Chief
09-30-2007, 03:48 PM
Via the paid archives of the columbian...I just want some of you to know just how long this particular dead horse has been beaten, and by whom...
GROUP WANTS CITY DIVIDED INTO ELECTION DISTRICTS
SHERRI NEE, Columbian staff writer
May 21, 1998; Page B5
A group of anti-tax activists hopes to revive a proposal to carve Vancouver into districts for City Council elections. <a href="http://frogstar.soylentgeek.com/wav/mad-hell.wav">Larry Patella</a>, chairman of a group called Citizens Advocating Representative Districts, believes dumping the at-large positions in favor of district-specific posts will make council members more responsive and less likely to spend taxpayers' money.
"The council doesn't answer to anybody. They approve almost everything that comes down the pike. ... They're not connected to the voters," said Patella, a retired naval officer who lives in Minnehaha.
Members of CARD say taxpayers were angered earlier this year when the council considered increasing the city budget beyond the 1.9 percent cap established by Referendum 47. The group says taxpayers also are angry every time they hear city leaders talk of swimming pools or light rail -- two other expenses voters rejected.
Mayor Royce Pollard held his tongue when Patella pitched the districting idea at a council meeting earlier this month. But when asked about the plan this week, Pollard argued against it and defended the programs that the council supports.
"He wants districts so he can manipulate and control the council on one specific issue," the mayor said. "Council members elected at large feel responsibility for the whole community ... and they respond to everybody."
"There are probably a lot of good reasons for creating districts," he said. "Manipulating and influencing the council on one issue isn't one of them."
In 1996, the City Council considered districts as a way of making sure Cascade Park would have a strong voice in City Hall once it was annexed. However, the proposal for districts died in a 4-3 vote, and members opted instead to add two temporary, nonvoting positions on the council specifically for the newly annexed area.
City Council districts would do away with the current citywide elections. Instead, six of the seven council members would be elected from specific districts. The mayor would still be elected at large, according to CARD's plan.
Such a change requires an amendment to the city charter, which must be approved by voters. Patella said his group of about 20 activists plans to bypass the city's Charter Review Board and will gather signatures to put an initiative on the ballot via petition. The group is aiming for the November 1999 election.
CARD began meeting last month. Its next meeting is 7 p.m. June 11 in the Community Meeting Room at Clark Public Utilities, 1200 Fort Vancouver Way.
Just so you know where this whole idea of Districts came from, who is behind it, and what it is that they really want.
GROUP WANTS CITY DIVIDED INTO ELECTION DISTRICTS
SHERRI NEE, Columbian staff writer
May 21, 1998; Page B5
A group of anti-tax activists hopes to revive a proposal to carve Vancouver into districts for City Council elections. <a href="http://frogstar.soylentgeek.com/wav/mad-hell.wav">Larry Patella</a>, chairman of a group called Citizens Advocating Representative Districts, believes dumping the at-large positions in favor of district-specific posts will make council members more responsive and less likely to spend taxpayers' money.
"The council doesn't answer to anybody. They approve almost everything that comes down the pike. ... They're not connected to the voters," said Patella, a retired naval officer who lives in Minnehaha.
Members of CARD say taxpayers were angered earlier this year when the council considered increasing the city budget beyond the 1.9 percent cap established by Referendum 47. The group says taxpayers also are angry every time they hear city leaders talk of swimming pools or light rail -- two other expenses voters rejected.
Mayor Royce Pollard held his tongue when Patella pitched the districting idea at a council meeting earlier this month. But when asked about the plan this week, Pollard argued against it and defended the programs that the council supports.
"He wants districts so he can manipulate and control the council on one specific issue," the mayor said. "Council members elected at large feel responsibility for the whole community ... and they respond to everybody."
"There are probably a lot of good reasons for creating districts," he said. "Manipulating and influencing the council on one issue isn't one of them."
In 1996, the City Council considered districts as a way of making sure Cascade Park would have a strong voice in City Hall once it was annexed. However, the proposal for districts died in a 4-3 vote, and members opted instead to add two temporary, nonvoting positions on the council specifically for the newly annexed area.
City Council districts would do away with the current citywide elections. Instead, six of the seven council members would be elected from specific districts. The mayor would still be elected at large, according to CARD's plan.
Such a change requires an amendment to the city charter, which must be approved by voters. Patella said his group of about 20 activists plans to bypass the city's Charter Review Board and will gather signatures to put an initiative on the ballot via petition. The group is aiming for the November 1999 election.
CARD began meeting last month. Its next meeting is 7 p.m. June 11 in the Community Meeting Room at Clark Public Utilities, 1200 Fort Vancouver Way.
Just so you know where this whole idea of Districts came from, who is behind it, and what it is that they really want.