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VOL. 43 NO. 26 www.quadcommunitypress.com $1.00
EARTH DAY: Calendar of events, tidbits and more. PAGES 8-9
Lino Lakes considers evenyear elections BY MADELINE DOLBY EDITOR
Lino Lakes staff and City Council continue to discuss the possibility of moving to an even-year election schedule. In December, city staff requested that the council consider the option of moving to even-year elections to improve voter engagement and to reduce costs. The council provided direction for staff, recommending the city attorney research the legal steps to move to an even-year election for municipal officers. “Voter engagement is one of the most important pieces when looking at going to even-year elections,” said City Clerk Roberta Colotti at a recent City Council work session. According to Colotti, the number of registered voters in Lino Lakes on Election Day in 2024 was 15,322. Out of that total, 1,785 voters participated in the last odd-year municipal election in 2023 and 14,135 voters participated in the 2024 general election. “There are four different ways that the city can go through the process that has a charter like Lino Lakes does,” Colotti explained. “One would be the City Council takes the action and we place it on the ballot. Another is the Charter Commission proposes it and then the City Council reviews it and then it’s adopted. Or the Charter Commission can propose it and put it on the ballot.” The fourth option would be a possibility of the public being interested in switching to evenelection years, but Colotti said the city is not there yet. “We’re looking at either the City Council initiates this or the Charter Commission,” she said. The cost to run an election is primarily covered by the city, with county and state costs part of the total public cost to run and election. The budget for the 2025 municipal election is approximately $21,367. “Now some of that money is an annual expense that we would have anyway,” Colotti said. “We did make the decision to keep all of our polling sites open for 2025, so that has a little bigger expense within this budget. So, if we hold the election in 2025, it would be a little less than the $21,000.” Absentee voting would be administered by Anoka County. According to the Secretary of State, there are 18 cities and one township remaining in the state that have odd-year elections. Those cities include Circle Pines, Lino Lakes, Mahtomedi, White Bear Lake and more, along with White Bear Township. There are a total of 856 cities in the state that offer evenyear elections. SEE EVEN-ELECTION YEARS, PAGE 2
Circle Pines City Hall garden receives care from volunteers BY MADELINE DOLBY EDITOR
CIRCLE PINES — The Circle Pines flower garden situated between City Hall and the Centennial Library will undergo maintenance this spring as part of the city’s Cleanup Day on Saturday, April 26. Gwyn Yuhanna, founder of local crochet group Whimsical Wigs, noticed that the garden was not in great shape when attending a Whimsical Wigs
meeting at the library last July. “Whimsical Wigs meets at Centennial Library. We go around the Circle Garden, and I noticed one time, I am like, ‘That’s all weeds. What’s going on there?’” she explained. “And the next time we were there I was like ‘This is a public garden, what’s going on with it?’” Yuhanna then called the city and asked if there was a garden group that worked on the garden. The city got Yuhanna in contact with Janis Taramelli,
Circle Pines Mayor Dave Bartholomay’s wife. “I contacted her, and I said ‘I am interested in helping out. Is there a group that is getting together to work on the garden?’ She said ‘no,’ and explained that they were kind of in transition,” Yuhanna said. “They had people who had been leading it for years decide to take a break … it was kind of all up in the air.” SEE CIRCLE PINES GARDEN, PAGE 8
SHANNON GRANHOLM | PRESS PUBLICATIONS
Easter Egg Hunt takes place at Golden Lake Park The Circle Pines Lexington Lions Easter egg hunt began in 1992 and hasn’t missed a year. This year, the egg hunt will take place at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 19, at Golden Lake Park in Circle Pines.
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