04-29-2008 Charter Commission Regular MeetingMinutes of the Hopkins Charter Commission
April 29, 2008
The Hopkins Charter Commission met on April 29. Present were Commission members
Dorothy Boen, Roger Gross, Fran Hesch, Roger Johnson, Steve Lewis, Emily Wallace-Jackson,
David Day, Karen Jensen, Jerre Miller, and Jannina Aristy.
The meeting was brought to order at 6:37 p.m. by the Chair of the Commission, Roger Gross.
Approval of the Minutes of the Previous Meeting
Commissioner Wallace-Jackson moved and Commissioner Jensen seconded a motion to approve
the minutes of the April 24, 2007 meeting. The motion was approved unanimously.
Election of Chair and Vice-Chair
Commissioner Hesch nominated Commissioner Wallace-Jackson for Chair. Commissioner Day
seconded the nomination. Commissioner Wallace-Jackson was elected Chair by a unanimous
vote.
Commissioner Miller nominated Commissioner Jensen for Vice-Chair. Commissioner Lewis
seconded the nomination. Commissioner Jensen was elected
Vice-Chair by a unanimous vote.
Chair Wallace-Jackson presided for the balance of the meeting.
Old Business
Instant Runoff Elections
The City Clerk gave a brief summary of the Legislative and Rules Committee of the Ranked
Choice Voting Issues Group, which completed the task of developing proposed rules for IRV.
The Group submitted draft legislation to the House and Senate election committees. The
proposed rules were presented to the Elections Committee of Minneapolis. Minneapolis staff
was directed to begin the process for a request for proposal for election equipment that would
accommodate IRV.
In response to the Commission’s request for information at the last meeting, the City Clerk
reported that of the 854 cities in Minnesota, approximately 788 of those cities elect members of
their councils at large with multiple seat elections.
Commissioner Hesch reviewed the work of the Ranked Choice Voting Issues Group, Technical
Advisory Committee’s work and hearings that were held regarding RCV. Commissioner Hesch
related the difficulty of convincing the Committee to allow Cities with multiple seat elections to
choose other Ranked Choice methods for their ballots.
The consensus of the Charter Commission was to request that the City Clerk contact the City of
Hendersonville NC, to obtain documentation of the method of voting that is used in
Hendersonville NC. Members of the Commission would like to have that information emailed to
them. Chair Wallace-Jackson would then determine if another meeting should be called to
discuss the method and commence with a mock election using the method that Hendersonville
NC uses.
Commissioner Lewis moved and Commissioner Jensen seconded a motion to adjourn. The
meeting adjourned by unanimous consent at 7:38 p.m.