I agree with all of GMs points except the at-large rep one. And there I
half agree.
Allowing everyone AS MANY VOTES AS THERE ARE AT-LARGE REPS almost
guarantees white DFL wins across the board. This is the approach used in
the old South to maintain segregation; it was outlawed by the Supreme
Court as an option in federal elections. We don't want it back.
What sounds nearly the same, but is 180 degrees different, is allowing
everyone ONLY ONE VOTE for the at-large reps. (The formal name is Single
Transferable Vote - STV - a form of Proportional Representation - PR).
This is an EXCELLENT system. If there are, say, 4 at-large rep seats, then
every candidate who gets 21% of the vote is ELECTED. Any interest group
that can muster 21% CAN HAVE THEIR OWN TAILOR-MADE REP!! Sounds like
heaven to me. (Odds are: 2 DFL, 1 Green, 1 GOP; but it could be by any
criterion enuf people care to DEFINE THEMSELVES as.) If we want to have a
lower percentage to elect, we just need more at-large reps.
I personally would like them ALL to be at-large, in which case the percent
to elect is 7.5% with 13 members. Or even lower, if we were to expand the
size of the council, which I favor. Imagine all our large and medium size
(self-defined!) interest groups represented in a fertile juice of debate
at the City Council! Imagine all the great discussions that would be
encouraged in the citizens at large! What an exciting place we'd have
then!
--David Shove
On Wed, 14 Feb 2001, Gene Martinez wrote:
> I am totally against either electing at-large representatives or reducing
the size of the council If anything, we need to enlarge by half a dozen or
so. This would reduce the amount of money needed to run, and take power
away from some of the kingmakers.
>We should also go back to two year terms. A city council person should be
close to the people like a member of the House of Representatives. Four
year terms make it harder to challenge incumbents and give that person a
tremedous fundraising advantage.
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