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Regular City Council Meeting Monday, April 21, 2008 Page 17 Further discussion ensued on scheduling and costs of a special election; impacts on interim appointments; determination of whether the current City ordinance ap- plied to this situation; and an opinion from the Attorney General. City Attorney Squires opined that, in his interpretation of State law and the City's current ordinance identifying one circumstance and excluding others, City Code should be amended to reflect this specific proposed action. Mayor Klausing requested. that Finance Director Miller request staff to provide for the next Council packet an update on timing for a special election, assuming no change to the ordinance; and requested that City Attorney Squires prepare a brief memo with his analysis of whether the City's ordinance needs to be amended or not, including the timeframe and notice issues and provisions if an ordinance change was recommended by the City Attorney's office. Councilmember Ihlan opined that while the City Ordinance applied to a specific situation, State law provided clear direction allowing a special election. Mr. Miller advised that the process of staff coordinating a special election would take longer than amending the City ordinance, approximately three months from the City Council's direction; however, he noted that both processes could run con- currently. 13. Business Items -Action Items a. 2008 First Quarter Financial Report In accordance with the City's Operating Budget Policy adopted on May 21, 2007 (Resolution #10503), staff provided a comparison of 2008 revenues and expendi- tures for the period ending March 31, 2008 (unaudited) on the City's fiscal condi- tion. Finance Director Chris Miller advised that, given the short time frame of only three months of operations, there wasn't much to determine trends; however, he noted that it was still good to look at the status periodically. Mr. Miller high- lighted several items from the written staff report dated April 21, 2008 for com- ment, noting those items were being watched closely, without any recommenda- tion to the City Council for a change in direction at this time. Councilmember Ihlan opined that the quarterly report was a good start, taking ex- ception to the comment about not drawing conclusions; and further opined that she would prefer to have more department-specific information in the quarterly report to determine if norms are being reflected, and allowing the City Council to perform their due diligence function.