"City Council digs its task forces. When a tricky decision looms, task forces can help take pressure off councilors and, in the best of cases, provide guidance and public input.

But the task force studying Republican-championed ideas for revamping City government, which includes the creation of a ward system, a directly elected mayor and an increased number of councilors, hasn't been quite as groovy for Council.

At the August 16 Council meeting, during which Mayor David Brown's edict for relative brevity was clearly in force, the task force delivered its interim report and unveiled a plan for eight public hearings (for specific dates and locations, visit www.charlottesville.org). But the four Democrats on Council questioned the task force's charter, budget and even its existence.

Councilor Kevin Lynch, who has called the task force a 'colossal' waste of time, stressed during the meeting that the task force must establish whether a change to City government is necessary.

'Are there groups in this city that are underrepresented? And if so, how?' Lynch asked.

At the meeting, Sean O'Brien, deputy director of UVA's political-education Sorensen Institute and director of the task force, was questioned about the task force's proposed expenses, which include $2,000 for newspaper ads, and a few thousand more for an intern and a professional facilitator for public hearings.

'I've just got a little sticker shock, that's all,' said Councilor Blake Caravati.

Councilor Rob Schilling, the Council's sole Republican and a proponent of the ward system, fired back, citing the costs of the Jefferson School task force, which ran up $120,000 for facilitators alone.

'The Council is scared to death by what could happen here,' Schilling said later in an interview. He claimed that wrangling over the task force's charter and relatively small budget are efforts by Democrats to 'bury' the ward system and elected mayor proposals.

'They've tried forwards and backwards to manipulate this,' Schilling says, arguing that Democrats want to preserve a system in which the 'central party power structure' controls which candidates have a shot at getting elected to Council.

Lynch denies that party interests underlie his opposition to a ward system, reasserting that without a clear definition of the problem, he thinks the need for a task force 'is a little tenuous.'

'There are some disgruntled people who aren't in office,' Lynch says of the impetus for a ward system, adding that city Republicans 'need to look within if they're not winning elections.'

Lynch did, however, vote for the task force back in April, prompting Schilling to criticize his consistency on the issue. Lynch responds that the inclusion of a charge to look at the general issue of representation spurred him to join Caravati and former councilors Meredith Richards and Maurice Cox in voting for the task force in April. For now, he says he'll abide by the task force, 'as long as it's even-handed.'—" (Paul Fain, C-Ville Weekly, August 24, 2004)