With PR in Mpls and 13 seats to fill, 1/13 of the total vote would elect your choice. 1/13 = about 7.5%.
With only 10 seats, 1/10, or 10% would be required. I prefer the lower threshold/greater diversity of 1/13 over the higher threshold/lower diversity of 1/10. Under the kind of PR I like (STV), you can declare a perty, OR any issue you like as your party name. Thus there could be a "North Mpls" label, to counter the feared dominance of white bourgeois from SW. Or a "Labor" label. Or any other - the voters would winnow out the ones they did/didn't want, without "wasting" a vote. In a few elections we'd come to see what issues/parties REALLY move people here - and govt would (have to) be much more responsive to exactly that. What's not to love? --David Shove Roseville On Tue, 14 Dec 2004, Aaron Neumann wrote: > 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?" > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > 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 > REMINDERS: > 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL > PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. > 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. > > For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html > For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract > ________________________________ > > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy > Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls > REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
