Star Tribune
Minneapolis ballot initiative/referendum idea floated for 2024 election
Should Minneapolis voters be allowed to simply vote to change the city’s laws?
Council Member Robin Wonsley thinks so, and there appears to be enough support on the City Council to move the idea toward a public hearing in mid-March — and a potential ballot question for voters in November.
Here’s a primer.
What’s the idea?
Wonsley wants voters to amend the city charter to allow residents to vote directly to enact new city ordinances and repeal existing ones. Such a process is often called citizen initiative, ballot initiatives or popular referendum.
Currently, voters can force the council to consider an issue via a ballot question, but only the council can actually make law. This is what happened with Minneapolis’ rent control question in 2021. Voters approved a question saying the council should take the idea on, but the council has yet to pass anything — to the frustration of supporters like Wonsley.
Why?
It’s a “power to the people” argument, a form of direct democracy currently favored by many on the left end of the political spectrum in major American cities.
“Ballot initiatives give residents another option when they are faced with bureaucratic stalling tactics, vetoes, and other barriers,” Wonsley wrote in a newsletter to constituents, describing the process as “a check and balance on City Hall.”
Who else does this?
Remember rent control? While Minneapolis voters told the council to deliberate on the issue, St. Paul voters simply made it happen. That same night, St. Paul voters enacted a rent control policy by approving a more specific — and powerful — question on their ballots.
That’s because St. Paul’s charter allows for ballot initiatives and referendums. In fact, so do a number of other Minnesota cities, including Duluth, Bloomington and Brooklyn Park, according to a City Council staff analysis. Other cities, including Rochester, for example, operate like Minneapolis.
How would it work?
Wonsley hasn’t produced specifics yet. In most referendum communities, a threshold of voter signatures is needed to get a question on the ballot. Sometimes, the City Council or mayor need to sign off.
Is there opposition?
There has yet to be a full-fledged discussion on the idea, but Council Member Linea Palmisano recently expressed initial reservations, arguing that citizen initiatives actually weaken the council by bypassing it, and that, she said, actually weakens the council’s ability to check the power of the mayor.
What’s next?
Specific wording for Wonsley’s proposal will be completed in a few weeks, and the City Council is eyeing a mid-March public hearing. (The council recently voted to hold a March 4 hearing, but that date appeared likely to be postponed for procedural reasons.)
If the council approves the idea, it could be subject to a veto by Mayor Jacob Frey, who hasn’t publicly weighed in. The council could override his veto.
If it survives, it would go to the Charter Commission, whose support is needed to place the question to voters in this fall’s general election.
Star Tribune
Charges possible today against Twin Cities man accused of fleeing police, killing driver in crash
Charges could come as soon as Monday against a man accused of fleeing law enforcement in the east metro until he crashed his vehicle and killed another driver.
Nicholas John Price, 37, of Roseville, remains jailed on suspicion of criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the collision late Friday near the corner of Edgerton Street and Bellwood Avenue in Maplewood.
The other driver, whose identity has yet to be released, died after suffering cardiac arrest, the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office said.
According to the sheriff’s office:
Police in Roseville tried to pull over Price near Rice Street and E. County Rd. as a suspect in a domestic assault involving his former girlfriend.
Price sped into Maplewood, where a sheriff’s deputy spotted him racing south on Edgerton and gave chase. The suspect was far ahead of the deputy when he crashed into the other vehicle about 10:30 p.m.
Court records in Minnesota show that Price’s criminal history includes four convictions for driving either after his license was revoked or suspended, and once each for drunken driving and driving without insurance.
He’s also been convicted four times for receiving stolen property, three times for theft and once each for illegal weapons possession, burglary, check forgery, disorderly conduct and obstructing police.
But questions about 21 missing absentee ballots swirled during the certification. Scott County officials became aware Nov. 7 of a discrepancy between the number of absentee ballots recorded and the number tabulated in two Shakopee-area precincts.
That prompted the county to investigate the whereabouts of 20 missing ballots cast in the 10th Precinct, which Tabke won by almost 200 votes, results posted to the Secretary of State’s website show. Officials opted not to look into a missing ballot cast in another precinct after noting it’s not uncommon for one voter to check in and not vote, according to a preliminary investigation.
That initial audit found the 20 missing absentee ballots were likely thrown away inside their inner envelopes before being tabulated. Scott County Attorney Ron Hocevar blamed the episode on “human error.”
Zoll, Tabke’s attorney, said in court filings that it’s “extraordinarily unlikely” the inclusion of 20 missing ballots from a precinct Tabke won would change the final result.
Paul’s attorney, Reid LeBeau, is asking the court to prohibit the Scott County Auditor and Secretary of State from certifying Tabke’s victory, declare the 54A race invalid and determine a vacancy exists, and recommend the House refuse to seat Tabke.
If Tabke appeals Perzel’s decision, the matter would go directly to the Minnesota Supreme Court. Court decisions would then be forwarded to the Minnesota House for a legislative hearing, according to state statute.
Of course, other factors beyond beats per minute can lead to distracted or erratic driving. Researchers pointed out that volume, genre, driver temperament, road environment and traffic conditions need to be accounted for to determine the true effect, they said.
“The published research article seems interesting and may have some merit,” said Curtis Craig, a researcher at the University of Minnesota’s Department of Mechanical Engineering. “But Insuranceopedia is overselling the conclusions.”
So go ahead and listen to your holiday favorites, as the season is short this year, because there are even faster songs that may induce reckless driving. That includes Moby’s 1993 dance single “Thousand,” which once was listed by Guinness World Records as having the fastest beats per minute, peaking at 1,015.
Charges possible today against Twin Cities man accused of fleeing police, killing driver in crash
Homicide investigation underway after Illinois man missing for 5 years found dead in pickup buried in Mississippi River
More Israeli airstrikes reportedly launched against Syria
Charges possible today against Twin Cities man accused of fleeing police, killing driver in crash
Homicide investigation underway after Illinois man missing for 5 years found dead in pickup buried in Mississippi River