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City, town asked to alter election plan
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Wednesday, 13 February 2008
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Cliff Buchan
News Editor
Is now a good time to start tinkering with an agreement between the city of Wyoming and Wyoming Township for a merged council once the communities come together?
Ask a group of 17 former officials in the city and the township and the answer is yes.
But the answer is no when the two leaders of the Wyoming City Council and Wyoming Town Board are asked.
At issue is a clause in the resolution of orderly annexation between the city and township that spells out how a merged council will be formed. It’s a plan that has been in place the past two years as legal battles have been waged by the city and township over hostile annexation bids from Chisago City and Stacy.
The group of 17, led by Russell Goudge, a former city councilman in Wyoming and a former county commissioner, and David Boniface, a former city EDA member, will ask the Wyoming City Council to consider an amendment to the agreement on Tuesday, Feb. 19.
The agreement was presented to the town board on Tuesday of this week.
At stake, Goudge said in an interview, is fair representation for township residents.
The group is asking the council and town board to amend the agreement to call for a full election of the five-member city council this Nov. 4th with the mayor and two council seats elected for two years and two council seats determined for four years.
Under the agreement now in place, the city and town have approved a plan that calls for two members of the city council to resign and be replaced by two members of the current town board. The switch would take place at the first city council meeting following the effective date of the annexation of the township to the city.
The appeal
The call for the amended agreement is presented as a vehicle to bring total unity to the city and township, Goudge said. “This is not a typical annexation,” Goudge said.
By calling for a full election this fall, Goudge said current officials could “consummate” the union in an orderly fashion. The model, he said, would be similar to Columbus City’s process that included an interim council and a full council election within the same year. The former township went through the process of incorporating as a city.
Goudge said he believes the process will move forward on a more positive note if the full council is elected in the fall and the township gets a crack at full representation. “We see this as a weakness and would like it improved,” Goudge said.
Boniface said time was a factor, too. “This agreement was written approximately two years ago,” Boniface said.
The group of 17 former officials includes three mayors, seven city council members, four town board members, 13 city or township planning commission members and three EDA members.
The signers include Goudge, Boniface, Buck Schott, Rodney Hestekin, Norm Tolzmann, Ken Banta, Jerrell Larson, Neil Gatzow, Greg Kaslow, Bob Hittner, Tom Terry, Cheryl Bengston, Ted Phillips, Jackie Anderson, Joyce Winnick, Vern Haag and Paul Raduenz.
Goudge and Boniface said they were not faulting the current leaders. “No part of this request should be seen as a lack of confidence or support in the present town board or the city council, or the actions they have taken on behalf of the residents of Wyoming,” they say in the proposed amendment.
The amendment is an attempt, they said, to improve and strengthen the community and to “clearly establish and reinforce our belief in our citizens right to self determination.”
Leaders speak
Town Board Chair Roger Elmore and Mayor Sheldon Anderson do not believe a change in the agreement now is in the best interest of the process.
“I’m not sure why he is doing it,” Elmore said of Goudge. “We thought it was fair representation for the township.”
Elmore said he would not support the amendment. “I hope the town board agrees with me,” he said, calling the move “foolish.”
The town board chair said the agreement was made with the full knowledge and support of citizens of both communities at joint hearings. To get the city to agree to have two council members resign is “pretty outstanding,” he said.
With an interim council needed in any event, Elmore said the thinking was to use the blended council at the first election as part of a trade off with the city. Under the agreement, the new tax structure will be phased in over time, meaning township residents won’t assume rates paid by city residents.
Elmore and Supervisor Ron Swenson has been tabbed as the town board members who would assume city council seats. On the city council side, Mayor Anderson and Councilmen Tom LaBare and Blake Tiedeman could step aside as the new council is formed.
Anderson said the original agreement calls for two council members to resign but he would leave if necessary to get the process done.
“If need be, I will,” he said of resigning. “I don’t want this (agreement) to unravel. We want to be unified.”
Anderson said the agreement will allow both communities to elect three officials in November. He said the trade-off of a lower tax rate for town residents was a plus built into the agreement. “We all had to give and take in this thing,” he said.
Regarding the proposed amendment, Anderson said “it’s not a good idea.” He said he feared that changing part of the agreement might undo or nullify other parts of the agreement.
He said he also fears that monkeying with the agreement could tear apart the unity that has been created much in the same fashion as 1996 when plans for a merger of the city and township came together only to shatter at the last minute.
Distractions are not wise, he said. “We are going to trial,” he said. “Now is not the time.”
What comes next
Under the plan now in place, a state administrative law judge is slated to open the hearing on several issues on March 24 with a public hearing scheduled March 26.
The judge will collect testimony on annexation petitions filed by the cities of Stacy and Chisago City who want additional land from Wyoming Township. The judge will also hear testimony on the orderly annexation agreement between the two Wyomings and why losing land to Chisago City and Stacy would be harmful.
The matter has been winding its way through the courts for nearly two years. Wyoming officials were unsuccessful in seeking a court ruling to order the state to act on its annexation plan and must now rest its case on the wisdom of an administrative law judge.
If the annexation petitions are approved, some 3300 acres of Wyoming Township land would be annexed to Chisago City and 780 acres would go to Stacy. The loss is in addition to the 5000 township acres Chisago City picked off in 2005.
Goudge says he shares the frustration of Anderson and Elmore over the fact that one-time ally Don Taylor, the mayor of Chisago City, reneged on a verbal commitment to help end the border battle. Taylor was a township resident who was annexed to Chisago City. He has since earned a seat on the council there, but is now supporting the new annexation bids.
“I’m very disappointed about that,” Goudge said of Taylor’s change of heart. “He went over to the dark side. Something drastically changed his mind.”
Once the trial has been completed, the judge has until late in June to render a decision on the annexation moves and the orderly plans in place for the two Wyomings. “It could move that fast,” Elmore said.
If the Chisago City and Stacy annexations are approved, Supervisor Swenson would live in Chisago City and Supervisor Mark Utecht would be in Stacy. That would leave only Elmore and Supervisors Pat Fandel and Jerry Owens to carry on.
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