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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016 11-01 City coucil elections delayed for year PIONEER PRESS MainPage 1 of 2 City council elections delayed for year Maplewood By Sarah Horner shorner@pioneerpress.com Maplewood City Council members will be sticking around a little longer than usual thanks to a change to the city’s election cycle. Council members voted in the spring to switch Maplewood’s long-standing municipal election schedule from odd to even years in an attempt to save costs and bolster voter turnout, city officials say. With no outcry from residents, Maplewood’s next municipal election will be pushed from 2017 to 2018. A similar attempt was thwarted in New Brighton recently after residents filed a petition opposing the election change and a judge weighed in and found that the city hadn’t followed proper procedure. The shift in Maplewood will keep the city’s current council members in office for an extra year, according to information provided by Karen Haag, director of citizen services in Maplewood. The city could have also opted to shorten two council members’ terms to accommodate the change. Staff recommended against that because of costs, the city reported. A petition signed by enough residents would have forced the issue to a public referendum. Mayor Nora Slawik said the switch makes fiscal sense. “This way the city only has to prepare for elections in the even years when there are already presidential, congress and other races” taking place, Slawik said. “So it saves a lot of money for the city and just seems like a good, cost-effective and efficient thing to do.” By making the transition, the city will save an average of about $60,000 a year, based on costs provided by the city for its last five municipal elections. The transition will also likely increase voter participation in local races, officials said. About 60 percent of Maplewood residents voted in the 2010 state election compared to about 30 percent in the city’s 2011 municipal races, the city reported. Turnout was even higher — about 85 percent— in 2012, when residents last voted for president. Bob Cardinal, a former Maplewood mayor and council member, is not pleased that current council members would get an extra year on their terms. He added that he thinks most Maplewood residents likely aren’t aware the council even took the vote, much less that they have the power to circulate a petition to try and protest it. “It shouldn’t be the obligation of the citizens to be watchdogs on the council,” Cardinal said. “It’s the wrong thing that (this council) is doing. … It’s just wrong.” http://saintpaulpioneerpress.mn.newsmemory.com/ee/_nmum/_default_bb_include_infram...11/1/2016 MainPage 2 of 2 The fairer option would be to phase the change in over time, meaning no sitting council members benefit from it, Cardinal said. Tuesday, 11/01/2016 Pag.A04Copyright © 2016, St. Paul Pioneer Press. Please review new arbitration language here. 11/1/2016 http://saintpaulpioneerpress.mn.newsmemory.com/ee/_nmum/_default_bb_include_infram...11/1/2016