Agenda - Charter Commission - 08/27/2020

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actual special election there were 15,492 registered voters and 230 people voted. She stated that for the regular election primary there were 15,629 registered voters with 3,223 people voting and for the general election there were 15,890 registered voters and 11,764 people voted. She noted that even for special elections, there is a very small portion of the population voting. City Attorney Langel continued to review section 4.5 and identified language that he would recommend removing. Chairperson Field suggested language be amended that state if there are no candidates for a special election, the Council shall appoint someone to an expiring or vacant municipal office. City Attorney Langel stated that his thought process is to simplify as much as possible, removing language that conflicts with State law, remove items that do not benefit the City, and focus on the few sections remaining. Chairperson Field stated that approach number one would be to eliminate the section entirely and follow State law or to take the discussion tonight and simplify the language to follow State law and incorporate the comments tonight. Commissioner Bendtsen stated that he would recommend removing anything that conflicts with State law, removing anything duplicative, remove the need for special and primary elections, and keep the appointments to a term of 365 days or less. Commissioner Fuhreck stated that he would agree with the comments of Commissioner Bendtsen. He stated that he would be in favor of leaving primaries for regular elections but removing them for special elections. Chairperson Field stated that if primaries are eliminated, you extend the political season for the hoards of people running for City Council and the public at large is subjected to more political campaigning. He stated that for a normal election there is already a primary and therefore there is little additional cost or process. Commissioner Leistico stated that she would argue that holding a primary would extend the election season as people begin campaigning earlier for the primary. She stated that she would agree with removing any language that conflicts with State law. She stated that she would remove primary elections for both the special and regular elections. She noted that she would also follow State law to allow appointments to be made with two years or less remaining in a term but advised that she would also agree with the appointment being allowed with only 365 days or less. It was the consensus of the Commission that if there are no candidates for a special election, the Council shall appoint someone to an expiring or vacant municipal office until the next regular municipal election. Chairperson Field stated that he is getting the sense that this discussion will continue at the next Charter Commission meeting. He confirmed the consensus to remove the language conflicting Charter Commission/ February 13, 2019 Page 7 of 11