Elected vs. appointed debate

A proposal to make certain Kittson County offices appointed briefly resurrected a longstanding debate on the House floor April 4.

Sponsored by Rep. Dan Fabian (R-Roseau), HF954 would give the Kittson County Board of Commissioners authority to make two offices appointed rather than elected: auditor-treasurer and recorder.

Under current law, these offices can be made appointive only if voters approve the change in a referendum. The bill would give the county board the authority to make that decision; however, voters could petition for a reverse referendum to keep the offices elective.

The House passed the bill 68-64. It now goes to the Senate, where Sen. LeRoy Stumpf (DFL-Plummer) is the sponsor.

According to Fabian, more than two dozen counties have been given similar authority in statute. He said the county board has requested the change to help facilitate a streamlining of county services.

“This is a bill that has been very carefully thought about within their community. They have a lot of support, according to their commissioners,” Fabian said.

The bill would require that county officials go through a process that would involve posting public notice in the local newspapers, offering opportunity for public comment and giving residents the chance to oppose the change by offering a petition signed by at least 10 percent of voters in the county.

As with previous bills to make county offices appointive, some House members argued it is wrong to take the power to choose local officials away from voters. Rep. Torrey Westrom (R-Elbow Lake) urged his fellow lawmakers to vote against the measure.

“I think it’s time to stop the trend of taking away local county elections,” he said.

Westrom unsuccessfully offered an amendment that would have offered residents more opportunities to express opposition to the change. He said switching local offices from elective to appointive runs “opposite the spirit of our state’s original constitution.”