The Bemidji City Council passed the ordinance amending ward boundaries 6-1 after a heated discussion in the final reading.
Initially, the proposed ward boundaries failed to move past the third reading in a 4-3 vote which was later reconsidered.
After the initial vote, at-large council member Dan Jourdain expressed his disappointment that the group could not seem to move forward with what they were tasked to do.
Mayor Jorge Prince, among the initial nay voters, also expressed his disappointment with a lack of public involvement.
After further discussion with City Attorney Al Felix, the council agreed to reconsider the motion.
The new ward boundaries did pass with a single nay vote, from Ward 3’s Ron Johnson, who, under this proposal, would be drawn out of his ward and placed into Ward 1.
Current Ward Boundaries
