Local News
Orange charter change committee inching forward
Members of the charter change committee are inching forward in their quest to change how city council members are elected.
Before adjourning after Tuesday’s meeting, a vote was taken by the nine- member committee. Eight of the members agreed while one withheld their vote to have four single-member districts with three at large positions and one of them being the mayor.
However, city attorney John Cash Smith informed the committee on some possible problems with the larger number of seats on the council. According to information from Smith, it is his opinion there is a significant legal problem with the method. If the city is divided into four districts, with the assurance a minority would be elected from one of them, the council would only be about 15 percent represented for the minority community. Even if two of the seven members of the council were minority members, it would still be less than the 35 percent makeup of the city.
Smith is basing his 35 percent on the numbers of minorities said to be living in Orange during the 2000 census.
“If voting patterns in the city develop into a situation where only one minority was consistently elected to the council, the city would be in the same position that it is now, with a significant minority percentage population being deprived of its proportionate share of the seats on the council,” Smith read from his statement. “This would not pass legal muster and in my opinion the city would be subject to scrutiny by the U.S. Justice Department. It appears to me that using the seven member selection system would be a ‘out of the frying pan into the fire’ situation and should be avoided.”
Another issue brought up during the discussion was the fact a charter change can only occur every two years. If citizens were not happy with the changes, they would have to wait two years and go through the process again.
“We are not asking for any guarantees, we feel we are not being fairly represented now and want the opportunity,” said Henry Lowe, committee member.
Mayor Brown Claybar suggested if the committee went with only four single member district and no at-large positions, then he would like to see all voters within the city vote on each person.
But, Lowe added he thinks this will put the minorities back to “square one.”
Claybar also added without the latest information from the census to be done in 2010, the number of people living in the city will not be accurate.
“I hate to say this , but we may be a year early on this,” Claybar said.
He added, the city will not only have to wait until the census is complete but also after the county has its lines drawn by a demographer.
“I think we are raising more questions than answers,” Claybar said.
However, committee member Essie Bellfield said she proudly tells people of how she was elected mayor. “When I was elected it was 85 percent white and 15 percent black,” Bellfield said. “I was elected by the people of Orange. I was not put in by the black people alone.”
The discussion will continue at the next meeting at 2 p.m. Nov. 24 at the Orange Public Library.
Debby Schamber is a reporter for the Orange Leader. She can be reached at 409-883-3571 ext. 2609 or at dschamber@orangeleader.com.
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