City of Bemidji Charter Commission Votes to Do Nothing on Mayoral Term Clarification

The city of Bemidji Charter Commission met at City Hall last night to discuss the ongoing discrepancy around clarifying the four-year mayoral term limit. After being voted on by the public in Bemidji’s 2020 general election, the start date for the four-year term is still under debate.

With a small yet attentive audience, the city of Bemidji’s Charter Commission convened. The meeting’s agenda focused primarily on the proposed ordinance amendment to clarify the wording and start date to the four-year mayoral term that coincided with the Presidential election.

A majority of the commission attended the meeting. With vocal disagreements from a few of the members, the situation proved to be very difficult to fully discern.

The current mayor of Bemidji, Jorge Prince, joined the audience. Hoping to be enlightened about the current predicament and hear the commission’s decision, Mayor Prince walked away from the meeting still looking for answers.

The entire meeting was open to the public. After almost an hour of public comments, advice and legal clarification from the city attorney, and discussion among the charter, the decision was made to do nothing.

The move was to reject the proposed ordinance and defer to the charter as written. The motion passed with a unanimous vote.

The charter plans to meet next on March 16 to discuss possible changes or updates to what is current written in the by-laws.