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Regular City Council Meeting Monday,August 22,2011 Page 29 Councilmember Pust advised that, while having already expressed her views on the proposed process, she remained torn. While supporting the project, and the votes were obviously supportive without her vote; Councilmember Pust reiterated her concern that the public not misunderstand her support for this worthwhile project; however, her concern in the method being proposed without voter con- sent. Councilmember Pust opined that the only option she could see was to ab- stain based on how Step One was being financed. Roll Call(Original Motion) Ayes: Johnson; Willmus; and Roe. Nays: McGehee. Abstentions: Pust Motion carried. c. Consider Agreement with Ramsey County for Elections At the request of Mayor Roe, City Manager Malinen briefly reviewed this request, as recommended by staff, for a contract with Ramsey County to administer City elections for the City of Roseville, as detailed in the RCA dated August 22, 2011. City Manager Malinen advised that the City's Communications Specialist and Elections Coordinator Carolyn Curti, as well as Ramsey County's Director of Elections Joe Mansky were both present for questions. City Manager Malinen noted that, since the City of Mounds View had recently approved such a contract, it would serve to reduce overhead costs for all participating cities from original estimated. Councilmember Willmus questioned the apparent discrepancy in the amount pro- posed in the contract (Attachment B) at $4.55 per registered voter; when accord- ing to his calculations from the last election with 22,344 registered voters, the ac- tual cost would be $4.81 per registered voter. Councilmember Willmus further questioned the number of communities already contracting for these services that were retaining their absentee ballot options; noting that his limited research indi- cated that the City of Falcon Heights was not doing so. Joe Mansky Mr. Mansky advised that this is a relatively new service being offered by the County to suburban communities, even though the County had administered elec- tions for the City of St. Paul since 1983, including their absentee balloting. Mr. Mansky noted that, as the logistics for these services moved further from the County's central location, it became clear to the County that their current model would not work for suburban communities further away from downtown St. Paul; and opined that the Board of Commissioners would not approve such a contract without some limitation on the County processing absentee ballots and the cities not retaining limited absentee ballot access in their communities.