I have also heard that city council members elected this year will serve full four year terms. This is a very unfortunate flaw in our electoral system. There should have to be new elections in 2003 to reflect redistricting.
The Charter Amendments that extended city council terms to four years instead of the traditional two year terms were a huge mistake too. City council members are the closest representatives of the people, like our state and federal House of Representatives. The should have to stand for election every two years. Four year terms are an "incumbent protection act" that makes it all that easier for the big money contributors to help the incumbent build up a huge financial advantage that makes it difficult for challengers to compete. Rest assured, the vested financial interests who benefit from corporate welfare schemes were overjoyed to see two year terms eliminated. I have less of a concern with the mayor having a four year term since we may want to give our chief executive a longer time period to implement proposed policies for the city. However, I wouldn't strongly oppose two year terms for the mayor either. Gene Martinez Minnehaha, Ward 12 -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of David Brauer Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2001 10:35 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [Mpls] City redistricting on 10/23/01 9:21 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Redistricting is not done until the state has redistricted. That has to be > done by 3/15/02 and, if it's not, it then goes to the courts. A redistricting > committee is established by the Council. That will be done in 2002 and the > new lines will be in effect by November 2002 when all County Commissioners > will run. If I'm not mistaken, I believe all Council seats will be up in 2003 > using the new lines. > >Although questioning Karen Collier carries heavy risks, I think she is wrong: the council members elected this year will serve full four-year terms until �05. Terrell Brown is right; this is an unfortunate mathematical confluence (�01 election, �02 redistricting, �05 first post-redistricting >election.) >My question is: after the city redistricts in �02, do council members serve their �01 election districts or the new post-redistricting boundaries. (My guess is they serve the current �01 > districts until �05.)> >n other words, could I be voting for a 10th ward council member this year >but be in the 11th ward next year? David Brauer King Field � Ward 10 _________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
