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Elections have consequences

11/17/2017

2 Comments

 
By Nancy Tener (Letter to Newton Tab)
On Tuesday Nov. 7 Newton voted down the proposed Charter by a margin of 2,000 votes. 12,519 Newton voters decided they did not want to lose local ward representation—soundly rejecting the Charter Commission’s proposal to elect all city councilors at large. In fact, more people voted NO on the Charter than voted for Mayor-elect Fuller.
Over the summer and fall, I knocked on over 500 doors in Newton to educate voters about the Charter proposal and to make the case that Newton would be changed in ways we would regret forever if it went forward. Loud and clear was voter rejection of the at large council model at the ballot box. Voters do not want to lose their local voice. In my canvassing, some voters did say that they would favor a smaller council. That comes as no surprise. In 2000, in a non-binding referendum, Newton voters supported reducing the size of the Council two to one.


On Wednesday night, the Council began to discuss a home rule petition that would preserve local representation and also reduce the size of the council—an opportunity to follow the direction voters set on Tuesday. It proposes a Council with eight locally elected ward representatives and eight elected at-large with a residency requirement. It is referred to as the “eight and eight” proposal. This plan provides a way to satisfy voters’ desire for local representation and a smaller council. This model was favored by the League of Women Voters when they studied the issue in 1989 and continued to be the position of the LWV until 2010.
To my surprise, the Charter Commission showed up at City Hall in full force on Wednesday night to argue again for removing local representation. Speakers who had been in favor of the proposed charter argued that voters did not know what they were doing on Tuesday and that they did not understand the ballot. Essentially their argument is that the voters cannot be trusted.
This cynicism can only weaken our city and undermine democracy. Across the country, citizens are coming together to reinvigorate the electorate by making it easier to participate in public discourse and removing barriers to speaking through the ballot box. A group of people with a lot of money here in Newton is pushing hard to muffle local voices and to shrink accountability. That will move us in the opposite direction. Voters said NO.
There is another hearing on the eight and eight proposal at City Hall on Nov. 15 and a meeting of the entire Council on Dec. 4 to consider this proposal. I hope voters will come to City Hall to listen to the debate and will contact your Councilors to express support.
The 8 and 8 proposal has been studied. The voters have spoken. It’s time for the Council to act by supporting the eight and eight proposal. Elections have consequences.
Nancy Tener
2 Comments
Ralph Ranalli
11/17/2017 10:21:01 pm

Elections have consequences, but you also have to take the results at face value. There is no evidence to support the 8 and 8 proposal as the voter's preferred choice for reducing the size of the council, and it would increase the percentage of ward councilors on the council. That's not what people voted on or for.

There is a plan, however, that would respect the voters' wishes to both preserve ward representation in its current form and reduce the size of the council. That is to reduce the number of wards in the city from 8 to 5. Redrawing the city's wards would allow for more natural groupings of villages with similar issues and interests, and a 15 member council would not be subject to tie votes in the way that a 16 member council would.

I hope that more will come out about this plan soon so that we can continue this good and necessary discussion.

Ralph Ranalli

Reply
Jack Prior
11/17/2017 10:42:04 pm

Hi Ralph -- See the stats in this article for background

http://newtonwatch.org/2017/11/12/district-representation-is-not-local-representation/

Going down from 8 to 5 puts Newton at the end of the spectrum on ward representation would leave Newton with the lower local representation percentage of any council (2:1), the lower number of ward councilors of any actual city of any size (table includes towns), and 18,000 residents/councilor would leave Newton 3rd behind Springfield and Boston among 56 city councils.

Having voted strongly in favor of local representation, the next proposal must not be to reduce it in another fashion.

Note that use of 5 wards would require waiting for census according to many, and also reduce the school committee to an even 6 with the mayor, where even number might be more problematic.

While there are no even numbered councils in MA and this issue was raised with the charter commission, in practice most votes are not decisions, but approvals that require majorities or two thirds majorities. Ties are only problematic in litigation settlement decisions and council president elections. The council president election issue is addressed by provisions that force both candidates out if stalemate persists.

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