Recently the Yakima Herald has come out with news articles about how our elected officials aren’t reflecting the population and singling out Sunnyside as an example with more than a 70% Hispanic population and only one of seven Sunnyside city council members is Hispanic. Would we not have better representation if we elected city council and county commissioners by district instead of at large?
Let’s take the city of Yakima for an example. Currently 7 city council members are elected. All are elected at large. The mayor is then selected by the councilmembers. Here’s the confusing part. Four of the seven council positions are considered to be “district seats”. The city is divided into 4 districts and those 4 districts select the top 2 candidates in the primary and then in the general election the whole city decides who the winner is. The other 3 councilmembers are elected by the whole city in both the primary and the general election.
The real confusing part is that the 4 “position” council members are perceived to represent their district, while the 3 “At Large” members pick and choose whom they want to represent! Many residents (and even city council members themselves) think that any problem on the East side of town is mine because it’s my district. The fact is we are ALL elected “At large”.
I think the citizens would be better represented if we broke up the city into 6 districts and elected council members from the district vote only. The seventh member would be the mayor and that person would run “at large”.
The advantage to this system would be greater competition for offices, mainly because the candidate wouldn’t have to raise a heap of money needed in a citywide election. Another advantage is true representation by someone who lives within the voters district.
The same system could be used to elect County Commissioners. In this case, I suggest dividing up the County into 5 districts and have commissioners elected from each district instead of the current system of 3 commissioners elected at large. Here again, better decisions would result from the minds of 5 instead of only 3 commissioners. And the 5 would be from all corners of the county.
A change like this will never come from those in office. It would have to be from a petition from the people and then a vote of the people. It would take a huge effort but can be done. The districts would be smaller and real representation would result in a more responsive government.
Great post!
How does one post a post?
You cant imagine how much money they spend trying to silence good people who will put their lives on the line to fight for change.
http://www.congresscheck.com
Most school bond issues, renewals pass
(Lima News, The (Ohio) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Nov. 7–LIMA — Residents in most school districts voted to take advantage of state money to build or renovate schools Tuesday. One of the exceptions was Kenton schools, which once again had trouble at the polls.
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Districts asking for new operating money also had a tough night Tuesday, as Lima schools’ 7.3 mill levy and Upper Scioto Valley schools’ 1 percent income tax were defeated. It was the fifth failure for USV.
Wapakoneta and St. Marys schools were able to pass bond issues. Wapakoneta will build two new elementary schools and renovate its middle and high schools with its 5.8 mill bond. St. Marys will build a new sixth- through 12th-grade building and renovate others with its 6.9 mill bond.
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Wapakoneta Superintendent Keith Horner said it’s never easy to pass a levy, no matter what it is for. The levy narrowly passed.
“The biggest thing we had to get across was that this was an opportunity that will not happen in the future,” he said. “It was very difficult to get across. We had adversity throughout and I’m just glad that we got through this for our kids.”
Kenton, which had hoped to build new, failed at the polls three previous times for operating money. The bond would have allowed the district to build two new schools. Ridgemont voters also rejected a bond for a new school.
Hardin Northern voters narrowly supported a 6.83 mill bond to renovate. Crestview voters approved a 4.6 mill bond to also renovate. The bond won’t cost voters any more money. An existing bond for the same amount will be dropped.
As usual, school renewals fared well, including a 2.45 mill replacement permanentimprovement levy in Shawnee. Voters agreed to pay some additional money. Spencerville and Riverdale both passed 1 percent income taxes for operating expenses, and Pandora-Gilboa voters supported a 0.75 percent income tax for the same.
Ottoville was successful passing a 3 mill levy for operating expenses, and Ottawa voters said yes again to a 1.5 mill levy for permanent improvements.
Spencerville Superintendent Joel Hatfield said it’s never a given that renewals will pass, but that there is a level of confidence knowing voters have been supportive.
“But there is always that fear,” he said. “You see what happens throughout the state of Ohio and more and more people are tired of paying the bills for what the state should be paying more for.”
School bond issues can be thorny issues, often pitting kids against their grandparents. And there are often multiple ways to define “tax increases,” leading school establishments to say taxes will not be raised while opponents say taxes will indeed be raised.
GOP political consultant Rod Shealy Jr. says school district governments often abuse taxpayer funds to help bond issues pass, leading to additional friction between taxpayers and school district officials.