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HomeMy WebLinkAboutweekly newsletter Date: January 4, 2013 To: Mayor & City Council From: Mark A. Rohloff, City Manager WEEKLY NEWSLETTER Subject: SPRING ELECTION SUMMARY 1.: As was reported in the newspaper earlier this week, there are only two candidates that filed paperwork for three open positions on the Common Council for this spring’s election. This has generated several questions from people wondering about the different scenarios that may develop with respect to write-in candidates. City Clerk Ubrig contacted the Governmental Accountability Board (GAB) to confirm her understanding of how a write-in process may work. According to state law, there is a distinction between registered write- ins versus write-ins that are not registered. According to the GAB, there is no benefit to being a registered write-in candidate other than the actual number of votes received or recorded and are shown on the official ballot tally as having received specific votes. For people who are listed as write-in candidates that are not registered, they are generally not shown on the final, official tally. Individuals that intend to be a registered write-in candidate must file a GAB-1 (Campaign Registration Statement) form with the Clerk’s Office, informing us of their intention. Individuals may file the GAB-1 form up to the day before Election Day. The Clerk’s Office will maintain a listing and provide the list of all registered write-ins to the polling site chairs on Election Day. Should any voter request information about any registered write-in candidates, the list will be presented to the voter. Regardless of whether a person is a registered write-in or a non-registered write-in, the person with the most votes wins the seat. If the winner declines the seat, the seat becomes vacant and the Council would follow the normal process to fill the seat. If you have any questions regarding any other aspects of how this process may work, please contact City Clerk Ubrig. City Clerk Ubrig has also indicated that it appears as though there are no locally contested races for the 2013 spring election. However, it does appear as though there may be a primary election required for the State Supreme Court. If that happens, there will be a primary election on Tuesday, February 19th. Even with no local elections, we are required, by state law, to run a full election at our cost, even though the typical turnout for such a limited number of seats is in the single digits from a percent standpoint. TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION RELEASES RECOMMENDATIONS 2.: At its December 5th meeting, the Wisconsin Transportation Finance & Policy Commission gave preliminary approval to a set of recommendations on how to pay for new transportation investments. The 10-member citizen commission was created in the 2011-13 state biennial budget to advise the Governor and Legislature on how to finance state transportation needs over the next ten years. The details of their preliminary recommendations are enclosed. If you have any questions concerning this information, please contact me. Weekly Newsletter January 4, 2013 Page 2 TRANSIT ACCESSIBILITY REPORT 3.: You may recall that Council Member Hall had requested a report from staff regarding accessibility issues for the GO Transit System. Please find enclosed a report from Transportation Director Chris Strong on this subject. The report addresses the requirements that the city is under according to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), as well as federal transit law. While we meet ADA requirements because of our paratransit system, our goal remains to make the GO Transit System as accessible as possible for all members of our community, including disabled residents who have a choice to use paratransit or GO Transit. The report outlines measures that transit staff have taken to address accessibility issues throughout the city. We take extra measures to identify areas that are in higher general demand by our disabled riders so that we may best meet their needs. Although we do not have the entire GO Transit System completely accessible to disabled riders, the paratransit system remains available for disabled riders who need it. Based upon the Transit Development Plan that was put together in 2011, staff estimates that 68% of all bus stops in the GO Transit network were found to be accessible. We will continue to identify areas that are of particular concern to the disabled community so that we may improve our access to our transit system. If you have any questions regarding this report, or if would like this discussed at an upcoming Council Meeting, please contact me or Transportation Director Strong. ANNUAL ECONOMIC OUTLOOK BREAKFAST 4.: Please find enclosed the invitation to the February 12th Annual Economic Outlook Breakfast, sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce. In recent years, we have received enough interest from Council Members and Department Heads that we have been able to reserve an entire table of eight for this event. If you would like to attend this year’s Economic Outlook Breakfast, and reserve a spot at the table, please contact Jackie so that she can reserve a table for all of us. If we have any number over eight people, we will register you as well and make arrangements for you to be seated at another table. The presenter, Mr. Brian Beaulieu, is the CEO of the Institute for Trend Research, and has provided some insightful comments regarding our local, regional, and nation-wide economy. I think it provides some useful information as we look forward to the future. DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS & UPDATES 5.: Other items I’m enclosing with today’s Newsletter include the latest report on the hotel/motel room tax in the city. Insofar as minutes are concerned, I’m enclosing the following: The minutes of the December 3rd Sustainability Advisory Board meeting; the minutes of the December 12th Board of Appeals meeting; the minutes of the December 12th Landmarks Commission meeting; the minutes of the December 19th Transit Advisory Board meeting; and the meeting notice, agenda and background material for the January 8th Traffic Review Advisory Board meeting. UPCOMING MEETINGS 6.: Meetings I have scheduled for the week of January 7th include the following: On Monday, at 7:30 a.m., I am meeting with Mayor Tower to discuss the upcoming Council Meeting. At 9:30 a.m. on Monday, I am meeting with city staff to produce a “Your City At Work” program regarding the city’s 2012-14 Strategic Plan. At 11:00 a.m., I am having a phone conference with Adam Prager to discuss the upcoming Council Workshop regarding the Economic Development Study. On Tuesday, at 7:30 a.m., I will be attending the Community Sounding Board meeting at UW-Oshkosh. Weekly Newsletter January 4, 2013 Page 3 At 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, I will be attending the Oshkosh for Education kick-off. I assume that several Council Members will be attending this event prior to the Council Meeting, so we are noticing this as a public meeting for that purpose. All Council Members are registered for this event. On Friday, January 11th, I will be attending the DARE graduation ceremony at Webster Stanley Elementary School. If you have any questions regarding my attendance at any of these meetings, please do not hesitate to contact me. MAR/jdc Enclosures