Centerville aldermen are one vote away from eliminating its ward-based system for electing aldermen. With majority approval of Ordinance 899 this Tuesday night, the town’s voters will be asked to choose aldermen without regard for what part of town they live in.
Currently, the board requires that aldermen live in specific wards, numbered 1 through 5, though citizens are permitted to vote for all candidates in all wards. Five of the 10 aldermen are elected every two years through this at-large approach, which has been in effect for decades.
If the ward requirement is repealed — the objective of Ordinance 899 — elections will be won by the five candidates who receive the most votes. That is the same system already in use to elect the mayor.
On January 14, a public hearing will be held before the final ordinance vote. It must receive six of the available 10 votes to win approval. In December, the vote in favor of the ordinance on the first of two readings was 6-3 with one member absent.
Change is required, Jacobs said, because a 2021 revision to state law has determined that the current at-large method of electing board members by ward does not comply. Eliminating wards dissolves that problem, though it will not guarantee that all areas are represented by persons who live in each part of town. The mayor said the board still could choose to reject Ordinance 899 in favor of a resolution that asks the General Assembly to allow the current system to continue. It would require a headcount to reapportion the wards for the first time in 30 years. Jacobs said there may not be time for the General Assembly to consider the matter. It convenes on Tuesday. Jacobs said local legislation is supposed to be filed with those members by that time. The mayor said board members met in an unannounced executive session on November 21 with town attorney Kurt Vandivort to discuss the matter, which has been under discussion statewide since last spring.
If Ordinance 899 is approved, the ward lines would be erased for this year’s election on October 4. Citizens will be asked to elect a mayor and five of the 10 aldermen, without regard for the place in town where they live.
The January 14 meeting will include consideration of several other matters, according to the agenda, including:
— Issuance of a beer-permit application from Emily Blankenship and Caroline Pace, new owners of Chappell’s Hometown Foods.
— Approval of a resolution to award a bid to reroof the clubhouse room at Centerville Municipal Golf Course
— Approval of a resolution that awards a contract for the second portion of the Defeated Creek sewer basin rehabilitation project.
— Approval of a resolution to replace fencing around the Fairfield water tanks.
Other matters will arise.
