[Peace] At-Large Seats for Urbana

[Danielle Chynoweth]

Dear progressive friends -

I can not emphasize how important this issue is for the future of Urbana.  
What the Mayor and Milton Otto are trying to do is strengthen the monied
and conservative power in Urbana's city government by creating additional
at-large seats on city council.

At-large seats (which tend to be bought by conservatives such at Tim
Johnson's son who, by the way, is planning on running in Urbana - Tim
himself bragged about how much he could raise to get his son elected)  
weaken minority and progressive power.  

The anti-war resolution, living wage, domestic partner benefits are
measures we have taken would have been harder if not impossible without
our system of government which tends to elect community-organizers
who go door-to-door to win elections.

Please read the following article by Esther Patt and come to this Monday's
Council meeting - 7:30 PM in City hall - 400 S. Vine Street to voice
opposition to this regressive idea!

- Danielle

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Stop the Assault on Progressive Officials
by Esther Patt, Ward 1, Urbana City Council

The latest assault on progressives in Urbana is a proposal to change the 
form of city government by adding to the City Council two members who would 
be elected at-large, city-wide, rather than from individual districts.

A proposal by Council Member Milton Otto to place a question on the November 
ballot asking the voters to create the new at-large seats will be discussed 
at the July 26 Council committee meeting.  The arguments that have been made 
in support of the proposal are:

- Since students do not vote in large numbers they should not have the 
same representation as everyone else.

- Since more people in southeast Urbana cast votes in the city elections, 
people in southeast Urbana should have greater representation in government 
than people in other areas of the city.

- The new Urbana ward map was drawn to give west Urbana a disproportionate 
amount of influence in cty government.

The U.S. Constitution requires that districts (or wards) be drawn according 
to population, based on the most recent census.   Representation based on 
population, not voter turn-out, is a constitutional right.  At-large 
election is a legal way to circumvent this constitutional princple.

The assertion that west Urbana is  over-represented is completely false.   
Forty-three percent of the population of Urbana lives south of University 
Avenue and west of Race Street.   Three of seven council members -- 
forty-three percent -- live south of University and west of Race.  The 
little thread that this weak argument hangs on is that a fourth council 
member, Laura Huth, lives on Race Street rather than farther east in her 
ward.   Her predecessor, Michael Pollock, lives one block east of her, but 
the at-large advocates never complained during his eight years of service 
that his place of residence threw democracy askew.   Could it be because 
Laura Huth is a progressive woman?

The new ward map increases the likelihood that only two council members will 
live in the west Urbana neighborhood after the spring 2005 election.  Based 
on census population, the new map draws Council Member Danielle Chynoweth 
into Ward 2 and extends her current Ward 4 east all the way to Anderson 
Street.    The way the map is drawn, four of the seven council members could 
be living east of Vine Street after the next election.

So what is this really all about?  During the re-map earlier this year, 
Mayor Tod Satterthwaite said he wanted to create more Republican seats on 
the city council which currently has a poltiical balance of 6 Democrats and 
1 Republican.   At-large elections increase the likelihood of electing 
another Republican.   At-large voting would also create a seat for Milton 
Otto (D-Ward 7) to run from his new address without having to run against 
Laura Huth.  Earlier this year, Otto bought a house two blocks from Huth and 
asked the city council to change the ward map by splitting Huth's precinct 
and ward so that Otto would not have to run against her.  He had the choice 
of buying a house in one of two wards -- 7 or 4 where he would face no 
incumbent.  But, he wanted to have his cake and eat it too.   When the City 
Council refused to change the ward map to accommodate one person, the Mayor 
suggested changing the entire form of government, just to accommodate one 
person.

In any city, in any context, at-large elections are not progressive.   In 
this particular case, the idea is especially objectionable.   Consider these 
arguments:

-  At-large voting dilutes minority representation.

- At-large voting makes money a key issue in every campaign.  This
proposal would create two seats that can be bought and creates the need
for expensive media campaigns rather than the grassroots,
candidate-to-voter campaigns that we have in ward races.  Is the cause of
good government served when average citizens cannot run for local
government because they will have to spend $15,000 and campaign city-wide?

-  It is wrong to change a form of government just because of 
dissatisfaction with who won the last election.

-  It is wrong to change a form of government to accommodate the political 
aspirations of one individual who wants to move out of his ward but doesn't 
want to run against an incumbent.

Advocates of at-large voting could put the question on the November ballot 
without support from the City Council if they file petitions for the ballot 
question no later than August 16.   They need to obtain only 432 valid 
signatures to place this question on the ballot.

Changing the form of government in response to a political moment is risky 
business.   If the measure is placed on the ballot and passes, the at-large 
voting system will be with us long after the current office holders have 
retired.  Come to the July 26 City Council meeting to voice your concern.   
Let's stop this ill-advised, politically motivated mistake now.

Esther Patt

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