Loading...
CR 05-156 Revision of City Charter Ord 05-958 December 20, 2005 Council Report 2005-156 REVISION OF CITY CHARTER ORDINANCE 2005-958 Proposed Action Staff recommends that the Council approve the following motion: Approve Resolution 2005-094, accepting Ordinance 2005-958, ordering its publication and setting a public hearing for January 17, 2006. This action will enable citizens to review the published ordinance and make comments at the public hearing. Overview The Hopkins City Charter was adopted in 1947. It was last updated in 2004. Ordinance 2005-958 was drafted by city staff and distributed to the Charter Commission. The Commission met on April 26, 2005, September 27 and again on November 15. The Commission voted to recommend the adoption of Ordinance 2005-958 by the Hopkins City Council. The proposed ordinance must now be published prior to a public hearing. The City Council can only consider adoption after the public hearing. Primarv Issues to Consider. . What changes are being recommended in the Charter? . What is the process for amending the City Charter? Supportinl! Information . Analysis of the issues. . Alternatives . Charter Commission Resolution 2005-2 . Resolution 2005-094 . Ordinance 2005-958 J es A. Genellie 1\ssistant City Manager Council Report 2005-156 Page 2 Analvsis of the Issues What changes are being recommended iu the Charter? In 2004, the City Council, on the recommendation of the Charter Commission, established a Alternative Voting Task Force to "obtain, study and evaluate data on alternative voting methods for use in Hopkins." The Task Force presented a preliminary report to the Charter Commission on April 26, 2005. The Charter Commission gave the Task Force additional time to complete its report and met again on September 27. At that time, the Task Force recommended that the Charter Commission consider adopting Instant Runoff Voting (IRV). This method of voting requires that winning candidates have a majority of the votes. At the September meeting, the Charter Commission voted to authorize the staff to draft a resolution and Charter amendment, implementing IRV for the Mayor and Council using two passes of IR V for the two council seats. Staff drafted an ordinance that implements ranked ballot voting. The ordinance was drafted with the assistance of the City Attorney and Mr. Tony Solgard, of FairVote Minnesota. Two ordinances were presented to the Commission, one that would mandate implement this voting system in 2007 and one that would postpone the implementation if the City Clerk certifies that the City is not ready. Due to the uncertainty of when voting machines would be available that could handle IRV voting, the Commission decided to adopt the second ordinance, leaving the actual ballot implementation to the time when it becomes technically and financially feasible. The Commission unanimously approved Resolution 2005-02, recommending that the Hopkins City Council adopt Ordinance 2005-958 amending the City Charter. What is the process for amending the City Charter? The City Charter may be amended by Ordinance using the following procedure: Subd. 7. Amendment by ordinance. Upon recommendation of the charter commission the city council may enact a charter amendment by ordinance. Within one month of receiving a recommendation to amend the charter by ordinance, the city must publish notice of a public hearing on the proposal and the notice must contain the text of the proposed amendment. The city council must hold the public hearing on the proposed charter amendment at least two weeks but not more than one month after the notice is published. Within one month of the public hearing, the city council must vote on the proposed charter amendment ordinance. The ordinance is enacted if it receives an affirmative vote of all members of the city council and is approved by the mayor and published as in the case of other ordinances. An ordinance amending a city charter shall not become effective until 90 days after passage and publication or at such later date as is fixed in the ordinance. Council Report 2005-156 Page 3 Within 60 days after passage and publication of such an ordinance, a petition requesting a referendum on the ordinance may be filed with the city clerk. Such petition shall be signed by qualified voters equal in number to two percent of the total number of votes cast in the city at the last state general election or 2,000, whichever is less. If the city has a system of permanent registration of voters, only registered voters are eligible to sign the petition. If the requisite petition is filed within the prescribed period, the ordinance shall not become effective until it is approved by the voters as in the case of charter amendments submitted by the charter commission, the council, or by petition of the voters, except that the council may submit the ordinance at any general or special election held at least 60 days after submission of the petition, or it may reconsider its action in adopting the ordinance. As far as practicable the requirements of subdivisions I to 3 apply to petitions submitted under this section, to an ordinance amending a charter, and to the filing of such ordinance when approved by the voters. Alternatives I. Approve Resolution 2005-094, accepting Ordinance 2005-958, ordering its publication and setting a public hearing for January 17, 2006. 2. Do not approve Resolution 2005-094 and send the proposed ordinance back to the Charter Commission for further action. Staff recommends Alternative #1. CITY OF HOPKINS Hennepin County, Minnesota CHARTER COMMISSION RESOLUTION NO. 2005-02 RESOLUTION RECOMMENDING AMENDMENT OF THE HOPKINS CHARTER BY ORDINANCE 2005-958 Whereas, the Hopkins Charter Commission has the authority under Minnesota Statute, Section 410.12, subdivision 7 to recommend amendments to the City Charter; and Whereas, the Commission has determined that Chapters 2 and 4 of the Hopkins City Charter should be amended to modify the method used to elect members of the City Council; Now Therefore be it resolved by the Hopkins Charter Commission that the Hopkins Municipal Charter be amended by Ordinance 2005-958 enacted by the City Council of the City of Hopkins pursuant to Minnesota Statute 410.12. Passed and adopted at a regularly scheduled meeting of the Hopkins Charter Commission on November 15, 2005. d. By,d~~ - Fran Hesd( Chair ATTEST: mes A. Genellie, Secretary Hopkins Charter Commission CITY OF HOPKINS Hennepin County, Minnesota RESOLUTION NO. 2005-094 RESOLUTION ACCEPTING CHARTER AMENDMENT, ORDERING PUBLICATION AND SETTING PUBLIC HEARING WHEREAS, the Hopkins Charter Commission has presented to the Hopkins City Council a proposed Charter amendment in the form of Ordinance 2005-958, and WHEREAS, the Hopkins Charter Commission has recommended that Ordinance 2005- 958 be approved by the Hopkins City Council in accordance with Minnesota Statute 410.12, NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of Hopkins hereby accepts Ordinance 2005-958, orders it published in the official newspaper, and sets a public hearing for January 17, 2006 at 7:30 p.m. for first reading of said ordinance. Adopted by the City Council of the City of Hopkins this Twentieth day of December 2005. By Gene Maxwell, Mayor ATTEST: Terry Obermaier, City Clerk CITY OF HOPKINS HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA ORDINANCE 2005-958 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE CHARTER OF THE CITY OF HOPKINS UPON RECOMMENDATION OF THE HOPKINS CHARTER COMMISSION PURSUANT TO M.S.A. CHAPTER 410.12, SUED. 7 The City Council of the City of Hopkins, upon recommendation of and from the Hopkins City Charter Commission does hereby ordain and thus amend and adopt the following changes, deletions, and amendments of or from the following chapters and sections of the Hopkins City Charter: Section 1. Section 2.03, is amended as follows: Subdivision 3. After the City general election, the City Council shall, at their next regularly scheduled meeting, meet as the canvassing board and declare the results of the election. ~ c~Rdid~tc recei~ing the highest number of voteD for Q p~rtieul~r office is elected. If the election results in a tie, then the winner should be determined by lot in the presence of the Council acting as the canvassing board. Section 2. Section 4.04, is added as follows: SEC. 4.04. INSTANT RUNOFF ELECTIONS. (a) For the purposes of this section: (1) a candidate shall be deemed "continuinq" if the candidate has not been eliminated; (2) a ballot shall be deemed "continuing" if it is not exhausted; and (3) a ballot shall be deemed "exhausted," and not counted in further staqes of the tabulation, if all of the candidates chosen on that ballot have been eliminated or there are no more candidates indicated on the ballot. If a ranked-choice ballot qives equal rank to two or more candidates, the ballot shall be declared exhausted at the point of the ballot when such multiple rankinqs are reached. If a voter casts a ranked-choice ballot but skips a rank, the voter's vote shall be transferred to that voter's next ranked choice. (b) The Mayor and members of the City Council shall be elected usinq a ranked-choice, or "instant runoff," ballot. The ballot shall allow voters to rank a number of choices in order of preference equal to the total number of candidates for each office; provided, however, if the voting system, vote tabulation system or similar or related equipment used by the City and County cannot feasibly accommodate choices equal to the total number of candidates running for each office, then the Director of Elections may limit the number of choices a voter may rank to no fewer than three. The ballot shall in no way interfere with a voter's ability to cast a vote for a write-in candidate. (c) If a candidate receives a malority of the hiqhest ranked choices, that candidate shall be declared elected. If no candidate receives a malority, the candidate who received the fewest highest ranked choices shall be eliminated and each vote cast for that candidate shall be transferred to the next ranked candidate on that voter's ballot. If, after this transfer of votes, any candidate has a majority of the votes from the continuing ballots, that candidate shall be declared elected. (d) This process of eliminating candidates and transferring their votes to the next-ranked continuing candidates shall be repeated until a candidate receives a majority of the votes from the continuing ballots. (e) The members of the city council shall be elected sequentially. After the first candidate is elected, the votes shall be recounted, with any ballots marked for the already elected candidate now counting for the next ranked candidate on each ballot. (f) In the event of a tie between two or more candidates after any round of counting, the candidate to be eliminated shall be determined by lot. (g) campaign runoff," The Clty Clerk shall conduct a voter education to familiarize voters with the ranked-choice or, "instant method of voting. (h) Ranked choice, or 'instant runoff,' balloting shall be used for the first municipal election in November 2007 and all subsequent elections unless the City Clerk certifies to the City Council no later than four months prior to an election that the Department will not be ready to implement ranked-choice balloting in that election. Such certification must include the reasons why the Department is not ready to implement ranked-choice balloting. The City Council shall have the ability to accept the certification or to order the Department to implement ranked-choice balloting. Section 3. The effective date of this ordinance shall be ninety days after publication. First reading: January 17, 2006 Second reading: February 7, 2006 Date of Publication: February 16, 2006 Date Ordinance Takes Effect: May 18, 2006 By Gene Maxwell, Mayor ATTEST: Terry Obermaier, City Clerk APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY: City Attorney Signature Date