We’re not endorsing the movement — but here’s what we’ve said about district-based city leadership in the past:
Me, I envy the city’s district-based board of supervisors (For one, I believe it’s a better way to represent a city. For two, man would it create more content for neighborhood blogs!)
In that case, we were looking at our sister-city to the south, San Francisco. Soon, we might be looking at Seattle:
Push is on for Seattle City Council election by district
A new group has formed to push for electing Seattle City Council members by district.Currently, all nine council members are elected citywide, or at-large. Seattle Districts Now is proposing to elect seven members by geographic district and two members citywide.
The group, which is holding a news conference Thursday, has a map showing how it would carve Seattle into seven districts. West Seattle, for instance, would become one district; Southeast Seattle would be another. It was drawn by Richard Morrill, a demographer and University of Washington professor emeritus, and each district includes about 87,000 people.
The proposal would go to voters, potentially in 2013, if the group collects enough signatures to put it on the ballot.
The full announcement on the proposal from the group calling itself Seattle Districts Now is below. It could be a costly and disruptive change for the city and some of the main players like activist John Fox seem as eager to settle some old scores as to truly change the way the city gets things done. But it also could end up quite popular given renewed NIMBY enthusiasm sparked by efforts like the city’s ill-positioned regulatory reform attempt. We like it for the opportunity to take energy currently contained in informal community council and group efforts and giving it a structured shape in city policy. It’s a system that could see more individuals rise from community activist to influential Seattle politicians. Maybe. It could also be simply another way to deal the cards in the same old game.
You can learn more at seattledistrictsnow.org.
Seattle Districts Now, a group Seattle of residential and business leaders who feel Seattle needs a change in how it elects its City Councilmembers, will register Thursday as a political campaign with the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission. Seattle Districts Now is proposing a City Charter Amendment to change Seattle from a nine member at-large City Council system to a mixed system with seven Councilmembers elected in geographic districts and two Councilmembers elected at-large.
Our press conference is being held to formally announce our campaign, to provide maps showing each districtand to introduce to the press many of the 90 community leaders who are already supporting the campaign. Endorsers include 2 state senators and business and community leaders from across the city. Key leaders of the campaign and our attorneys who helped draft the proposal will be present to answer your questions.
Faye Garneau, a Seattle business leader and Co-Chair of Seattle Districts Now, states: “A mixed District/At-Large system would give every Seattle resident a specific point of contact at City Hall. It would ensure that an elected official would speak as your neighborhood’s voice on major issues.”
Seattle Districts Now hopes to qualify a city charter amendment for the November, 2013 Ballot. If the charter amendment is approved by voters, all nine Council positions will be on the ballot in 2015, with the seven districtcouncilmembers elected to four-year terms and the two at large councilmembers elected to two-year terms. In 2017, the two at large councilmembers will run for regular four-year terms.
Seattle Districts Now want to ensure city councilmembers are closer to the people they represent and that voters better know their city councilmembers. The seven district representatives would provide for geographic distribution of Councilmembers, while giving individual neighborhoods a distinct voice on major issues, while the two at-large representatives ensure that the citywide perspective is maintained on our Council.
Suzie Burke of Seattle Districts Now cites another reason for the proposal, “Over the years, Seattle City Councilmembers have been often clustered in certain neighborhoods, while other areas of the city haven’t had a council member who knew and understood their area’s needs and concerns. A mixed District/At-Large system would ensure that no part of our city goes unrepresented.”
The boundaries of each district will be described in the City Charter Amendment, which is currently in draft form. The district boundaries were drawn by Dr. Richard Morrill, demographer and University of Washington Professor Emeritus. He created the boundaries based on 2010 census information with input from SeattleDistricts Now. Seattle Districts Now is confident that it will obtain the estimated 30, 943 signatures needed to place the Charter Amendment on the 2013 Ballot.
John Fox, Seattle Districts Now’s other co-chair, says that: “The cost of a winning City Council campaign has soared from $210,000 in 2005 to more than $270,000 in 2011. “With a mixed District/At-Large system, most campaigns would see their voter contact expenses cut to 1/7th of the current cost and candidates could win by doorbelling precincts, rather than relying on expensive mailers and TV ads.”
In a city like Seattle which is basically in its awkward teenage years trying to grow up from a collection of essentialy sleepy single-family & low-rise residential neighborhoods surrounding a small downtown core into a full-fledged cosmopolitan city, a district-based system will just further empower the single-family / townhome homeowner NIMBYs who want to stop any and all change in Seattle – which will have the perverse effect of making housing even more expensive, further pushing working and middle class families out of the city and into the sprawling suburbs.
ZZzzzzzzz….
Come back and try again when you have some “facts” to back up your NIMBY rant.
It seems like you might be poking fun at Boe. If you aren’t great. If you are… shame. Boe is a wonderful, creative and insightful man, who would probably be great on city council. But I get the feeling you are making fun of him. boo!
I chose Boe because he is wonderful and fun and I’m happy to have him be part of Capitol Hill
“It [Seattle Districts Now’s mixed district/at-large council proposal] could also be simply another way to deal the cards in the same old game.” I’ve been involved in city politics at the grass roots level for decades. If similarly engaged local activists around the city get involved we will not have the “same old game.”
Moreover, SDN is not a “settle old scores” or NIMBY measure. The organizers represent a broad cross-section of views. Even I, a died-in-the-wool neighborhood activist, am not opposed to “growth” or “density” in my neighborhood or city; I simply want the impacts to be considered and mitigated as much as possible, and necessary infrastructure to be provided (like transit and open space). That’s not “NIMBY,” that’s good planning, good governance, equity, and common sense.