Minutes - Charter Commission - 10/04/2000 - Informal Meeting

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Ms. Kurak mentioned that she and Barry Childs are the only candidates for Council that are in the MUSA. She added that this question for the ballot is just increasing Council and all members would still run at large. In her opinion, the concerns of the people in this area are not represented and these people should have a voice too. Chairperson Kiefer felt these are valid points and were topics of discussion at some of the Charter meetings. There is a potential for Councilmembers to be in a cluster of the City and with the ward system, you would physically spread the individuals out. The Commission also looked at a combination of wards and at large. Ms. Kurak suggested it's time for the City of Ramsey'to "get with the program". Case #2: Ballot Question Number Two Chairperson Kiefer read Question Number Two which reads as follows: Shall the Charter of the City of Ramsey be amended to provide that the terms of Councilmembers, other than the Mayor, be set so that a majority of the entire Council stands for election every two years? In a general election, you would have three council seats and mayor with a total of four of the seven being up for election. In a presidential election year, you would have 60% of the council seats turned over; in a non-presidential election year, you would have 40% of council turnover. Mr. Norman stated that this is an advisory question meaning if you had enough yes votes, it does not automatically become a policy/law. The concern is now, because of the mayor's term being increased to a four-year term, we will have a minority' of Council elected during a non- presidential year. Concern is that citizens should get to' turn over the majority of Council every time they vote. Discussion had taken place about how to work this out; maybe one seat would be a two-year seat, or one or two seats that are at large could be elected for two years. There are a number of ways to work it out. Chairperson Kiefer stated that the Charter Commission decided to table this for a future discussion. Commissioner Childs stated the two-year term is referred to as the "swing seat". He presented some facts he received from the League of Minnesota Cities. Fifty-five of the 96 Charter Cities have equal mayor and council terms. Over one-half of the Charter cities are setup the same way as Ramsey is. Forty-one percent have four-year mayor terms and four-year council terms; thirty- five percent have the swing seat or the potential to change the majority every two years. Some have the mayor vote on issues, some do not. Eleven cities where the mayor does not vote have an uneven number of councilmembers. Mr. Norman reiterated that the issue of four-year and/or two year terms will be discussed further. Chairperson Childs encouraged residents to vote - and to vote the entire ballot. This is how the City will know what the people want. Charter Commission Public Informational Meeting/October 4, 2000 Page 3 of 4