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By Rachel Kytonen
rachel.kytonen@ecm-inc.com
Isanti City Council will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, Nov. 17 to consider changing the mayoral term from two to four years.
As promised last month, Isanti Mayor George Wimmer provided an ordinance indicating a four-year mayoral term for council consideration at its Nov. 4 meeting.
The existing mayoral term in Isanti is two years, while council members have four-year terms.
Wimmer said changing the mayoral term is something he has given a lot of thought, and if the council approved the ordinance it would not take effect until after the next election. Wimmer’s term ends Dec. 31, 2010.
The mayor and two out of the four council members are up for election every two years.
“We’ve had discussions about this previously, even before I was mayor,” Wimmer said. “When you have a majority of the council turning over every two years you can have a real zig-zag in council direction.”
During citizen’s input, Isanti resident John Bettendorf said the public should have a voice on changing the mayoral term.
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“Something that significant should have public input,” Bettendorf said. “Nothing against our current mayor but changing that term is a big deal. You should have some public hearing, whether it’s required by statute or not.”
Out of the 32 locally elected positions, Wimmer noted only the mayors of Braham and Isanti occupy two-year terms.
Wimmer said when he put the question out to members of the Mayor’s Association, he said a majority affirmed it does take quite a bit of time to become familiar with the job as mayor.
Wimmer said some responses from the Mayor’s Association indicated they wouldn’t even consider running for a two-year term because of the campaign commitment, and a four-year term would attract more qualified candidates.
Wimmer cited economic development as another reason in justifying the term change. He noted major city projects, such as the city’s wastewater treatment plant and Ever Cat Fuels, took around three years to complete.
Council Member Sue Larson saw advantages with changing the term to four years, but agreed with Bettendorf about getting public input before making a decision.
“It’s hard for someone to come in with a two-year term and get up to speed,” Larson said. “I definitely see a lot of benefits in the four-year term. When new people running for office get elected, they have no idea for the first six months to a year what’s going on. And in the mayor’s position, the person has to be able to step in, get their feet wet and get moving.
“The person in charge has to work on their own initiatives, and there’s no way to do that in the first two years, and usually it’s visionary things that take more than two years. Sitting on the League of Minnesota Cities I get to talk and network with people all over the state and see benefits to changing it from a two- to four-year term,” Larson continued.
Council Member Jeff Kolb said when he first joined council he heard good arguments for and against changing the mayoral term.
“I think it’s something we need to learn more about and need to let the community know what’s going on,” Kolb said. “As mayor, you’re the captain of the ship and luckily we’ve had some good captains here. But if you get someone in that seat that’s doing some damage, four years is a long time, and you can’t unseat an elected official very easily.”
Council Member Ross Lorinser said he’d like the issue to go before the public.
Isanti Villa Apts.
Bob Brama, with Isanti Villa Apartments, 102 Dahlin Ave., talked about the impact a garage fire has had on his tenants during citizen’s input.
Brama explained his tenants lost the use of their garages due to a fire that happened about a month ago.
Nine units were damaged and every garage door was kicked in to check for fire. None of the 22 garages are usable, and 17 cars are now having to park elsewhere, he added.
Brama said he’s in the process of taking final bids on the project and hopes to start construction the first or second week in November, and finish up the third or fourth week in December.
Parking has become a problem for tenants due to the loss of garage space, and some have been parking on Dahlin Avenue. Tenants have been getting ticketed due to winter parking rules that don’t allow parking on any city streets, he explained.
Larson said the council could possibly relieve some of the parking tickets until the matter is resolved.
Wimmer asked Brama if he’s talked to the adjoining land owner, and offered to go with him for the discussion. Brama said he hadn’t but didn’t know if there would be any room to park except on the grass, which is a violation of city ordinance.
“I understand you’re in a difficult situation and not everyone thinks about winter parking until it’s on top of us,” Wimmer said. “I think there are some solutions here so the city doesn’t have to break its own rules.”
Since the issue was discussed during citizen’s input the council couldn’t take any action.
Update: The council called a special meeting for Monday, Nov. 9 to consider action relating to the parking issue at Isanti Villa Apartments. But a quorum wasn’t present.
The issue has been put on the agenda for the Nov. 17 city council meeting.
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