing speakers? The idea-packed exhibit hall? Meeting your awesome colleagues from around the state?

Conference Planning Committee Chair and Hopkins City Manager Mike Mornson took some time recently to count down his own top three reasons why the 2014 LMC Annual Conference is a must-attend event. Can you tell he had some fun doing it? Yeah. We thought so.

An extra bonus? You can save on registration with early bird pricing now through May 1. We hope to see you in St. Cloud June 18-20.

Research Q of the Week: Corporate Seals Face a Trademark Move (4/24)

Question: Can a city register its corporate seal as a trademark?

Answer: I promise I’ll tell you—but first—a brief bit of history. The use of seals began when writing was not common and a coat of arms or other mark was used to distinguish people. Neat, huh? Accordingly, a city’s corporate seal is an official mark or insignia that is used to distinguish it from other cities. A city’s corporate seal can be used to promote or distinguish the city and its services and is commonly placed on its official documents.

The Minneapolis City Council, for example, adopted its official seal on June 5, 1878.  Minnesota state law now authorizes cities to use a corporate seal.

Recently the city of Houston, Texas and the District of Columbia filed federal applications to register their respective corporate seals as trademarks under the federal trademark law commonly referred to as the Lanham Act.  In short, registering a trademark will protect the owner’s exclusive right to use the mark.

The federal trademark office and its appeal board denied the applications, concluding that the Lanham Act prohibits municipalities from registering their corporate seals as trademarks.

The decision was appealed and on Oct. 1, 2013 the Federal Circuit Court affirmed the decision below holding that the Lanham Act unambiguously prevents municipalities from registering their seals. This is probably an unintended consequence of the law. Chances are Congress didn’t have city seals in mind when the language was crafted.

The court did note that a city has other means of “preventing ‘pirates and cheats’ from using its city seal to deceive the public” and that presumably it could “pass an ordinance prohibiting such activity.” The U.S. Supreme Court has decided not to review the Federal Circuit Court’s decision.

For more summaries of court decisions impacting cities, see the most recent “From the Bench” column in LMC’s Minnesota Cities magazine.

This blog post conveys general information. It’s not legal advice. Please check with your city attorney before acting on this information.

Can’t We All Just Get Along? Promoting Respectful Dialogue at City Council Meetings

The beauty of democracy is that every opinion counts. However, sometimes the way these opinions are expressed can derail—rather than further—the conversation.

Take city council meetings. When you put into one room people who have different goals, values, and perspectives—but are all equally passionate about being a voice for their community—tempers may flare, making the meeting less productive than it could be.

But approaching the meeting with certain soft skills can lessen the chance of hard feelings.

Mayor Jo Emerson

One Minnesota municipal leader has gotten this technique down. White Bear Lake Mayor Jo Emerson sets specific expectations at her city’s council meetings. Those speaking must stick to the debate at hand—they can disagree on the issues, but no personal attacks allowed! She will rule folks out-of-order if they start getting personal.

Mayor Emerson recently weighed in on this topic for us:

As an elected city official, why is this issue (running effective and respectful council meetings) important to you?
A well-run and respectful meeting allows the council to concentrate on the issues before us so we can be more effective.

What are some of the things you’ve done in your city to promote civil public discourse?
As mayor, I believe it starts with me to set the tone and ensure our meetings are respectful and well run. When there is going to be a heated public hearing, I will remind the public of the ground rules before they come up to speak (which are to be concise and respectful). I do not allow anyone to attack the council or the staff.

Have you seen a difference in your city council meetings since implementing some of these changes?
I've received feedback from citizens that they have noticed a change. They feel we are more cooperative and are getting good results.

Would you like to hear more about how to get the most out of your city council meetings? Both Mayor Emerson and LMC General Counsel Tom Grundhoefer shared specific techniques for running effective meetings during this free webinar, given on May 6.

Spotted: Scenes From Across the State (photos)

The League's Public Safety Program Coordinator Rob Boe is on the road for our 2014 Safety & Loss Control Workshops, and here are a few things he’s spotted across Minnesota:

Paul Bunyan and his trusty ox, Babe, greet Rob in Bemidji.

Peace officers from the Ashby Police Department attended the workshops...

...as did firefighters from the New Ulm Fire Department.

Grass outside the Brooklyn Park Community Center was covered in a fresh coat of snow...

...but an ice-breaking ship comes in off of open water in Lake Superior - a sure sign of spring?

lMCIT staffers Linda Durrence and Laura Grundtner greeted members with a smile.
Thank you for joining us at this year's workshops - we loved seeing you!

If you'd like to keep up with Rob's adventures throughout the year and hear about the latest from the public safety world, be sure to check out his blog!

Photos taken by Rob Boe