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Councilmember Musgrove commented that she likes the idea of having a primary if there are other <br />elections going on. She was unsure that a primary would be needed for a special election for a <br />vacant position. <br />City Attorney Langel agreed that it causes additional problems to have primaries for special <br />elections because of the timing and specific dates allowed for special elections. <br />Councilmember Heineman asked if eliminating primaries for special elections would allow for <br />someone to be elected as soon as possible. <br />City Attorney Langel confirmed that would allow the position to be filled more quickly as it would <br />eliminate that additional primary process. <br />Councilmember Heineman stated that he would support eliminating primaries outside of a regular <br />general election. <br />Councilmember Howell asked if there could then be three to five or more candidates for a special <br />election. <br />City Attorney Langel confirmed that a special election could have any number of candidates if <br />there is not a primary. <br />Councilmember Howell commented that she would perhaps favor a primary. <br />Mayor Kuzma stated that he was opposed to this in 2019 and remains opposed. He believed that <br />a primary serves a purpose in finding out additional information on candidates. He stated that if <br />there are five or more candidates it would be difficult to have useful information to base a decision <br />off. He stated that he would favor continuing with the existing process. <br />City Attorney Langel advised that if there is not support for the changes related to primaries, the <br />Council could choose to update the Charter to at minimum match the State Statute languages where <br />it is outdated and conflicting. He provided details on another option the City could pursue to fill <br />vacancies. He stated that State Statute would allow for the Council to appoint someone to a vacant <br />seat when there is less than two years on a term. He noted that the Charter Commission reviewed <br />that option and suggested that appointments be allowed when there is less than one year on a vacant <br />seat term. <br />Councilmember Riley commented that the City has had a problem for a number of years which <br />has resulted in an open seat almost consistently for the past five years because of the City rules for <br />special elections. He believed that primaries are not necessary as there are other government <br />positions that have multiple candidates to vote for. He stated that when he vacated his seat, he <br />aligned that with the seat vacation falling under a regular cycle. He asked if the language could <br />be written in a manner that would eliminate special elections, allow appointment, and instead have <br />an election on the next State held election day. <br />City Council Work Session / April 20, 2021 <br />Page 3 of 5 <br />