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Home My WebLink About15.F.4. Size of City Council /5, r: L(( CITY OF SHAKOPEE Memorandum TO: Mayor and City Council FROM: Mark McNeill, City Administrator SUBJECT: Size of City Council DATE: August 13,2003 INTRODUCTION: This memo reports on issues relating to the concept of increasing the number of members of the City Council from the current five, to seven members. BACKGROUND: At the August 6th meeting of the City Council, Mayor Mars asked that research be done on what is necessary to increase the size of the Council. In 1989, the Minnesota Legislature added the following language to State Law (MSA 412.02, Subd. 6): "The council may by ordinance adopted at least 60 days before the next regular city election, submit to the voters ofthe city the question of whether the city council should be increased or reduced to seven or five members. The ordinance shall include a schedule of elections in terms to accomplish the change. The proposal shall be voted on at the next city general election and, if approved by a majority ofthose voting on the question, go into effect in accordance with the schedule." Note that this is for statutory cities, of which Shakopee is one. SHAKOPEE HISTORY: According to City Clerk Judy Cox, the City Council has been comprised of six members at least as far back as the 1960's. The membership on the Council was reduced to five beginning in 1992 after approval by the voters. This was to eliminate the potential for tie votes and the election occurred in a year when two incumbents chose not to run for re- election. SIZE OF COUNCILS: We consulted the League of Minnesota Cities to get what information they had on the subject. They said that they were unaware of any statutory city that has increased their council from five to seven members under the 1989 provision. In order to get an understanding of how Shakopee's five-member council compares with others in the metropolitan area, staff reviewed the 2002 Directory of Minnesota City Officials, as published by the League of Minnesota Cities. Ofthe 127 cities in the metropolitan area, the breakdown of size of councils is as follows (note that each ofthe following includes one Mayor, with the balance being Councilmembers.): Size of Council Number of Cities 3 1 4 4 5 105 6 2 7 11 8 2 (South St. Paul, & St. Paul) 13 1 (Minneapolis) The cities that have seven member councils are as follows: Jordan, Northfield, Hastings, West St. Paul, Crystal, St. Louis Park, Blaine, Minnetonka, Coon Rapids, Plymouth, and Bloomington. In other words, six of the eleven are populations of 44,000 or greater. It is possible that those cities listing four and six members may have had a vacancy at the time that the directory was published. PROS AND CONS: Without doing an exhaustive study, the benefits and potential problems resulting from a seven-member council is as follows: PROS: May allow better access to citizenry (more Councilors to contact); Allows more people an opportunity to serve; Provides for more members to divide up liaison activities; Greater ability to form Council study committees. CONS:Increased costs (two additional salaries of $5600 per year more packets to produce and deliver, and conference costs); Increased staffing needs to support added councilors; Increased number of members may create problems in reaching consensus; More phone calls to Councilors needed by those residents who want to reach all members of the Council; More schedules to coordinate for special meetings. Perhaps more inclination to think in terms of localized areas of the City, rather than a City-wide perspective. If a proposal was to be placed on the November 4th ballot, that issue would be separate from the immediate election of Mayor and Councilmembers. If a ballot question is desired, an ordinance would need to be approved by September 4th in order to meet this deadline. If approved by a majority of voters, the schedule alluded to in the MSA 412 language anticipates that a schedule (likely a special election) to fill the two additional seats would need to take place at some future time. ALTERNATIVES: 1. Leave as is (with Mayor and four Councilmembers) 2. Direct staffto prepare for the September 2nd meeting, an ordinance placing the question of increasing to seven members on the November 4th ballot RECOMMENDATION: Unless there are unmet issues of which I am unaware, I recommend leaving the size of the Shakopee Council at five. ACTION REQUIRED: Council should give direction as to whether it wishes to have further discussion on changing the size of the Shakopee City Council. Ut~~ AdJJ Mark McNeill City Administrator MM:th Cities Population Mayor and Councilmembers Minneapolis 382,618 Mayor and thirteen 13 St. Paul 287,151 Mayor and seven 7 Bloomington 85,172 Mayor and six 6 Brooklyn Park 67,388 Mayor and four Plymouth 65,894 Mayor and six 6 Eagan 63,557 Mayor and four Coon Rapids 61,607 Mayor and six 6 Burnsville 60,220 Mayor and four Eden Prairie 54,901 Mayor and four Minnetonka 51,301 Mayor and six 6 Maple Grove 50,365 Mayor and four Edina 47,425 Mayor and four Woodbury 46,463 Mayor and four Apple Valley 45,527 Mayor and four Blaine 44,942 Mayor and six 6 St. Louis Park 44,126 Mayor and six 6 Lakeville 43,128 Mayor and four Maplewood 34,947 Mayor and four Richfield 34,439 Mayor and four Roseville 33,690 Mayor and four Cottage Grove 30,582 Mayor and four Inver Grove Heights 29,751 Mayor and four Brooklyn Center 29,172 Mayor and four Fridley 27,449 Mayor and four Andover 26,588 Mayor and four Shoreview 25,924 Mayor and four White Bear Lake 24,325 Mayor and five 5 Crystal 22,698 Mayor and six 6 New Brighton 22,206 Mayor and four Savage 21,115 Mayor and four New Hope 20,873 Mayor and four Golden Valley 20,281 Mayor and four South St. Paul 20,167 Mayor and seven 7 West St. Paul 19,405 Mayor and six 6 Columbia Heights 18,520 Mayor and four Ramsey 18,510 Mayor and four Hastings 18,204 Mayor and six 6 Anoka 18,076 Mayor and four Chaska 17,449 Mayor and four Northfield 17,147 Mayor and six 6 Hopkins 17,145 Mayor and four Lino Lakes 16,791 Mayor and four Prior Lake 15,917 Mayor and four Stillwater 15,143 Mayor and four Rosemount 14,619 Mayor and four Robbinsdale 14,123 Mayor and four Vadnais Heights 13,069 Mayor and four Mounds View 12,738 Mayor and four Ham Lake 12,710 Mayor and four Farmington 12,365 Mayor and four North St. Paul 11 ,929 Mayor and four Mendota Heights 11 ,434 Mayor and four East Bethel 10,941 Mayor and four Little Canada 9,771 Mayor and four Arden Hills 9,652 Mayor and four Mound 9,435 Mayor and four St. Anthony Village 8,012 Mayor and four Mahtomedi 7,563 Mayor and four Orono 7,538 Mayor and four Shorewood 7,400 Mayor and four Lake Elmo 6,863 Mayor and four Waconia 6,814 Mayor and four Forest Lake 6,798 Mayor and four Spring Lake Park 6,772 Mayor and four Hugo 6,363 Mayor and four Corcoran 5,630 Mayor and four Falcon Heights 5,572 Mayor and four St. Paul Park 5,070 Mayor and four Dayton 4,699 Mayor and four Circle Pines 4,663 Mayor and four New Prague 4,559 Mayor and four Minnetrista 4,358 Mayor and four Wayzata 4,113 Mayor and four Grant 4,026 Mayor and four Victoria 4,025 Mayor and four Medina 4,005 Mayor and four Oak Park Heights 3,957 Mayor and four Deephaven 3,853 Mayor and four Jordan 3,833 Mayor and six 6 Belle Plaine 3,789 Mayor and five 5 Newport 3,715 Mayor and four Rogers 3,588 Mayor and four Rockford 3,484 Mayor and four Independence 3,236 Mayor and four Bayport 3,162 Mayor and four Norwood Young America 3,108 Mayor and four Watertown 3,029 Mayor and four Afton 2,839 Mayor and four Greenfield 2,544 Mayor and four Osseo 2,434 Mayor and four Excelsior 2,393 Mayor and four Lauderdale 2,364 Mayor and four Maple Plain 2,088 Mayor and four St. Bonifacius 1,873 Mayor and four Long Lake 1,842 Mayor and four Spring Park 1,717 Mayor and four Tonka Bay 1,547 Mayor and four Hanover 1,355 Mayor and four Carver 1,266 Mayor and four Lakeland 1,197 Mayor and four Lake Saint Croix Beach 1,140 Mayor and three 3 Dellwood 1,033 Mayor and four Cologne 1,012 Mayor and four Birchwood 986 Mayor and three 3 Greenwood 729 Mayor and four Landfall 700 Mayor and three 3 Minnetonka Beach 614 Mayor and four Loretto 570 Mayor and four Mayer 554 Mayor and four Lilydale 552 Mayor and four Hamburg 538 Mayor and four Sunfish Lake 504 Mayor and four Woodland 480 Mayor and four Elko 472 Mayor and four Vermillion 437 Mayor and four Hampton 434 Mayor and four Pine Springs 421 Mayor and four Medicine Lake 368 Mayor and four Lakeland Shores 355 Mayor and two 2 New Germany 346 Mayor and four New Market 332 Mayor and four Randolph 318 Mayor and three 3 Mendota 197 Mayor and four Coates 163 Mayor and four Miesville 135 Mayor and four New Teier 116 Mayor and four