The Duluth Charter Commission will meet Wednesday to mull over a proposal that could change local politics for decades to come. A study group has been exploring whether the city should break with its long-established tradition of electing municipal and school board officials on odd-numbered years, instead of having them run in conjunction with federal, state and county candidates on even-numbered years
Jeff Anderson, a member of the study group, said they will meet once more next week and then share their recommendations with the charter commission on Wednesday. He anticipates the report will inspire a robust discussion on the merits and drawbacks of moving the election cycle.
“We really want to recommend that the charter commission take between now and May as a time to debate and discuss and invite stakeholders in to meet with us about this prospective change,” Anderson said.
If the charter commission sees fit to advance the idea, it could recommend the Duluth City Council approve the change by a 9-0 vote. Alternatively, the commission could move to put a binding referendum question directly to voters on the next general election ballot in November.
“There are a lot of pros and cons to this, and I don’t know that I’ve made up my mind on it yet,” Anderson said.
Financial savings
Doing away with odd-year elections certainly would save money. City Clerk Chelsea Helmer said Duluth and the school district share the expense of holding off-year local elections typically at an annual cost of between $120,000 and $165,000. Of that sum, she said the city picks up about 60 percent of the tab, and the school district pays for the remainder.
While both the school district and the city would still bear some of the cost of being included on even-year election ballots, Helmer predicted it would be a fraction of what they pay now.
“It’s a financial no-brainer. Any time you can save a few hundred thousand dollars for taxpayers, that’s a good thing,” Anderson said.
He noted that Rochester, Minn., already holds its city elections on an even-year cycle.
In 2015, the Duluth School Board sought to switch its elections to even years, but it was unable to do so because of a state statute that required its ballot to coincide with the city’s. Any future change would need to be led by municipal authorities.
Duluth City Council President Noah Hobbs called the election cycle change “an interesting proposal that certainly merits a conversation.”
But former Duluth mayor Don Ness remains skeptical of moving away…
