George:

David RePass's letter to you, complaining about my letter to you, is puzzling.

First, all that I said is that the next "battle" will be over wards for City Council. Note that I do not state that the next "step" will be to elect Councilors by ward -- only that that will be the next "battle."

Second, I don't know why David RePass continues to assume that I don't understand his legal point -- I do. I understand that there is no legal requirement that we elect City Councilors by ward if we elect School Board members by ward. What David doesn't understand, or if he understands, chooses to deny, is the political reality that the pressure will be greater to elect City Councilors by ward once we have taken that step with the School Board. David was not here during the contentious debate over wards in the 1980's. One of the strongest arguments against having wards for City Council in the 1980's was the practical difficulties of drawing wards. Once we have entered into that process, and presumably completed it in good faith and with an honest effort to be fair, the arguments for having all at-large elections to the City Council will be, collectively, much weaker. To claim to the contrary is simply naive.

David responds, "Ah! But Council will continue to be Democratic! No problem!" As I have suggested all along, I think that the Democratic Party wins just about every seat, regardless of how Council is organized. I don't see the "ward v. at-large" debate as being about political party. There are some Democrats who favor ward elections also. There are legitimate differences in opinion as a matter of political theory as to which of Edmund Burke's models of representative government is preferable, and some Democrats will surely come down on each side. Reasonable people may differ on that. Add to this theoretical debate the prospect (which some of us remember from the 1980's debate) of Councilors and Democrats being the subject of accusations of racism and, to use the currently popular phrase, "traditional Southern Democratic paternalism," and I would bet that some Democratic Councilors will say, "Reasonable people can differ on the theory, but I can get the unreasonable people off my back if I go with wards."

Again -- my prediction was for the battle, not for the step. The battle will come.

Lloyd Snook (electronic mail, December 1, 2005)