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Jeff Karlson July 16, 2014 Page 2 Subdivision 2. For the purposes of electing City council members, the City shall be divided into four (4) serially numbered contiguous Council election wards. Each member of the Council shall be elected from a separate ward. Voters may only vote for a candidate for the Council ward seat within which the voters reside. Council Members must reside within the ward from which they are elected. If a Council Member moves within the City from such Council Member's elective ward, or if a Council Member is excluded from a ward as a result of districting or redistricting, such Council Member's term of office shall expire on January first, following the next regular City election. Subdivision 3. Council election wards shall be as equal in population as practicable and each ward shall be composed of compact, contiguous territory. Ward boundaries shall fallow visible, clearly_recognizable_ph_ysical features as required by state law. Subdivision 4. Upon enactment of these provisions, and after every Federal decennial census. the Charter Commission. after public hearings. shall determine the council election wards (districting) in this manner described in this section. The public hearings shall be held after published notice of said hearings. and opportunity to speak shall be allowed members of the public upon such reasonable terms as the Commission shall adopt. The Commission shall adopt its districting resolution by a majority vote of its entire membership, and file it in the office of the City Clerk no later than the first Tuesday in June prior to the first City election after the Federal decennial census. The Council shall provide for a sum of money, adequate for this purpose. to be used by the Commission to hire staff to aid it in preparing its districting plan. The City forwarded the proposed amendment to the undersigned for review. ISSUES Are the provisions of the proposed amendment in accordance with state law? DISCUSSION There is no question that the Commission is authorized to propose an amendment on this subject matter. By statute, "[t]he charter commission... may provide that all elective city officers, including mayor and members of the council, shall be elected at large or otherwise." Minn. Stat. § 410.16. The "or otherwise" language allows for the creation of a ward system.