At Thursday’s city council meeting, a move to a four-year election cycle for city councilors and mayor was discussed. The matter was sent back to committee for now but it will come up again.
Since the meeting, I have given the extension of our terms some more thought and I’d like to share my thoughts on this issue with my constituents.
First, I think it’s undemocratic for elected officials to extend their own terms without consent of the electorate. That’s why I believe this matter should be brought before Westfield’s voters and require at least 50% of them to approve a move to four year terms.
Second, I am much more comfortable with four year terms for the mayor than I am for city councilors. Running a city is essentially a full-time job and campaigning every two years takes considerable time away from that job. On the other hand, a city councilor’s job is not as vital to the city’s day-to-day operations nor does it require the same kind of time commitment.
However, if the mayor moves to four year terms I believe the city council must move to four year terms as well. That’s because if we leave city council races at two-years, turnout for council races in years without a mayoral race will be very poor. For example, our elections usually draw about 35% of voters out. But in 2011, when Mayor Knapik ran unopposed, turnout was only about 20%. As a result, we will wind up with candidates on the city council who do not accurately reflect the true will of the voters. This would not be good for democracy in our city.
Third, I would vehemently oppose “staggering” the elections of the city councilors. Under this proposal, only half of the city council would be up for election every two years. This is how we currently run our school committee races.
But if we stagger the city council elections, we will run into the same low voter turnout problem I described earlier: in years without mayoral races, only very small percentage of voters will be voting. As a result, you would end up with a very divided council, with one half the council appealing only to the voters who show up in off-year elections and the other half who better represent the broader electorate.
Fourth, if we do move to four year terms, I believe there should be opportunities to recall the mayor or councilors to help flush out anyone who is grossly incompetent. Barriers to the recall process should be high enough to prevent spurious political attacks but not so high as to make it too difficult to throw someone out of office.
Lastly, I enjoy campaigning. Yes, it’s more work for me to run every two years but it’s a great opportunity to listen to what’s on the minds of my constituents. I learn a great deal from the process and it helps inform my votes on the council. If we move to four years, I do worry we risk getting mayors and councilors that are less responsive and more out of touch with citizens.
What are your thoughts? You can get in touch with me at 413-537-4451 or email me at [email protected] or on my Facebook page, www.facebook.com/DondleyForCC.
Sincerely,
Steve Dondley
City Councilor At-Large
