MONROE - Members of the Monroe Common Council voted Tuesday to keep the city on a ward election system for nine alderpersons, but voted down attempts to put an advisory referendum for at-large elections on the April ballot.
Council members voted 8 -1 for aldermanic elections by wards, with Chris Beer voting against. Beer said people in Ward 9, which she represents, indicated by a 3 to 1 margin that they favored at-large elections.
The new nine ward boundaries conform to the county's redistricting plan, which reduced the city from its previous 10 wards. The council had tried to pass at-large elections in July, but the motion failed to pass.
Charles Koch, council president, had favored at-large elections in July.
"But either way is going to work," he said Tuesday.
Reid Stangel said the reduction of aldermen could be seen as a reduction of city government and "an effort to save some money without wrecking representation."
Five members of the public spoke at the public hearing, prior to Tuesday's vote. They favored ward elections by 4 to 1.
Attempts to place an advisory referendum for at-large elections on the spring ballot failed.
Alderman Michael Boyce motioned for the referendum immediately after the passing of the so-called "nine-and-nine" ordinance. Tyler Schultz seconded the motion but it failed, 4 to 5.
Aldermen Jan Lefevre, Charles Koch, Sara Conway, Neal Hunter, and Brooke Bauman voted against.
Boyce said he was seeking the referendum as a way to enable citizens to participate in the democratic process.
"The ward system has a poor track record to do that," he said.
Boyce noted that only 12 of the past 50 aldermanic seats up for election have been contested. Wards 1 and 8 have not been contested, and no seats were contested in 2004, 2007 and 2008 elections, he added.
Alderman Jan Lefevre said she never wants the city to go through non-binding referendums, because the last non-binding city referendum she remembers, in 2005, "had overwhelming results, but the council went and did what they wanted anyway."
Stangel's motion to place on the spring ballot a non-binding referendum for nine at-large aldermen also failed, 7 to 2, with only Stangel and Schultz in favor.
"We just passed the nine and nine; the rest of this is just window dressing," Koch said. "Any of them (election structures) is going to work. Let's just settle on it and go on from here."
Alderman Thurston Hanson was absent.
Council members voted 8 -1 for aldermanic elections by wards, with Chris Beer voting against. Beer said people in Ward 9, which she represents, indicated by a 3 to 1 margin that they favored at-large elections.
The new nine ward boundaries conform to the county's redistricting plan, which reduced the city from its previous 10 wards. The council had tried to pass at-large elections in July, but the motion failed to pass.
Charles Koch, council president, had favored at-large elections in July.
"But either way is going to work," he said Tuesday.
Reid Stangel said the reduction of aldermen could be seen as a reduction of city government and "an effort to save some money without wrecking representation."
Five members of the public spoke at the public hearing, prior to Tuesday's vote. They favored ward elections by 4 to 1.
Attempts to place an advisory referendum for at-large elections on the spring ballot failed.
Alderman Michael Boyce motioned for the referendum immediately after the passing of the so-called "nine-and-nine" ordinance. Tyler Schultz seconded the motion but it failed, 4 to 5.
Aldermen Jan Lefevre, Charles Koch, Sara Conway, Neal Hunter, and Brooke Bauman voted against.
Boyce said he was seeking the referendum as a way to enable citizens to participate in the democratic process.
"The ward system has a poor track record to do that," he said.
Boyce noted that only 12 of the past 50 aldermanic seats up for election have been contested. Wards 1 and 8 have not been contested, and no seats were contested in 2004, 2007 and 2008 elections, he added.
Alderman Jan Lefevre said she never wants the city to go through non-binding referendums, because the last non-binding city referendum she remembers, in 2005, "had overwhelming results, but the council went and did what they wanted anyway."
Stangel's motion to place on the spring ballot a non-binding referendum for nine at-large aldermen also failed, 7 to 2, with only Stangel and Schultz in favor.
"We just passed the nine and nine; the rest of this is just window dressing," Koch said. "Any of them (election structures) is going to work. Let's just settle on it and go on from here."
Alderman Thurston Hanson was absent.