Council Chooses Bigger Government: Evans, Messina, and Vance Vote 3-2 to Add Two Council Seats

    Tuesday night’s Council vote to add two seats to Central’s five-member City Council has been a controversy for over five years.  In October of 2011 then-Mayor Mac Watts vetoed an identical 3-2 Council vote to enlarge the Council to seven seats stating “I cannot approve an ordinance increasing the size and cost of government on such a split vote of the Council.  If the Council will reach a compromise or put this to a vote of the people, I will support that decision.”
    The ordinance, which becomes effective on January 1, 2019, changes the existing Council seats from At-Large to Districts, but adds two more At-Large Council positions.  An At-Large seat is elected city-wide and the Council Member may reside anywhere in Central.  District seats are elected from each of five equal Districts to be created and the Council Members must reside in their District.
    Council Members are paid just under $10,000 per year each.  This change will add approximately $87,000 to the city’s expenses for the four-year term of the two additional Council Members.  The ordinance also provided another $8,000 for the services of a professional demographer to draw District lines, carving out five Districts of approximately equal population in the City.
    This change will have no effect on the term of the Council Members currently in office.  The Fall elections in 2018 will allow each District to elect one Council Member to represent their District and all of the city’s voters will elect the two At-Large Members.  Those elected will take office on January 1, 2019.