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Mr. Neal Beets February 6,2004 Page 2 2. With respect to each Advisory Committee, City Code� indicates simply that the Council shall appoint Commission members; Code does not define the process by which the appointment will occur. 3. As we understand, the City Council has, from time to time, adopted resolutions that have, in some respect, defined a Commission appointment process. 4. Most recently, in 1997, the City Council adopted Resolution 9372. Resolution 9372 purports to establish a policy for filing vacant Commission seats. The Resolution generally describes the application, interview, and selection procedures use� to fill vacar:cies. The Resolution aiso contains a provision on Advisory Commission term limits. 5. It appears that the Council has, on occasion, since 1997, varied from the terms of Resolution 9372. Based on the above, you raised the following questions: 1. What is the current policy in place concerning Commission appointments? 2. Have the Council's actions since adoption of Resolution 9372 modified the "in- effect" appointment procedure? 3. To what extent is the sitting Council obligated to follow Resolution 93'i2? The general proposition that is relevant in the context of your questions is the fact that a council does not have the authority to in-perpetuity bind the hands of future councils. Of course, exceptions to this general proposition, such as approving contracts, do exist. In the context of procedural-type rules, a Council does have the authority to adopt procedural rules that govern the conduct of council business. It is, moreover, not uncommon for organizations to have bylaws, i.e., rules that relate to the city itself rather than to the parliamentary procedures and the conduct of business. Resolution 9372 is something in the nature of a bylaw: it purports to establish rules for the Council to follow in filling Advisory Commission vacancies. Since the Resolution was validly adopted, it is and should be treated as the current policy of the Council absent contrary Council action as discussed below. The fact that the Council has not followed Resolution 9372 ' In the case of the Police Civil Service Commission, Minn, Stat. Ch. 419 indicates that the Council shall appoint Commission members.