Shorewood may revert to at-large council seats

Shorewood is rethinking its six-year-old ward system and may decide that residents of the small bedroom community had a greater voice in city government when all its voters could elect all its council members at-large.

After a public hearing next Monday, the City Council could vote to dismantle the wards before the election of three of four city council members and the mayor this fall.

Wards are created to guarantee representation to residents of all parts of a city. That was the council's goal in 2002 when it carved up long, skinny Shorewood into four wards.

But ward opponents say that in a town of 7,400 people, roughly half of them of voting age, holding at-large elections every two years would keep residents interested in city government and give them more power to hold the City Council accountable.

"In the past, I got to vote [at large] for every single seat on that council, and today I only get to vote for one person in my ward and the mayor," said Shorewood resident John Garfunkel.

"It flies in the face of my feelings of democracy at this level," Garfunkel added.

As a former council member, Garfunkel voted against wards in 2002 and now hopes to sway new council members to overturn the system.

After just two elections, in 2004 and 2006, the ward system has not had enough time to prove itself, Lizee said. She thinks a decision to reverse it on Monday would be rushed.

Mayor questions timing

At a time when the council is looking for a new city manager and presiding over City Hall improvements, Lizee asks, "Why would we put this to the top of business when it has not been a goal or priority for the last two years?"

But all four council members are open to hearing the discussion. They include Council Member Laura Turgeon, who in 2002 voted with Garfunkel against wards.

Many residents don't know what ward they are in and contact council members with whom they are comfortable, Turgeon said.

Garfunkel and 12 others petitioned as early as 2004 for a reversal of the ward system. After that petition was met with silence, he tried again this spring because there are three new council members.

At a meeting not attended by Lizee, the four council members agreed to hold a hearing on the matter. Then city staff recommended that any change would have to be made next Monday to comply with a state law that requires voting locations to be set by June 11 and to give the city, county and state time to update election information and website software.

The tight deadline is causing concern, but the issue isn't new and the arguments are familiar, Garfunkel said.

Former City Council Member Paula Callies, an attorney, advised against rushing a decision. The ward system was put in place after much public comment and debate, she said. If the council wants to consider changing it back, it should allow "sufficient time for public education and involvement so that there is no question that a decision to abolish the ward system is made in the general public interest and not to advance a particular political agenda for the election of 2008."

But David McCuskey, a resident, is urging council members to act now. "I like the idea that if we don't like what's going on in the city we can throw the rascals out," he said. "And you have a better chance of doing this if you have an at-large system."