Schulz: At-large system is not FAIR to minorities
This in via e-mail from Dave Schulz, Chairman; Toledo COBRA PAC on behalf of Issue 2 (9 is Fine) as a response to the press conference held today by members of the Lucas County Democratic Party who are supporting FAIR (Fair and Inclusive Representation):
At-large system is not FAIR to minorities
Lucas County Democrats are supporting a racially discriminatory election system
Many political science studies have concluded that at-large systems are detrimental to African-Americans.
By opposing the “Nine Is Fine” plan, the Lucas County Democratic Party is betraying one of their major constituency groups. “This is an unconscionable act being coordinated by the entrenched establishment of the Democratic Party”, Dave Schulz stated.
A recent example in Urbana, IL where voters were asked to add 2 at-large seats to their seven member district council in 2004 provides a great comparison of the Democratic Parties in Champaign County, IL and Lucas County, OH.
The effort to add at-large seats in the Urbana City Council was rejected by the Champaign County Democratic Party and also the local chapter of the NAACP for betraying the “one man – one vote” principle.
Here in Toledo, the Democratic Party is choosing their political interests over the interests of the citizens of Toledo, especially African-Americans.
Susan Welch, Penn State Professor of Political Science who specializes in urban politics, women and politics, and African Ame rican and Hispanic politics wrote a book Urban Reform and Its Consequences: A Study In Representation, 1990, which concluded that district elections are more likely to represent the whole community and to make the council more accountable to the electorate.
In her book, Professor Welch concluded: “While blacks are equitably represented in the district portion of mixed systems, they are abysmally underrepresented in the at-large portions”
The Nine Is Fine plan will very likely increase minority representation on council from the current 25% to 33%.
A review of at-large African-Americans since the structure was changed in 1993 shows that only five have served on city council during that time. Four were originally appointed and not elected and only one, Jack Ford won without appointment after serving three terms prior to 1993. Only two appointed members retained their seats (Al McConnell and Phil Copeland) in the next regular election. (McConnell-Hancock won a special election but was defeated two years later in a regular at-large election) Only 12.5 of the 24 people elected at-large in regular elections have been African-American, while the same district elections have resulted in 33% African-Americans being elected.
“Our plan will assure better and more consistent minority representation on city council. It’s a shame that the local Democratic Party doesn’t support that.”, Schulz adds.
MEDIA NOTE: Please review the following site, especially the research, news and supporters pages of the site. This references the at-large initiative in Urbana, IL and has a lot of research supporting district representation. Link
