Ramsey City Charter Updated April 2023

Home

Sec. 2.1. Form of government. The form of government established by this Charter is the "Mayor -Council Plan" as defined by current Minnesota state statutes. Except as otherwise provided by state statutes or this Charter, all powers of the city are vested in the city council. Sec. 2.2. Boards and commissions. There shall be no separate administrative board of health, library board, or any other administrative board or commission except for the administration of a function jointly with another political subdivision. The council shall itself be and perform the duties and exercise the powers of such boards and commissions provided for by state statutes. The council may, however, establish or abolish by ordinance boards or commissions to advise the council with respect to any municipal function or activity, or to perform quasi-judicial functions. Notice of initial formation and all vacancies shall be published in the city newsletter and in the legal newspaper. Membership of various boards and commissions shall not exceed nine members, at least two-thirds of which shall be residents of the City of Ramsey. Sec. 2.3. Council composition and election. 2.3.1 Mayor and council. The council shall be composed of the mayor, elected at large, two councilmembers elected at -large, and four councilmembers, each of whom shall be elected from a separate ward as established or amended pursuant to this Charter. The mayor and councilmembers shall be qualified electors. Each councilmember elected from a ward shall be a resident of the ward, but a change in ward boundaries does not disqualify a councilmember from serving the remainder of a term. Except as hereinafter provided, councilmembers shall serve for a term of four years and until a successor is elected and qualifies. The mayor shall serve for a term of four years and until a successor is elected and qualifies. The elections for the mayor and councilmembers shall be held as provided in subsection 2.3.3. 2.3.2 Wards. The city shall be divided into four separate wards. The boundaries of such wards shall be determined by ordinance based upon population as determined by the most recent federal decennial census and shall be as equal in population as practicable and each ward shall be composed of compact, contiguous territory. An ordinance designating the boundaries of the city's election wards shall be enacted within 60 days after the state legislature has been redistricted or by May 10 in the year ending in two, whichever comes first. The wards shall be designated as ward numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4. 2.3.3 Transition schedule. 2.3.3.1 For the 2002 city wide election only: (1) Councilmembers elected in the year 2000 shall be assigned to the ward in which he/she resides. (2) Councilmembers from ward numbers 1 and 3 shall be elected. (3) Two at -large councilmembers shall be elected, with the candidate receiving the highest number of votes serving a four year term and the candidate receiving the second highest number of votes serving a two-year term. 2.3.3.2 For the 2004 city wide election only: (1) Councilmembers from ward numbers 2 and 4 shall be elected. (2) One at -large councilmember shall be elected to serve a four-year term. (3) A mayor shall be elected. (Supp. No. 12, Update 1) Created: 2023-04-26 15:53:29 [EST] Page 2 of 25