‘Educated participation’: St. Cloud will ask voters to move city elections to odd years

ST. CLOUD – Voters here will see a question on the ballot this fall asking them to approve moving municipal elections to odd years — similar to how it’s done in Duluth and Minneapolis, and how it used to be done in St. Cloud.

St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis proposed the change earlier this year, and in July, the city’s Charter Commission recommended the question go to the voters. Kleis suggested the change to prevent the mayor and City Council seats from being overshadowed by state and national races.

“The most important election that has the [largest] effect of anybody living in our community on a day-to-day basis is local,” Kleis said at Monday’s St. Cloud City Council meeting. “Your sewer, your water, your public safety is all a local issue.”

Kleis, who announced in May he won’t run for a sixth term as mayor, was first elected in 2005. His first term was three years because the city had just moved from odd-year elections to even-year elections.

“Some of the rationale that was given to change this … was that a lot more people would vote in an even-year election,” he said. “But it really doesn’t make a difference.”

Kleis said more people overall vote in even-year elections but their votes are for the state and federal races, and there is a significant drop-off in votes for the local races.

City Council Member George Hontos asked about the cost of holding a separate city election in odd years. Seth Kauffman, the city clerk, said it’s hard to estimate. The cost for even-year elections has been between $250,000 and $300,000, but there could be cost savings through combining precincts or early voting, Kauffman said.

Council Member Karen Larson said she worried the change could depress voter participation. Council Member Jake Anderson told her he initially had that worry, but now he is confident that the voters who show up at the polls in odd years will probably have done better research on candidates.

“Although participation might go down, I would view it as educated participation,” Anderson said.

“This is democracy,” Kleis added. “It’s fundamental to the representation of the community. I really don’t care what it costs to get the right people because the cost of getting the wrong people is a higher cost to the taxpayer.”

If approved, the municipal elections would switch to odd years in 2029. The terms of the mayor and council members elected in 2026 and 2028 would then be three years.

This spring, Kleis also proposed moving from the current council system — four ward seats with an equal number of residents and three at-large seats that represent the whole city — to seven ward seats. But because that couldn’t happen until after the 2030 census, Kleis didn’t recommend the city make the change now.

St. Cloud voters will also see a November ballot question asking them to approve a tax increase for a new fire station on the city’s south side. The new station would provide service to an area that’s seen recent growth with the new Tech High School, charter schools and growing residential neighborhoods, and improve response times across the entire city.