Laserfiche WebLink
Regular City Council Meeting <br />Monday, April 21, 2008 <br />Page 20 <br />the Cities of White Bear Lake and North St. Paul, and under consideration for <br />Vadnais Heights, their other client cities. Ms. Bell Beckman reviewed current <br />City policy of Roseville, the proposed process; and their office's attempts to util- <br />ize anadministrative offense calendar, rather than appear before a judge, to re- <br />solve those more minor violations, and to eliminate additional court surcharges <br />and assessments, and for the violators to avoid a civil or criminal record, with <br />fines going directly to the City, through a more friendly process. <br />Mark Goggins, Prosecuting Attorney's Office <br />Mr. Goggins advised that the administrative offense calendar served as an alterna- <br />tive dispute resolution process for misdemeanor ordinance violation issues, with <br />the prosecutor representing the City and speaking directly to the violator to <br />achieve resolution, rather than appearing before the judge. Mr. Goggins advised <br />that the violator always had the right to resolve the issue at that point, or take it <br />before a judge or jury trial for their day in court for due process. <br />Councilmember Pust recognized that, as the City's prosecuting attorneys, they <br />were in favor of the administrative ticket option for resolution at the city level, <br />and commended them for their work with people in resolving issues in a timely <br />manner. However, Councilmember Pust noted that by the time the case got to the <br />prosecution stage, the City had already been attempting resolution for six months, <br />and she didn't support another three to four month delay in the process. <br />Ms. Bell Beckman recognized that the violations were a constant source of irrita- <br />tion to neighbors, since they were also in communication with staff; and noted <br />that in certain cases, the law needed to be laid down, but that people needed to be <br />treated similarly based on equal protection issues. <br />Ms. Bell Beckman, on an unrelated note, advised that they were advocating for <br />the District Court to implement community court, as an alternative to DWI court, <br />currently being driven by the City of St. Paul as an option for repeat violators; and <br />sought City Council support to the bench to encourage implementation in District <br />Court. <br />Mr. Goggins opined that, given the number of serious cases being heard by dis- <br />trict judges, even if the City took a case to court, it didn't ensure a favorable <br />judgment, creating additional incentive to resolve the issues before they get that <br />far through the administrative ticket process. <br />Pust moved, Klausing seconded, enactment of Ordinance No. 1366 entitled, "An <br />Ordinance Amending Title 1 (Administration), Section 102 (General Penalty) of <br />Roseville City Code;" to require mandatory payment of Administrative Offense <br />tickets and establish increased administrative penalty amounts for subsequent of- <br />fenses within an 18 month period. <br />