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Isanti committee debates waiving primaries for special elections to cut cost and speed appointments
Summary
The Isanti City committee discussed amending city code to allow waiving a primary in special elections to reduce cost and shorten the time to fill vacancies; staff estimated about $12,500 per election and warned statutory filing deadlines limit how soon an election can be held.
Isanti City Committee of the Whole members debated whether to amend city code so the city could waive the primary requirement for special elections, a change staff said could cut the city's direct election costs and allow a winner to take office months earlier.
City staff (Speaker 3) told the committee that City Code (Chapter 8) currently requires a primary when a vacancy has two or more years remaining in the term, and that the county's role and associated costs make a special election expensive. "Our estimates are approximately $12,500 per election," Speaker 3 said, adding that a primary would make the process effectively twice as expensive because it requires running two elections and staffing both precincts.
Supporters of changing the code said waiving the primary would let the city hold a single special election sooner (Speaker 1 noted a date in February as an example), reducing the length of time a seat remains unfilled. Opponents cautioned about optics of changing rules for a single election, and about voter choice if many candidates file. Council discussion included alternatives such as appointing a replacement when less than two years remain, and setting numerical thresholds for when a primary would be required.
Staff warned statutory timelines constrain how quickly any election can be held: applications and interview schedules are tied to 21'/25/28-day posting windows from the declared vacancy, which likely pushes some special elections into January or later and limits the city's flexibility. Speaker 3 said staff would need to draft ordinance language if the council wanted the option to waive the primary and that the city attorney should review any proposed change.
No formal ordinance amendment or vote was taken. The committee agreed to pause the decision until all council members, including an arriving member, could weigh in and to have staff draft possible language for future consideration.
