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Mr. Raygor stated that he personally did not care about the cost. <br /> <br />Commissioner Ebel stated that they need to put the cost of a sp'ecial election into perspective <br />when the City can send several people to Chicago on a trip. <br /> <br />Mr. Raygor inquired as to what the cost was for a special election. <br /> <br />Costs of $10,000 to $25,000 were mentioned. <br /> <br />Chairperson Vogt stated on average $15,000. He stated that in previous special elections the <br />amount of people coming to vote is minimal for the City of Ramsey. He stated that he was <br />providing that information as a thought. There are over 18,000 people in the City of Ramsey and <br />during the last special election, only 700 people turned out. <br /> <br />City Attorney Goodrich noted'fhat-the Charter Commission was not voting to make the change <br />they were voting to place the issue on the ballot to consider the change. <br /> <br />Mr. Raygor replied that he understood that. <br /> <br />Commissioner Ebel stated that once it is placed on the ballot then the Ramsey Alliance gets a <br />hold of it and it is placed all over the City. <br /> <br />Chairperson Vogt inquired as to how the Commission felt regarding the issue. <br /> <br />Commissioner Deemer stated that he thought there needed to be a lot more discussion. He stated <br />that he does get upset when he sees a special election because of the cost to the voters for the <br />amount of turnout. The last special election cost about $700 per voter and typically the special <br />interest goups prevail in a special election. <br /> <br />Commissioner Ebel replied that it is a concern that special, interests do prevail in a special <br />election, but she thinks they have to give people the right to vote on something like this. She did <br />tlzink they needed to have further discussions on the issue. <br /> <br />Commissioner Swanson inquired if the $25,000 cost for the last special election included the cost <br />for campaigning. <br /> <br />Commissioner Deemer replied that it included the costs to the City and the County; it did not <br />include any of the candidate's costs. <br /> <br />City Attorney Goodrich inquired if they were referring to the 2001 special election. <br /> <br />Commissioner Deemer replied that he was referring to the election that replaced Natalie Haas <br />Steffen. <br /> <br />-12- <br /> <br />Charter Commission/July 18, 2002 <br /> Page I 0 of 22 <br /> <br /> <br />