Charlottesville City Council is considering fundamental changes to the way city elections are run because of recent concerns about low voter turnout among other issues, according to Council members.
Next Thursday, the Council will meet to evaluate and respond to the 2004 report from the Council's Election Study Task Force. In the spring of 2004, Council charged the Task Force with evaluating both the positive and negative implications of changes in City elections. Later that year, the Task Force held eight public hearings in various City neighborhoods designed to field comments and concerns from Charlottesville residents pertaining to the City's government.
The Task Force reviewed the possibility of change in the current electoral system and the structure of Council, including transitioning to direct election of the mayor and introducing a ward system of Council elections, in which one Council member is elected from each ward to insure equal representation.
Currently, City residents elect five Council members at large, and the Council is responsible for electing a mayor.
Other issues the Task Force reported on were the expansion of Council -- from five to seven members -- and concern about low voter turnout. According to the Task Force's report, since 1996, voter turnout has been less than 30 percent and in 2002 worsened to 22 percent.
Despite the decline, Mayor David Brown said he was optimistic that the recent move of City elections from May to November -- when they will coincide with Virginia state elections -- will increase voter turnout.
Brown said he was "not convinced that there are problems that warrant change," and even if there were he said he was uncertain as to whether changes to City government will solve the key issues raised in the Task Force's report.
Misinterpretation of the report and recommendations are also concerns.
Council member Kendra Hamilton said she was bothered by "political posturing" in response to the report and the possible proliferation of false information put forth about its findings.
Hamilton said she was unsure whether the Council will make final decisions at next week's meeting.
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