Title
Recommending the amendment to Chapter 6.03.1 of the Saint Paul Charter pertaining to the imposition of civil penalties for violations of city ordinances.
Body
WHEREAS, the City of Saint Paul would like the ability to implement ordinances that provide a civil penalty for appropriate violations of city ordinances; and
WHEREAS, the City believes that civil penalties will assist in reaching compliance goals in a timely, consistent, and appropriate manner, and
WHEREAS, the Charter Commission recognizes that for many ordinance violations the city is limited to a criminal citation for enforcement purposes; and
WHEREAS, the Charter Commission recognizes that criminal citations can result in a criminal record which can create unintended consequences for community members such as harming their ability to secure and maintain housing and employment; and
WHEREAS, all changes to the City Charter must be recommended by the Saint Paul Charter Commission, and
WHEREAS, the Saint Paul City Council by RES 24-1572 requested the Saint Paul Charter Commission to approve the following proposed changes to Chapter 6.03.1:
Section 6.03.1 - Legislative ordinances
Subdivision 1. Every act of the council which defines, licenses, regulates, suppresses, prevents or prohibits any act, business or person, grants or modifies or modifies any franchise, imposes a civil penalty or is in any way an exercise of legislative powers, shall be done by legislative ordinance. Except as otherwise provided in this Charter, such ordinances shall require an affirmative vote of at least four (4) members of the council.
Subdivision 2. With the exception of the failure to pay fines or fees, the council may establish, alter, amend or repeal an ordinance to impose a civil penalty for each violation of a city ordinance. For each ordinance the City would like to enforce using a civil penalty, the Council must adopt or amend an ordinance (a) outlining the amount of fine and other penalties that can be impos...
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