City Council Minutes 1994 08 02 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Tanoue read by title only Ordinance No. 1159, Series 1994, "An ordinance making the position of City Clerk appointive rather than elective if approved by the voters of the City of Louisville, and calling a special election thereon." Davidson opened the public hearing calling for anyone wishing to speak on Ordinance No. 1159. Maj-Lis Kemper, City Clerk, 539 West Laurel Court, Louisville, Colorado, stated that the statutes are very specific that the City Clerk runs the elections and keeps the records. It is implicit in the statutes that the City Clerk is to serve at the will of the people and to do the best job representing the City of Louisville possible. She stated that she believes that representative government means that the public elects people to vote for them on specific occasions, as Council does in making the day to day decisions. She stated that the citizens have not complained about the City Clerk's job or asked for reference to a vote to change this position. She felt the citizens wanted the privilege of electing a City Clerk, who serves as a liaison between the citizens, the Council, and others. She did not want to diminish the ability of the City Clerk to work alone at the behest of the citizens always. She asked Council to think deeply, as a representative voter in this Council question. She felt the citizens should have come to Council asking for this. She stated that the citizens had voted this down twice before. She asked that Council choose to say that this is not something that needs to be put to the ballot. Davidson called for anyone else wishing to speak on Ordinance No. 1159. NONE Davidson closed the public hearing and called for Council comments. Mayer stated that the histo~ of this position shows that there have been very few competitive elections for the position of City Clerk, as in the 1991 election. He stated that this Ordinance in no way reflects on the work of the current City Clerk. He felt it should be put to the voters one more time. Lathrop agreed with Mayer. Howard did not feel the level of risk concerning the City Clerk's position warranted changing this into an appointed position. Sisk felt the voters should decide, but not with any dissatisfaction with the present City Clerk. Keany stated that with consultation and citizen comments, he felt it was important to maintain representative government in both the Treasurer and City Clerk's position. DavidsOn disclosed that he and then Councilwoman Margaret Hornbostel were two of the people to go to Maj-Lis Kemper's house to convince her to run as a write-in candidate. 8