Join the conversation on new election system

It’s unfortunate that one of the most momentous changes in Chico politics—the switch from at-large to by-district City Council elections—occurred under the duress of a threatened lawsuit.

It didn’t have to be that way.

Four years ago, Ken Fleming and I, on behalf of the group Districts for Chico, warned council members that the city was vulnerable to a lawsuit charging that it was out of compliance with the California Voting Rights Act.

Cities up and down the state with at-large systems had been given a choice: either switch to district elections or face a lawsuit. Several chose the latter option. All that did lost in court and were forced to pay millions of dollars in attorney fees.

In October, the city received two “demand letters” from attorneys threatening to sue it for being out of compliance and giving it 30 days to decide whether it intended to switch election systems or fight the inevitable lawsuit if it chose not to switch.

At a special meeting on Nov. 12, amid much grumbling and gnashing of teeth, council members wisely sucked it up and voted to make the switch. (See “About-face,” Newslines, Nov. 14.) They now have about 90 days to implement a new voting system.

There’s a lot of work to do in those 90 days, a lot of questions to answer. How many districts will be created—five, seven (the current number) or nine? Will council members continue to select the mayor every two years, or will the mayor be elected separately on an at-large basis?

The city has hired a demographer to help with drawing the new districts. He in turn will need the help of interested citizens in locating the natural boundaries and historic neighborhoods that will make the voting districts viable.

Please join Ken and me in ushering in this new system. We believe it will encourage more people to run for council and take much of the money out of the process. It’s unfortunate that we have so little time, but in the long run it will be worth the effort.