People have been talking about the impact of splitting the City Manager/Economic Development Director positions (or keeping them together) for a variety or reasons lately. There is a much broader question that should be asked of the structure of the current management of the government and that is how effective are the five council positions at representing the entirety of the city's population?
This article will begin to make a case for a change in the system to something known as a wards-based representation by voting district for council representation.
A Brief History
The present system allows for five at-large candidates to serve staggered 4 year terms, with a mayor elected from the council members every two years. Other than the basic requirements to hold the office, there are no other requirements that a particular councilman represent the specific needs of any particular neighborhood. This allows areas of voting power to be concentrated in the more well to do voting districts and consequently, those elected to council tend to reflect a narrower view of the city's population that would be done in other forms of city governance.
Nebraska state law under section 32-903 that the election commissioner or county clerk holds the responsibilty for mainting the number and location of specific voting districts in the area of responsibility.
State laws provide mechanisms to alter existing voting districts when population changes, or the number of registered voters changes after statewide elections. The rules hold that no less than 75 registered voters, nor more than 1000 registered voters participating in the last statewide election. Current law provides that the election commissioner alter or otherwise readjust these boundries to affect the political participation. This rule does not apply, however to cities such as Sidney, where the political districts are developed by local ordinance.
Currently, the residents of Sidney vote in six voting districts, under four wards. These discticts have been in place since 1962. The current ward/district map has been in place since 1962. According to a library service report from the period, Sidney's population was 8,004 citizens. Economic conditions, including the Sioux ammunition plant closing and the decline of the oil business, saw the city's population decline, but more importantly, the population that remains has shifted along the lines of the city's housing growth, more south and eastward toward the I-80 corridor.
How Would it Work?
In order to support a ward system of election, it would become necessary to add one additional voting district to create an odd number of 7 districts. Such a change would require the action of City Council who would have to modify the existing ordinance controlling the number and location of wards and voting districts and the cooperation of the county clerk. The County Clerk would be responsible for providing the data on registered voters as provided by state statutes. The population of the city's adult population would be used to determine the approximate district voting areas and would be modified every ten years based on census results.
Once the additional voting districts are established and modified, a change in other ordinances would have to be made that would change the number of Councilman elected from five to seven and mandate that each councilman serve from the district he or she represents. Some consideration would have to be given to allowing existing councilmen to serve in a district that they live in, with a special election to be held in cases where multiple councilmen live in a given district. Staggered terms would still apply.
Benefits
Why increase the number and method of electing councilman? We have seen multiple times in the past several years, episodes where citizens have been concerned about the actions of city council, or other city management. Areas of the city are not adequately represented as demonstrated by the Deadwood Trails project that runs away from population centers. Specific proposals to place the trail on the northside were discounted as too costly to connect to the existing trail, but an equally expensive plan to connect the trail to the Cabela's corporate campus was rejected as well.
Furthermore, it is presently too easy to sway council with a simple majority of three members. The establishment of two additional councilman will require more cooperation among members to arrive at consensus and by representing particular voting districts, each member will be responsible for soliciting and reflecting the views of a narrower constituency. When employed in this manner, everyone in town will stand to gain from the economic development activities of the City Manager, and the power will effectively be diluted from all, being returned to the people from which it is derived in the first place.
Many people sit on the sidelines today, watching with disaffected wonderment on how perceptions are driving realities. Blind accusation or conjecture is being used to drive home the point that some people feel their views are being left out of consideration by those in whom we have entrusted our leadership. The employment of a Ward-Based system of representation will ensure a larger degree of transparency, and provide a clearer line of communication between those who elect and those who represent the elected.
Your opinion matters. How do you think this proposal would work? What would you want to see if such a system could be implemented as suggested or how would you modify it?
Michael Rowland, Publisher
I was also thinking about 7 the other day.
ReplyDeleteNebraska Revised Statute 32-538
Revised Statutes » Chapter 32 » 32-538
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32-538. City with city manager plan of government; city council; members; wards; terms; change in number; procedure.
(1) In a city which adopts the city manager plan of government pursuant to sections 19-601 to 19-610, the number of city council members shall be determined by the class and population of the city. In cities having one thousand or more but not more than forty thousand inhabitants, there shall be five members, and in cities having more than forty thousand but less than two hundred thousand inhabitants, there shall be seven members, except that in cities having between twenty-five thousand and forty thousand inhabitants, the city council may by ordinance provide for seven members. Council members shall be elected from the city at large unless the city council by ordinance provides for the election of all or some of its council members by wards, the number and boundaries of which are provided for in section 16-104. Council members shall serve for terms of four years or until their successors are elected and qualified. The council members shall meet the qualifications found in sections 19-613 and 19-613.01.
The first election under an ordinance changing the number of council members or their manner of election shall take place at the next regular city election. Council members whose terms of office expire after the election shall continue in office until the expiration of the terms for which they were elected and until their successors are elected and qualified. At the first election under an ordinance changing the number of council members or their manner of election, one-half or the bare majority of council members elected at large, as the case may be, who receive the highest number of votes shall serve for four years and the other or others, if needed, for two years. At such first election, one-half or the bare majority of council members, as the case may be, who are elected by wards shall serve for four years and the other or others, if needed, for two years, as provided in the ordinance. If only one council member is to be elected at large at such first election, such member shall serve for four years.
(2) Commencing with the statewide primary election in 1976, and every two years thereafter, those candidates whose terms will be expiring shall be nominated at the statewide primary election and elected at the statewide general election.
I guess I can understand the need to balance number of representatives with overall population. I think I can still hold the opinion that moving away from the at-large system to representative wards would encourage more people to participate in the elective process, as well as encourage policies that would benefit the greater good.
ReplyDeleteExcellent comment and information Julie.