04-27-2010 Charter Commission Regular MeetingMinutes of the Hopkins Charter Commission
April 27, 2010
The Hopkins Charter Commission met on April 27. Present were Commission members
Dorothy Boen, David Day, Roger Gross, Fran Hesch, Karen Jensen, Roger Johnson, Steve
Lewis, and Emily Wallace-Jackson.
The meeting was brought to order at 6:33 p.m. by the Chair of the Commission, Emily Wallace-
Jackson.
Approval of the Minutes of the Previous Meeting
Commissioner Hesch moved and Commissioner Jensen seconded a motion to approve the
minutes of the June 30, 2009 meeting. The motion was approved unanimously.
Election of Officers
Commissioner Lewis nominated Commissioner Wallace-Jackson for Chair and Commissioner
Jensen for Vice-Chair. Commissioner Boen seconded the nomination. Commissioner Wallace-
Jackson and Commissioner Jensen were reelected by a unanimous vote.
Old Business
Instant Runoff Elections
Mr. Genellie provided an update on IRV in Minnesota. The City of Minneapolis conducted its
November 2009 election using Ranked Choice Voting. This was done using hand counting due
to the fact that there are no machines in Minnesota at this time which can handle RCV ballots.
In St. Paul, voters, in the November 2009 election, approved the use Instant Runoff Voting for
future elections.
Several bills authorizing cities to use ranked choice voting were introduced in 2009. The
legislature has taken no action on these bills in 2010.
The consensus was that the Commission still favors ranked choice voting. Although at this time
the Commission is reluctant to propose any ordinance which might require additional costs by
the City.
The Commission also reiterated its position on the purchase of any new voting machines. Any
new voting machines should be able to count ranked ballot voting ballots.
Commissioner Hesch moved and Commissioner Gross seconded a motion to adjourn. The
meeting adjourned by unanimous consent at 7:12 p.m.