Discussion about this post

User's avatar
renewable only girl's avatar

Great article but I’m left with some questions. So what might those staggered terms look like? Do we elect 2 or more council members every year? Every two years? How often do we elect the mayor? How do we decide who is the vice mayor? Does that change after every election?

Expand full comment
Mason Butler's avatar

Our city is faced with a couple of generational cost issues that could be mitigated if our city had ANY desire to sponsor diversity of thought at a local or regional level.

You make some foundational points about this election, but to focus on local, we need money and the 2025-26 forecast will continue to increase taxes to pay for services and functions that are poorly managed or reported.

Staggered terms would suggest a few things:

1. The mayoral term needs to be longer

2. Keep 3 for six and run the other 3. This is the real conundrum. My 2¢, think outside the box. 32 precincts. If you assign each councilor 4 precincts, then you have 8 councilors. Wards can be staggered every 4 years. I would also advocate that these major elections should be on the “off” years of a Presidential election.

I’m happy to provide more ideas that help our community. I tried to discuss these and the significance of economic development in a Presidential election but my efforts were in vain.

Expand full comment
2 more comments...

No posts