As individuals, when it comes to making an important decision, we often do our own research either through the internet, printed material or we may also ask friends or family for their advice. With regard to a city council decision, sometimes it is hard for an individual to understand how a city council could make a particular decision, that to them should be a completely different decision.

When a city council makes a decision, the guiding principle must always be what best serves the public’s interests, not the self-interest of a few. Thus, decisions are a collective decision process that draws upon the knowledge, experience, and insights of the members of the city council.

The responsibilities of a city council in several areas drives the decision-making process:

Legislative: The City Council is responsible for setting City policy through ordinances and resolutions. The Council legislates by passing ordinances which become city laws. Those laws and policies can promote public health, safety and welfare, including, for example, protecting property, regulating businesses and governing land use — all of which come together to help create and maintain the unique nature and character of the community. No one council member can make a change to city law — any change must be approved by a majority of the council members. Except where a larger number is required by law, for the city of Marshall, since there are seven city council members, it takes four “yes” votes to approve a change to city law. This means decisions by our city council are made by a group or majority, not by individuals. A key task for an elected official, then, is to build consensus for proposals and positions among colleagues and others.

Serving Community Needs and Looking to the Future: The city council reviews and approves the city’s annual tax levy and budget. A difficult decision due to the increasing demands to provide services while facing challenges to ensuring there is enough revenue to meet those demands. Even though local property taxes fund worthy services, such as fire and police protection, streets, and libraries to name a few, the city council must balance these needs of the city against property tax impacts on residential and commercial taxpayers.  City Councils must also formulate goals that will help the city solve future problems and prioritize opportunities. This requires long range planning regarding city needs and identifying the potential pathways to succeed in meeting those goals.

Quasi-Judicial Role: From time to time, city councils also play a judge-like role. This occurs when they (or boards and commissions to which they have delegated this task) apply the city’s adopted policies and standards to a particular situation. An example is when a person applies to engage in a certain use of their property or business operation. The task of the decision-making body is to determine whether the proposed use or business complies with the community’s adopted policies and standards. When the decision-making body is acting in a quasi-judicial role, it will typically conduct a publicized public hearing on the matter. Under such circumstances decision-makers are not only deciders, they are also stewards of a process that must satisfy certain standards for fairness.

Responding and Interacting with the Public: City council members communicate policies and programs to residents that reach out to them through calls and emails. An important responsibility for public officials is to listen and consider this input as they decide what course of action best serves the public. Further, the Minnesota Open Meeting Law requires that meetings of governmental bodies generally be open to the public. This means, majorities of decision-making bodies may not decide among themselves on issues within their jurisdiction except in open and publicized meetings. For members of the public desiring to influence the decision-making process, this results in having conversations with multiple decision-makers.

How do city councils determine what course of action to take in a given situation that will also best serve the interests of the community? There are several ways:

Assigning Committees: Many times, the city council will have committees, or sub-groups of council members, who thoroughly review these issues before bringing them to the full council.

Analysis and Management: Cities and other public entities hire professional staff to provide analysis to elected officials and other decision-makers on the pros and cons of a given course of action.

Elections: The public votes to elect representatives to make decisions on their behalf. With fixed terms of the elected representatives, decisions by elected representatives can have consequences when elected representatives seek re-election.

Ballot Measures: In some situations, the voters make the decision themselves. Examples include certain kinds of financial decisions, such as the decision to incur debt or raise certain kinds of revenues. A recent ballot measure was presented to the voting public this past November for the aquatic center sales tax revenue ballot question as an example.

City Council decision making is shared among multiple individuals with important responsibilities, utilizing a variety of approaches and under the umbrella of following city and state law. This ensures checks and balances and provides for decision-making that does indeed serve the public’s interests.

— Sharon Hanson is the city administrator for the city of Marshall