4 Year Term Follow-up

I want to touch on the November 17th Council meeting. We had a vigorous Public input from both sides of the Mayor Term change. There were a couple anti-change statements that I think need to be answered.

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• A 4 year term will make it less likely to get good candidates to run:

Disagree completely the facts and experts back me up on this one. Our local council races with 4 year terms have become so competitive we had to create a primary to reduce the numbers from 8 to 9 candidates to 4 per two open seats for the general election. The vast majority of Mayors responding to a question on the Mayor’s Association email list agreed 4 years is much better and draws in better candidates. In Austin, MN, their Charter Commission is recommending the Mayor term be changed to 4 years.

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• Neighboring Cities do not have 4 year terms:

That is a mixed bag. Ham Lake to our south and Cambridge to our north each have 4 year terms. Depending on the city it can have a 4 or 2 year term.

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• It is undemocratic to have a 4 year Mayoral term:

Frankly I was floored by this statement when offered by a Council Member. Somehow a Council seat is fine to be 4 years but a Mayor’s term going to 4 years would shake the foundations of our democracy.

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• A 4 year Mayor’s term would take away the voters ability to bring in a new majority:

Going through the history of Isanti elections and my own experience the past 6 years there has never been a complete change over. In a number of cases no one even challenged the sitting Mayor after 2 years. The change over in new direction has taken several elections over time or the direct appointment of new Council Members or Mayors as incumbents resigned early.

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• This change would extend my current 2 year term:

FALSE – my term ends December 31st 2010

Another issue I want to quickly raise is the role of the Council. Our form of City Council plays all three traditional government roles:

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Legislative – The Council creates all City legislation (ordinances)

Executive – The Mayor has no executive or veto power. Only the Council has the power to enforce its ordinances and direct City staff.

Judicial – The Council sits in judgment of disputes covered by its own City Ordinances.

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I have included my prior post as to the benefit of a 4 year term below:

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I was very disappointed in a few comments that a 4 year term would allow a Mayor to coast through their term - Council Members have a 4 year term - I am wondering if the person thought Council members coast through their term. The only negative comments I received in the last two weeks were what if someone bad gets in there. Well the Mayor has no Veto power and has only one vote on the Council just like each of the 4 year Council Members. The way terms of office are currently setup, Council Members have more power than the Mayor. Council members can even strip the Mayor's duty of running meetings.

I also find it a bit condescending to voters that Council Members can decide if the person they elect is a "BAD" Mayor. If the person is elected they are who the Citizens want. The idea of short terms also throws more power to City staff. If they have a new Mayor every couple years they have a greater influence on City business. As you will read later in this posting it can take 6 months to a year for a new member of a council or Mayor to get up to speed on all the City Issues then the Mayor is running for office again.

One more reason a longer term is important has to do with budgets and levies. An example of this is when I was elected and started my first term as Mayor in 2007 - I had to work through a budget that had massive spending increases in it. That budget was passed by a 3-2 vote of the former Council and Mayor. So my first year was awash in things I did not want or believe in.... then we pass a good budget and tax cut for 2008 and I am having to run for reelection before the budget and tax cut are fully felt by the Citizens and Taxpayers of Isanti. Two years simply put is not enough - please read the next part of this post as it details out the other significant reason for a term change.

I know my opponents will be reading this post and carefully craft arguments against me at the next council meeting. I still believe it is paramount to place my reasons for this change in the public forum and take my chances that the Council will make the right decision. If it does not work the Council can always vote to change it back to a 2 year term.

***October 21st original post***

I told the Council tonight that I will be asking them to vote for a resolution to change the term of office for Mayor from a 2 to a 4 year term. I have listed out my initial 5 points on this topic. I wanted to give the Council the courtesy of a heads up before I bring the item to them for a vote.


Point 1

The change in term of office would not take affect until after the next election and the winner of that election would serve the first 4 year term. My current term ends December 31st, 2010.

Point 2

2 year term breaks out roughly into the following monthly segments:

· First 3months are a getting acquainted to the position and training for a first time Mayor and the new Council members for a re-elected Mayor. * overwhelming input from Mayor's Association members that it is really takes a year to get in full stride in office *
· Next 14 months are focused on governing
· Next 5 months and sometimes more you are running for re-election again
· Last 2 months if you are defeated in the election you are in a Lame Duck position

4 year term would look like this:

· First 3months are a getting acquainted to the position and training for a first time Mayor and the new Council members for a re-elected Mayor.
· Next 38 months are focused on governing
· Next 5 months and sometimes more you are running for re-election again
· Last 2 months if you are defeated in the election you are in a Lame Duck position


The past history of numerous uncontested elections where a number of 2 year terms were strung together with no challengers is a thing of the past. There are competitive elections for nearly all local elections now and this reality must be recognized. A 4 year term may also attract more good candidates if they knew they would not have to run ever two years.

There will be a vigorous election every 4 years in which the totality of the position can be judged and the Voters can then decide if they want to go in a new direction.

All 5 County Commissioners, Sheriff, County Attorney, County Auditor, County Treasurer, County Recorder, all 12 Council members for the 3 cities, all 7 School Board Members and the Mayor of Cambridge are all 4 year terms. The Mayor of Braham and the Mayor of Isanti are the only two local elected positions that are 2 years.

Point 3

Most major city projects are 3 or more years to complete. Recent examples are our completed Water Treatment Plant and Ever Cat Fuels project. Both projects had a lot of the work and pain in the front end. The Water Treatment Plant had to be funded out of water usage fees because the City did not charge residential developers enough to pay for proper infrastructure. This could have easily turned into a campaign issue and turned the tide back on a vital City project before we are completed – wasting money, time and the health of future generations. The Ever Cat Fuels project was also a long project to a great finish but there was serious apprehension to this project and it was the number 1 question I received on the campaign trail in 2008. The fear of the unknown in this situation again could have been used as an election issue against me. This would have had a negative impact on this project and on others looking to make a significant investment in Isanti.

In both situations I had no problem sticking to my position and educating the voters as to the needs of both projects but this situation may have a chilling affect on future Mayors serving a 2 year term. We will be shortly embarking on other major multi-year economic development projects that will have great pay offs but will take a lot of work, education and possible controversy. Reasonable time needs to be given to a Mayor’s term as it is with the other 30 locally elected officials in our County.

Point 4

2 of the 4 Council members each cycle and the Mayor are up for election every 2 years. This leads to the Majority of the Council changing over and a possible zig zag of City direction leading to stunted growth. When in discussions on bringing in new commercial growth, especially major projects, there needs to be an understanding that there will be some consistency in leadership and support from the City. This is also important in recruiting critical talent to the City. High profile positions like Administrator or Economic Development Director needs to know that they have support to move the City forward. If the majority of the Council changes over every two years then key personnel could be facing radically different expectations.

Point 5

A 4 year term also takes the “politics” out of the position for the vast majority of the term. With 50% of the current 2 year term in an election year - the perception is all those votes and decisions are politically motivated. We need to make the position as effective as possible for the long term. This will benefit all Mayors and the City long into the future.