Jeanne Massey wrote:
"AN: One possibility is ONE city-wide district and 10 CMs, elected through a Proportional Representation (PR) system fully funded by public financing. For example, all political parties get X amount to run candidates for City Council seats. On election day, if the DFL gets 50% of the votes, they get to elect five CMs to the Council.
How would such a system guarantee geographic representation from all parts of the city?"
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It wouldn't, sort of. If it's one, and only one, Mpls Ward for all of Mpls, then the council represents the entire city, much like the Mayor. If the concern is that some areas would not be represented due to the possibility of some CMs not living in every neighborhood (which is also true now) and therefore some geographical areas may not be provided with as good as city services/representation, then that's noted, but I'm not sure that would be the case. Policy setting affects the entire city as is, and, in my opinion, that's what a city council is for. It's not so much about geographical representation as it is about just plain old fashion representation of views, concerns, ideas, etc.
I don't really think that geographical representation has a lot of weight behind it. For example, if I lived in Eagan, would the Republicans in charge (due to the current winner-take-all electoral system) really represent me? Does Norm Coleman really represent my views? Do the Republicans who live next-door to me feel represented? If I had to move to Utah, would anyone represent my views there? PR is based on larger districts therefore reducing the possibility of Reps coming from my neighborhood, which again, is also the case now (actually, all of my reps don't live in my neighborhood, except those from my neighborhood org). But the beauty of PR in Mpls is that such a system allows for most or all minority views to be truly represented, regardless of where you live.
Aaron Neumann
Holland Neighborhood, NE Mpls
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