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27-CV-25-2808 <br />Filed in District Court <br />State of Minnesota <br />2/15/2025 12:08 PM <br />92. The default rule for special elections after appointment of an officer to a vacant <br />municipal council seat is a special election at the same time as the next "regular city <br />election." Minn. Stat. § 412.02, subd. 2a. <br />93. Minnesota Statutes section 412.02, subd. 2a states that a city council "must <br />specify by ordinance under what circumstances it will hold a special election to fill <br />a vacancy other than a special election held at the same time as the regular city <br />election." (emphasis added). In other words, the city council must pass an ordinance <br />to deviate from the default time of the next "regular city election." <br />94.Any such ordinance may only apply to future circumstances by the plain <br />meaning of the statutory terms. The term "will" refers to timing, and where "will" <br />refers to timing, it speaks of a future event. See Muirhead v. Johnson, 46 N.W.2d 502, <br />506 (Minn. 1951). ("[T]he word `will' in the third person -- like `shall' in the first <br />person -- ordinarily denotes simple futurity."). <br />95. Further, the reference to filling a vacancy inherently applies to actions a city <br />must take at a future date. It presumes that a vacancy would arise and the city would <br />have to take action to end that vacancy. Orono's example proves this point: since there <br />is no current vacancy in Orono, an ordinance to fill a vacancy by special election can <br />only be future -looking. <br />96.Any valid ordinance can only do what state law enables it to do; a local <br />ordinance cannot do what state law does not authorize. See Bicking v. City of <br />Minneapolis, 891 N.W.2d 304, 313 (Minn. 2017) ("A municipality `cannot enact a local <br />regulation that conflicts with state law' or enact a regulation when state law `fully <br />21 <br />76 <br />