Having served on San Bernardino's City Council these past five years, it is intriguing to read some of the justifications that my fellow Council members give for artificially lowering the value of some constituents votes and increasing the value of others.  This is a question that Council members Esther Estrada and Rikki Van Johnson cannot effectively answer:  Why should a vote in their ward have four times the power per vote than votes in my ward have?

The representation argument is illegitimate.  If Council members were elected at large, every vote would count the same and every Council member would answer to every voter.  The population of the city mandating a need for districts or wards is semantic.  How big is too big for proper representation?  The argument surrounding the increased costs of elections and the false claim that candidates would have to raise more money and would therefore be beholding to special interests is facetious at best. 

Anyone in politics knows that it is easier to affect a campaign outcome with a small amount of money in a small district than a larger amount in a large district.  Therefore, one large campaign contributor would have a greater impact in a district than in an at large election.  One need only reread James Madison's argument on factions in Federalist 10 to learn why this argument is so incredibly ridiculous.  There is much greater potential for finagling of elections in a ward system, particularly a ward with a small number of voters.  San Bernardino has seen this numerous times with absentee ballot fraud in the low turnout wards.

Additionally, our ward system gives renters a greater voice in elections than actual homeowners.  Homeownership in San Bernardino is far more concentrated in the 4th, 5th, and 7th wards than in lower voter turnout wards. 

The arguments opposed to districts/wards in city elections are so much more numerous than those in favor (even the legitimate arguments) that this debate cannot be about fair representation.  It is about fiefdoms and distrust in the will of the majority. (Although I concede Council member Kelley's point about having greater knowledge of a specific ward and their specific concerns.) 

For the relatively fair article in this weekends Sun please click here.