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Regular City Council Meeting Monday, January 06, 2014 Page 15 Laliberte moved, Willmus seconded, that the HRA appointment remain as is, re- maining a City Council member appointment by the Mayor and ratification by the City Council. Based on the interest expressed by three members of the City Council in serving in that capacity, Mayor Roe opined that this seemed a reasonable motion to make. Councilmember McGehee opined that the City Council already had sufficient say on what occurred with the HRA; and questioned the difference one vote made and whether an elected official served on the HRA or a member of the public. When the HRA had a major decision to make on their levy and taxing, Councilmember McGehee noted that they came to the City Council for advice anyway, creating considerable influence related to policy and decision-making. Given the predom- inantly citizen make-up of the HRA, Councilmember McGehee opined that they do an excellent job; and she could see no reason not to appoint a member of the public to the HRA. Councilmember Willmus again clarified that the only action the City Council had was approval of the levy amount, but that the HRA budget and individual budget line items were at the HRA's discretion. Under those circumstances, Coun- cilmember Willmus understood the rationale in having a City Council elected of- ficial in that role as a member of the HRA. At the request of Councilmember Etten, Councilmember Willmus responded that he did not feel he had any extra influence in HRA decisions due to his dual role as a Councilmember. Therefore, Councilmember Etten questioned how much weight the elected official versus private citizen has; and how much additional in- fluence or control would that person carry on behalf of Roseville citizens. Councilmember Laliberte clarified that her point was not to imply that their vote had any more weight; but noted that when this taxing authority was established as an independent group, it was decided to include a Councilmember as one of those members; clarifying that their vote was not worth more than any other member, but questioned why the City Council would want to shirk that responsibility al- ready established. Councilmember McGehee clarified her position, opining that it would not be shirking responsibility, but simply allowing citizens another seat at the table as a vital part of local government. If the City Council member on the HRA is nothing more than another citizen voice, a private citizen should be able to fill that role just as well. From an historical context, Mayor Roe noted that the HRA was originally estab- lished with all seven seats made up of citizen members. However, after 2-3 years of its operation and under the jurisdiction of former Mayor Klausing, when a va-