At the November 10 meeting, the Rushford City Council received Fillmore County Administrator Bobby Hillary and Heather Broadwater, representing the Fillmore County Auditor/Treasurer’s office. The discussion related to the possible moving of Rushford’s off-year elections to the regular election cycle held by every other municipality and township in the county.
“Fillmore County is always looking for efficiencies,” began Hillary. “Rushford is the only municipality that has elections on the off-year.”
While the pair had high praise for Rushford’s city staff and elections team, they presented the disadvantages to continuing with off-year elections. They include difficulty with “revolving door” of state changes and extra costs to the city. Election costs are normally paid for by the county, but in the instance of special elections and off-year elections, the entity holding the election pays the cost. Another disadvantage is lower voter turnout. Broadwater noted that the number of registered voters in Rushford in 2023 was 1,100, however only 84 turned out that year for the city-only election.
“When more people are coming in and voting, they have more of a voice in who they want. People aren’t coming in as much on those odd years,” added Hillary.
Noted advantages of switching, in addition to cost savings, included efficiencies utilizing technology in place. Hillary noted using the omni-ballot, poll pad, and tabulator during the regular election cycle is much simpler and a smooth, quick process. Another benefit is the increasing number of absentee balloting and processing of mail-in balloting, in addition to having a larger support staff working elections in the regular cycle.
Two concerns held by the council and city staff were how it might affect the city charter and the timing of changing over with the new council coming on in 2026. Hillary noted the city still has the right to switch, regardless of the charter, and it would only require an amendment to the charter. The process of how to do this is laid out by the League of Minnesota Cities. As for the timing, the city would need to notify the county 180 days prior to the next election if it wishes to change to the regular cycle. Councilors would serve either one year less or one year more on either side of their term.
“We’re not expecting anything tonight,” added Hillary. “We just wanted to get the information in front of you.”
The council also discussed the next steps in the search for the new city administrator. The council is moving ahead, at this time, with going through the hiring process in-house, rather than hiring a service to help locate the candidates. Mayor Terri Benson reviewed the notably clear and comprehensive job description, which was updated in 2012 and again following former administrator Tony Chladek’s past evaluations. From there, Benson drafted a detailed job posting to be used as the basis for abbreviated job postings in certain locations. The posting will be shared on the city website and social media, in print locally in the Fillmore County Journal, and through the League of Minnesota Cities where anyone looking for a job in municipal government typically looks.
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