Council Votes to Fill Crichton's Seat Via Election

The Burnsville City Council voted Tuesday night to fill late council member Charlie Crichton’s seat with a special election this fall.

Council members voted unanimously to ask City Attorney Joel Jamnik to prepare a new city ordinance that would allow Burnsville to hold a primary and a special election to fill Crichton’s unexpired term.

He was the longest-serving member of the council, having just been elected to his sixth term, and was also one of the oldest city council members in the state. His death came just three months into his latest term.

“We’ve heard from many constituents that they’d like a voice in this process, and I agree that this should be an election of the people,” Kautz said at Tuesday’s meeting. “It’s an open seat, and it will have a high turnout of candidates, and that’s what I think we ought to be doing.”

Currently, vacancies on Minnesota city councils are governed by a state law that requires a vacant seat to be filled via council appointment until the next general election. If the council had chosen to go that route, the appointee would serve only until the city’s November 2012 election.

However, as several members pointed out Tuesday, the learning curve for new council members is high, and it would take months for an appointee to get up to speed on city and council matters – a concern raised by the newest member of the council, Mary Sherry, who was elected in 2008. “I’ve struggled with this,” she admitted. “The learning curve is very steep.”

Council member Dan Gustafson also spoke in favor of a special election. “Charlie was less than three months into his term,” he said. “Someone today was trying to persuade me to go in the other direction – appointing someone to fill his seat.

“But I think people are so engaged today (in politics), a lot more than they were a few years ago. In this particular instance, there’s no other election going on so the candidates and voters can focus on issues rather than being sidetracked by elections for Congress or the Legislature. I think Burnsville would be better served with a special election.”

Council member Dan Kealey observed that if someone were appointed to fill the seat, he or she would serve only until November 2012, and voters would be asked to choose four of five council members. “That’s a big concern for me,” he said. “That’s too many seats on the council – and I’d be the only one not up for re-election.

“Charlie’s voice on the council was extremely unique and special. With three and a half years left in his term, there’s really not that much to decide. We have to have a special election to allow democracy to prevail.”

Kautz brought up yet another potential political land mine if someone were appointed rather than elected. “I don’t want to be appointing someone who then also files for the seat and then has the advantage of incumbency,” she said.

Under the proposal adopted Tuesday, the city will schedule a primary election, which will winnow the number of candidates down to two. Those two would advance to the special general election.

Because of state election laws passed by the 2009 Legislature, the city is required to allow a 45-day window for absentee balloting before both the primary and the general special elections. That time frame swells to about five months with the addition of a certain number of days allowed for candidate affidavit filing, campaigning and ballot preparations, Jamnik said, which means that the seat could be filled this fall at the earliest.

The new ordinance to be drafted by Jamnik and city staff will set the framework for the primary and general special elections. The elections will be paid for out of the city’s undesignated reserve fund.

“We have done a good job of making sure we have a reserve fund for an emergency, and this is an emergency,” the mayor said.

The council unanimously agreed to the plan, with one amendment: In Jamnik’s preliminary time frame for a primary and a general election, the primary would be held on July 5 – the day after a federal holiday, when voter turnout would likely be low. “We can’t move [the date] up because of publication requirements, but we could move it back,” Jamnik told the council.

Kealey suggested moving the primary date a week later, to July 12. The council unanimously approved the plan, which will also move all subsequent dates out a week, Jamnik said.

The council is expected to approve the ordinance allowing for the special primary and general elections at an upcoming meeting.