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Mr. Ben Deemer, who ran in the last election, was present and was asked to talk about his electoral <br />process survey. <br /> <br />Mr. Deemer stated he would like to see all on Council serve a four-year term. An added election is <br />an expense and he saw no reason for the Mayor to have to run every two years. Regarding the <br />ward system he (Deemer) went door to door (about 3,300) and he felt because of that he did very <br />well - came in close to a tie to the person who won the seat on the Council. He stated that going <br />door to door was very time consuming. He was planning to spend six to seven hours a day doing <br />this, however, you cannot start knocking on doors prior to 9:00 a.m. and between 11:00 a.m. and <br />1:00 p.m., homemakers are preparing lunch. You need to be done by 3:00 as children are then <br />.getting home from school. He figured he knocked on about 16 doors an hour in the urban area but <br />~n the rural area he could only do about five an hour because of the distance between homes. He <br />spent six weeks doing it and covered about one-third of the City. He suggested maybe a boundary <br />change should be looked at, as in the urban area, the population is going to be really unbalanced. <br />He suggested the Mayor could run at-large but the Council could be divided into precincts. He felt <br />that the best turnout of voters is during a presidential election and suggested that the Council <br />election coincide with the presidential year. <br /> <br />City Administrator Schroeder suggested there is an advantage to not having the entire Council's <br />terms being up at the same time because it would then be possible for the entire Council to turn <br />over in one felt swoop. He felt that may not be in the best interest of the City. <br /> <br />Mr. Deemer disagreed and felt that if there is another way without the Mayor or Council to get <br />information to the City Administrator, the City could run without the Council. He felt it would not <br />impede City business at all. <br /> <br />Chairperson Steffen inquired of Mr. Deemer if he sees a change in vote in relationship with where <br />Council lives. <br /> <br />Mr. Deemer felt that does not make a difference. <br /> <br />Chairperson Steffen queried the Commission as to what further study they wanted to do on this <br />subject. He felt that if the Commission intends to take action on this, the sooner the better, as <br />determining the number of precincts and drawing the boundary lines takes time. <br /> <br />Commissioner Swokowski stated he is in favor of implementing a ward system. He felt it will be <br />necessary to implement this type of system in the future anyway and that the main advantage would <br />down-size the area a Councilmember would have to represent. He expressed favor with a four- <br />year term for the Mayor as two years seems too short. It takes at least a year to grasp working <br />with the Council; then you have another year to work it and you are done. If the term were for <br />four years, the Mayor would be able to concentrate more fully on the issues. <br /> <br />Commissioner Kiefer felt that the Commission ought to continue looking into changing to a ward <br />system. <br /> <br />Commissioner Marn suggested it is worth looking at but she was not certain that it should affect <br />the 1996 election year already because a lot of thought has to be given to boundaries and to making <br />the people aware of the change, etc. She really felt that the at-large system is good for now as the <br />focus is on the entire City. <br /> <br />Commissioner Donovan expressed a desire to see the Mayor's term changed to four years. He <br />continued that the Commission has gathered a lot of information but the current system appears to <br />be working. He felt that it will be a benefit to continue to track the growth of the City and further <br />research the ward system. <br /> <br />Charter Commission/June 1, 1995 <br /> Page 2 of 6 <br /> <br /> <br />