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Commissioner Childs stated that the primary election question is a "chip shot". The City would <br />be offering the choice to the public. The Charter Commission would pass it to the City Council <br />and they would put together a ballot and they would establish a time and date for a special <br />election. <br /> <br />Discussion ensued relating to filing dates if there were a primary. <br /> <br />Commissioner Deemer handed out some information for discussion relating to suggested <br />changes to the handouts given at the May 24, 2001 meeting. <br /> <br />Commissioner Henke stated she would like everyone to answer why they feel the City of <br />Ramsey needs a primary election. <br /> <br />Commissioner Childs responded that history shows that many candidates have run for office by <br />submitting the filing fee of $5 and then have done nothing else. <br /> <br />City Administrator Norman suggested that a primary, would allow the voter a better opportunity <br />to understand who the candidate is. By having the field narrowed, you would have a better <br />understanding of candidates. You have three candidates who feel the same about an issue, then <br />one candidate decides to run who has an opposite opinion. That opposite candidate splits the <br />votes up. <br /> <br />Commissioner Henke stated she has never seen a large number of candidates in Ramsey. She is <br />more concerned about limiting the number of choices than having too many running. This limits <br />the amount of power the citizens have. <br /> <br />Chairperson Vogt stated that as the population grows, we will probably have more people <br />running. <br /> <br />Commissioner Deemer pointed out that Ramsey has had many candidates running in the past. <br /> <br />Commissioner Swanson stated that the voters are still making the same choices and the resident <br />gets to vote for Council twice. The citizen could "weed out" the candidates and they would get <br />to know the candidates better. Even if there was no primary, you would still have to weed out <br />the candidates. If people vote the primary, they will probably get to know the candidates better <br />to see who they should weed out. People who care will get to know the candidates. <br /> <br />Commissioner Milless suggested that if there is less than three candidates, a primary election <br />would not be necessary. <br /> <br />Mr. Kiefer stated that if a candidate finds out he/she did not make it through the primary, they <br />can cut their losses early. <br /> <br />Alena Hunter, resident, stated that if the City goes forward with a primary election and <br />implementing a ward system, she feels we are inviting our citizens to be more involved in the <br /> <br />Charter Commission - June 7, 2001 <br /> Page 2 of 6 <br /> <br /> <br />