Council to eliminate run-off election provision

The Glenwood City Council was expected to approve the second of three readings of an ordinance last night (Tuesday) that would eliminate a provision in the city code that requires a candidate to receive a majority (over 50 percent of the vote) to be elected to city office. The ordinance had unanimous support from council members when the first reading was presented at a June 7 meeting.

The over-50-percent (majority) provision has been on the council’s radar since last November’s city election resulted in a December run-off election being needed to decide the mayor’s race and two seats on the city council. There were three candidates in each of the three races and nobody received a majority in the November election, so the top two finishers advanced to the December run-off.

The three winners in the November election - Brian Tackett (mayor), Craig Florian (city council Ward 2) and Dan McComb (city council at-large) - also won in the run-off election, but the second election cost the city more than $3,500. Council members have cited the added financial burden on taxpayers as the primary reason for doing away with the run-off provision.

State code gives municipalties three options for conducting elections - having a primary to narrow the field to two candidates, having a run-off provision if one candidate doesn’t get a majority of the vote or simply having the top vote getter being declared the winner on the first ballot (with or without a majority vote). Glenwood is going the “top vote getter” route to eliminate the need for two elections.