Austin City Council proposal would change selection system

Austinites could vote as early as May 2008 on a proposal to change the selection of city council seats from an at-large system to a system based on geographic districts. The city's Charter Revision Committee, established in April to hold hearings on the matter, hosted a public meeting Wednesday in East Austin. Guest speaker J. Gerald Hebert, executive director and director of litigation for Campaign Legal Center in Washington, D.C., said many cities that have changed from an at-large system to single-member districts have done so to increase minority representation. In Austin, minority and majority voters often prefer the same candidate, but in the current system majority (white) support is needed to get minority candidates elected, Hebert said. One of the flaws of the current system is the large expense of running an at-large election, especially for minority communities that do not have a lot of resources, said Gus Garcia, chair of the Charter Revision Committee. Some Austinites have also expressed disapproval with the at-large system, saying that it allows the council to potentially neglect certain parts of the city without being held directly accountable by voters. The committee will not be voting on the issue but will be making a recommendation to city council on whether to change the current system and in what ways. In one proposal, the city would be divided down Lamar Boulevard, with voting districts east and west of the street. The University would be in one of the districts east of Lamar, Garcia said. So far, a lack of public participation has been an issue. "There has not been what I would consider to be a ground swell of support from anyone," Garcia said, adding that very few people have attended the meetings, which are open to the public for ideas and debate. About 40 people attended Wednesday's meeting. A proposed solution to this lack of participation is the implementation of Internet polling, which might increase feedback from the Austin community.

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