October Program: The Great Debate on Question C
By Cary Lamari, Immediate Past President MCCF
Our program on Monday, October 11 will be a debate on "Question C". The debate will be open to the public and widely advertised. Councilmembers Phil Andrews (Dem. - District 3) and Steve Silverman (Dem. - at-large) have graciously agreed to debate the pros and cons of this ballot measure.
The Civic Federation successfully collected 15,149 petition signatures from registered voters in Montgomery County over the summer. This places a Charter Amendment on the ballot in November. We took this initiative at the recommendation of our Election Reform Committee. Its objective is to eliminate the four at-large seats on the County Council and create nine single member districts with roughly equal numbers of constituents and voters. Having nine small, community-based districts will have a number of benefits to our civic and political life. Most important, the cost of running for a seat on the County Council will be more equal and much lower than is now the case: about half the cost of running for a current district seat and one ninth the cost of running for an at-large seat. This fact should encourage and enable more well-qualified citizens to run for public office and to mount successful campaigns. Incumbents who know and serve their constituents well should not feel threatened, but challengers who are able to develop strong, grass roots support from large numbers of their constituents should be empowered to compete in the political system on a more equal footing. More women and minorities should be able to successfully enter local political races and win those races by building broad, grass roots support even when not part of the "old boy" network and lacking the campaign financing provided by big money special interest groups. While these changes will not eliminate special interest money from elections, the undue influence of "big money" going to fund the campaigns for the at-large seats should be diminished and the long term interests of the county and its citizens given higher priority.
The Great Debate on Question C will be impartially moderated by our President, Dan Wilhelm, and conducted with rules agreed to by both councilmen.
Please make sure you are able to attend this historical event. Help us get the word out to your family and friends all over the county. A well-informed electorate is fundamental to good government - the major mission of the Civic Federation.
This Page Last Edited: October 2, 2004 .