A group working on an initiative to transform the Seattle City Council into a district-based body says it has raised $20,000 and is putting plans in motion to raise $100 grand and collect the nearly 40,000 signature required to get the initiative on this year’s ballot. If they succeed and the measure passes, the City Council will be made up of representatives from five city districts and four at-large members. The group is lead by Andrew Lewis, campaign manager for Councilmember Nick Licata‘s re-election bid.
The plan calls for the five districts to be approximately the same size as a legislative district. The districts would be redrawn by a city commission every 10 years based on the results of the Federal census. Here is a map of the 43rd Legislative District, for example:
In a statement e-mailed to potential supporters, organizers said the district-based council would:
- Increase the diversity of the current Seattle City Council.
- Make Seattle City Councilmembers more accountable to neighborhood groups.
- Require Councilmembers and candidates to solicit support through retail politics, and reduce the amount of money needed to run a campaign.
- Provide you with a representative to call if you need help with Seattle services, for example, during a snowstorm.
According to the Seattle Times, the city’s voters have rejected transitioning to district elections three times, most recently in 2003. San Francisco is one example of a major West Coast city with a district-based system.
But as you mention it never seems to work. Better luck this time!
I lived in a city with districts. All it did was turn the City Council into a turf-squabblers, consumed all their time with “in-district meetings”, and left the mayor to run the City. Seattle doesn’t have such a great history with mayors, but if you want to make the Mayor’s Office even more powerful and turn the City Council into a bunch of small time neighborhood problem solvers, by all means, let’s elect by districts.
If what we want is a stronger voice for neighborhood issues, let’s beef up the City’s Dept of Neighborhoods – give them more authority, say and power in city government.