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another ward, so the ward system prevents the voter from fully exercising his or her freedom of <br />choice, The ward system may result in unequal representation. Elections may be more <br />expensive. The candidate is more likely to represent private interests rather than the interests of <br />the City. There may be difficulty in finding qualified candidates to run for office. She felt these <br />are a lot of serious disadvantages. <br /> <br />Chairperson Kiefer stated that by having some at-large members on Council, you <br />counterbalance; you get the best of both worlds. <br /> <br />Ms. Hunter a~eed that it would serve both purposes and the City is changing dramatically. She <br />added that the concern of non-representation will bring people out to vote. <br /> <br />Ben Deemer, Ramsey, voiced a simple solution. He talked about the majority of the City <br />Council being elected every election. There will be less of the City to cover during campaigns. <br />He suggested creating two wards and run right of C.R. #5. Place Precincts #1,2,3 and 8 in one <br />xvard and 4,5,65 and 7 in the other and they would be within 100 voters of each other. <br /> <br />Commissioner Childs stated there are a lot of advantages to the Ward system also. He stated he <br />is happy knowing he has a representative in the U.S. Congress. Wards do work. There is a <br />source to go to and people would feel good knowing they have their own representative. It is <br />difficult to determine how it should go however. He thought probably a mix of wards and at <br />large would work best. <br /> <br />City Administrator Norman stated that if the Commission would like to consider the questions <br />for a ballot, that has quite an impact on the other agenda item for this evening. He noted that <br />with an advisory question, the City does not have to do anything about them, however, they are <br />hard to ignore. <br /> <br />Chairperson Kiefer asked if a ward system is approved, does the Commission feel it is <br />un_necessary to incorporate the advisory questions. <br /> <br />Mr. Hendriksen stated that if you have people rethink if they were serious about that question, <br />maybe you should ask them if they were serious about the seven member Council. <br /> <br />Chairperson Kiefer stated that had Charter gotten the' opportunity to continue discussion of that <br />question, it may have been binding as opposed to advisory.. <br /> <br />Mr. Hendriksen stated that his recollection is we discussed that at length and that concept was <br />rejected by this board. His impression is that this was the burning issue and vote totals prove <br />that. <br /> <br />Discussion ensued about how this question came about. <br /> <br />Chairperson Kiefer stated that he proposes that the Commission take a vote on Mr. Goodrich's <br />offer to draft language and have a special election to see what form of government the citizens of <br />Ramsey would like to see. Have a special election along with six questions we had the <br /> <br />Charter Commission - April 19, 200I <br /> Page 6 of 9 <br /> <br /> <br />