03/25/1975 ,-.CITY OF FRIDLEY
MEMORANDUM
TO: NASIM M. QURESHI , CITY MANAGER AND CITY COUNCIL
FROM: MARVIN C. BRUNSELL, ASST. CITY MGR./FIN. DIR.
SUBJECT: PETITION ON PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THE CITY CHARTER,
CHAPTER 2, SECTION 2.05 (VACANCIES IN COUNCIL)
DATE: DECEMBER 18, 1974
A Petition on a Proposed Amendment to Chapter 2, Section 2.05 of the City Charter
was filed on October 1 , 1974 with the Charter Commission.
The Charter Commission was proceeding on the assumption there was no specific
time limit for turning the petition over to the City Council . This apparently
was based on an informal discussion with the City's legal counsel . On December 2,
the City Council directed the City Attorney to prepare a written opinion on
Section 410.12 of the Minnesota Statutes relating to turning a petition, such as
this, over to the City Council or the City Clerk's office.
At the December 9th meeting, the City Attorney rendered his opinion to the City
Council in a memorandum dated December 9, 1974. The City Attorney stated
the Charter Commission should transmit the petition to the City Clerk to determine
whether it contains a sufficient number of valid signatures.
The petition had physically been located in the City's vault for safekeeping for
sometime, even though the petition had not officially been turned over to the City
Clerk's office or the City Council . On the evening of December 16th, Ray Sheridan,
Chairman of the Charter Commission, contacted me regarding the petition and stated
that we should consider the petition as having officially been turned over to the
City Clerk's office.
We made a check of the voter registration files at the County Court House as of
December 18, 1974 and find the following :
Total Number of Names on the Petition 635
Total Number of Names Counted who are Registered Voters 545
Questionable Signatures 12
Not Registered 78
TOTAL 635
At the last Statewide General Election (November 5, 1974) 8,856 votes were cast.
Section 410.12, Subdivision 1 of the Minnesota Statutes requires that a petition
such as this must contain valid signatures equal to at least five percent of the
total number of votes cast at the last Statewide General Election (November 5,
1974) .
Five Percent (5%) of 8,856 Registered Voters is 443
Therefore using the count of the November 5, 1974 election and the count of regis-
tered voters as of December 18, 1974, the petition does contain more than the
required five percent valid signatures.
cc: Virgil C . Herrick, City Attorney
CITY OF FRIDLEY
MEMORANDUM
TO: NASIM M. QURESHI, CITY MANAGER
FROM: MARVIN C. BRUNSELL, ASST. CITY MGR./FIN, DIR.
SUBJECT: BACKGROUND MATERIAL ON MY MEMO OF DECEMBER 18, 1974
RELATING TO PETITION
DATE: DECEMBER 20, 1.974
In my memo of December 18, I stated that we officially counted the
Petition as of December 18, 1974. We used the November 5, 1974
Election as the last General Election.
The General Election used has some significance because of the fact
if the November 7, 1972 General Election were used as the last
General Election, the Petition would require more signatures. At
the November 7, 1972 Election, 11 ,767 people voted. Five percent of
this figure" is 588. If the November, 1972 date were used, the
Petition would not contain sufficient signatures as it now stands.
The law does provide that the petitioners be given ten days to secure
additional signatures if the Petition is found insufficient.
The total number of votes cast at the November 5 , 1974 Election was •
8,856. Five percent of this figure is 443.
We did count the names on the Petition unofficially prior to the
November 5, 1974 Election.
FIRST COUNT DECEMBER 18 COUNT
TOTAL SIGNATURES OF REGISTERED VOTERS 527 545
QUESTIONABLE SIGNATURES 12 12
NOT REGISTERED 96 78
TOTAL NUMBER OF SIGNATURES ON PETITION 635 635
The date of the count is not of great significance as no matter which
count is used there are sufficient names on the Petition if the 1974
General Election is used as a base point, and if the November 7, 1972
Election is used as a base point, neither count would be sufficient.
MCB:sh
cc: Virgil C. Herrick
•
.•••■
560-3450
City of 7riciley
` ANOKA COUNTY
•
6431 UNIVERSITY AVENUE NE • FRIDLEY, MINNESOTA 55432
I!-
MEMO TO: HONORABLE BILL NEE AND COUNCIL MEMBERS
FROM: RAY SHERIDAN, CHARTER COMMISSION CHAIRMAN
SUBJECT: SECTION 2.05 AND 2.06 OF CITY CHARTER
•
DATE: JANUARY 6, 1975 -
The Charter Commission and members from the Committee of Petitioners met on
Monday, December 30, 1974, and discussed and reviewed the petition and some
ideas that the Commission had regarding the proposed amendment. The purpose
of this meeting by the Commission was to see if there would be a position or
point where the Commission might change the original proposed amendment to
Section 2.05 that would satisfy both the Charter Commission and the Committee
of Petitioners. I believe the discussion was fruitful , and the members of the
Committee of Petitioners who were present are planning to meet with the Charter
Commission at our next meeting, January 14.
The members of the Committee of Petitioners and Charter Commission did agree
that possibly some additional wordage could be added to the petition to make a
better amendment to the Charter by spelling out some time factors that are
important.
The Commission cannot recommend to the Council the petition as it was submitted,
as the petition is not in order in all ways. I understand a special election
must be held to satisfy the request by the petition, and if this be the case, the
Commission would ask that the election date be set so that the proposed amendments
• by the Charter Commission could be submitted to the voters at the same election.
It would be my hope that there would be enough time so the Council could again
review these proposed amendments, hold the necessary hearings, and possibly act
on some, if not all by Ordinance, and those not accepted by Council could be
placed before the voters at this special election.
At the December 30 meeting, the members discussed the possibility if the petition
was not sufficient, and that at the meeting of January 14 possibly they could work
out a proposed amendment to Chapter 2, Section 2.05, that could be included in
the Charter changes, and by doing so, satisfy the petitioners without more money
and time on their part.
Gentlemen, these comments are what I extracted from our meeting. I will present
these views to the Charter Commission members on January 14.
STATEMENT OF CANVASS
SPECIAL ELECTION
MARCH 25, 1975
DECLARATION OF RESULTS THEREOF
In accordance with Section 4.08 of the Charter of the City of Fridley, the City
Council declares the results of the 1975 Special Election to be as follows :
A. The total number of ballots cast was: 336
Ward 1 - Precinct 1 51
Ward 1 - Precinct 2 50.
Ward 1 - Precinct 3 24
Ward 2 - Precinct 1 36
Ward 2 - Precinct 2 28
Ward 2 - Precinct 3 41
Ward 3 - Precinct 1 51
Ward 3 - Precinct 2 36
Ward 3 - Precinct 3 19
TOTAL: 336
B. The vote on the Charter Amendment, Chapter 2, Section 2.05, Vacancies
in the Council , page 7, line 67 is as follows:
SPOILED, DEFECTIVE
YES NO OR NOT VOTED TOTAL
Ward 1 - Precinct 1 45 6 0 51
Ward 1 - Precinct 2 39 11 0 5n
Ward 1 - Precinct 3 16 8 0 24
Ward 2 - Precinct 1 29 _ 7 0 16
Ward 2 - Precinct 2 22 6 0 R
Ward 2 - Precinct 3 29 12 0 41
Ward 3 - Precinct 1 37 14 0 S1
Ward 3 - Precinct 2 20 15 1 36
Ward 3 - Precinct 3 10 9 0 19
TOTALS 247 88 _ 1 336
C. The vote on the Charter Amendment, Chapter 2, Section 2.05, Vacancies
in the Council , page 7, line 67 is declared to have passed.
STATEMENT OF CANVASS
SPECIAL ELECTION - MARCH 25 , 1975
Page 2
D. The following is a true copy of the ballot used:
CITY ELECTION
BALLOT
City Charter
Amendment
CITY OF FRIDLEY
ANOKA COUNTY, MINNESOTA
TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 1975
If you favor the amendment,put an(X) in the square opposite the
word"YES". If you do not favor the amendment,put an(X) in the
square opposite the word"NO".
"Shall the Charter,Chapter 2,Section 2.05, Vacancies in the
Council page 7, line 67 be changed to read: A vacancy in the
council shall be deemed to exist in case of the failure of any
person elected thereto to qualify on or before the date of the
second regular meeting of the new council,or by reason of
the death,resignation,removal from office,removal from the
city,removal of a ward councilman from his ward,continuous
absence from the city for more than three months,or con-
viction of a felony,of any such person whether before or
after his qualification,or by reason of the failure of any
councilman without good cause to perform any of the duties
of membership in the council for a period of three months.
In each such case,the council shall be resolution declare such
vacany to exist and shall forthwith 'call a special election to
be held not less than 45 days nor more than 60 days from
the time such vacancy is declared.The winner of said election
shall be qualified and take office immediately upon certifi-
cation by the board of canvass and shall fill the unexpired
term.' "
n YES
Lii NO
STATEMENT OF CANVASS
SPECIAL ELECTION - MARCH 25, 1975
Page 3
E. The names of the judges of the election are as follows:
WARD 1 - PRECINCT 1 WARD 1 - PRECINCT 2
Marilyn Beck Joyce H. McLellan
Nancy Londroche Dorothy M, Houck
Marie Hughes Shirley Kohlan
Dorothe Marleau Patsy A. Register
Evelyn Podeszwa Mary F. Sullivan
Carole Lueders
WARD 1 - PRECINCT 3 WARD 2 - PRECINCT 1
Velma Pinks Virginia E. Locker
Ardella A. Buss Betty Brezny
Gloria R. Ivers Rita Pierce
Rosella A. Amar Doris M. Reiners
Sharon L. Hippen Gerri Engdahl
Dorothy A. Heule
WARD 2 - PRECINCT 2 WARD 2 - PRECINCT 3
Jeanette L. Michalski Beverly J. Kinsman
Karen L. Bjorgo Jean M. Wagar
Katherine Scott Soja Erickson
Marian Smith Judith Engelbretson
Alice Marie Turner Marlys C. Lisowski
Helen C. Shaffer Adeline L. Swanson
WARD 3 - PRECINCT 1 WARD 3 - PRECINCT 2
Connie Samuelson Patricia C. Dittes
Naida Kruger Darlene Vallin
Yvonne M. Sprungman Alene F. Johnson
Betty Bonine Barbara Gohman
Dolores Christenson
Diann Bonine
STATEMENT Of CANVASS
SPECIAL ELECTION - MARCH 25, 1975
Page 4
WARD 3 - PRECINCT 3
Helen W. Treuenfels
Alice E. Blake
Jean A. Johnson
Sharon L. Reemtsma
. Jean Jackson
Linda L. Tatley
MAYOR - WILLIAM J. NEE
)
COU CILMAN
44/.
.01p1141
COUNCI N
C N ILMAN
♦I/tea_
CO C LMAN