Charter Commission discusses options
How many cooks should be in the city council kitchen? That was the headliner during a discussion at last week’s Tracy Charter Commission meeting, which was held after a special budget meeting. And what better time to broach the subject than during an election year?
“The public in the last 20 years has voted twice on it, and they came up with dierent decisions each time, so I can only conclude that there are probably really strong views in town on whether we should have seven or five members," said council member Seth Schmidt.
The number of council members in Tracy has fluctuated throughout recent years.
The 2010 charter commission approved a new ordinance that reduced the composition of the city’s governing body from six council members and a mayor, to four council members and a mayor. Then in 2018, voters OK’d the council going back up to seven members (including the mayor) for the following year.
Deputy Clerk Diane Campbell said the main reason council size was put up for a vote in 2019 was residents’ trepidation over the ease of swinging votes with a smaller-size council.
“That was the issue at that time,” said Campbell. “That’s why they voted to change it to seven.” Council member Jan Arvizu said personalities can play a significant role in how councils vote. A number of current council members, Arvizu included, have seen both sides of the coin, having served on five- and seven-member councils.
“I’ve served with some very strong-willed people, and sometimes it’s very difficult for people … not everybody can necessarily stand their ground against a very strong-willed person,” Arvizu said.
“Do we feel that the seven-member body is working well?” Schmidt asked. “Would there be advantages to a five-member council?”
Schmidt said the City would see modest financial savings by having a five-member council, then asked his fellow council members for their thoughts.
“Either five (members) or seven, I feel there has been the same level of discussions and conversations — I don’t think five is too small of a council,” said council member Jeri Schons.
Schons said she likes the idea of going back down to five, given Tracy’s population compared to what it was decades ago.
“To get candidates to apply to be on the council is getting harder and harder,” she said. “I hate to sit here and always have just one or two extra people that are running just because we have to get that number up to seven.”
Council sizes around the state vary widely. The City of Minneapolis, with a population of more than 425,000, employs 13 members, while across the river, St. Paul (population 303,000) has just seven members. And the City of Woodbury, with a population of over 78,000, has only five members.
“I think five can represent a community of 2,000 people very fairly,” said Schons.
Locally, Balaton, Walnut Grove, Milroy and Garvin each have five council members (that includes the mayor); only Marshall (population 14,000-plus) has more, with seven.
Term limits was also part of last week’s discussion. Like council size, that is decided on by the voters of Tracy. The quickest either item could be put on the ballot is 2028, unless a special election is called for.
“I kind of like the idea of term limits,” council member George Landuyt said. “It forces turnover, gets some new blood in — sometimes it doesn’t work right, but if it’s the same old, same old, you don’t get anywhere.”
According to the current charter, a council member can serve for no more than 14 consecutive years before having to take at least a one-year hiatus.
Arvizu said she would favor term limits because fresh faces and ideas should be implemented more often.
“I would always welcome a wide variety of backgrounds — I like to have men and women, I like to have different ages, and sometimes different perspectives,” she said. “If we all thought the same … a group-think is always dangerous.”
The next charter meeting was set for 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 9.
