Election Reform on the Local Level

     When I ran for mayor four years ago, I campaigned on different subjects.  One of the subjects was election reform.  There are a handful of things that I think are wrong with our municipal elections for the leadership of Delphi, and I hope they change.  I knew that I was going to work with the officials involved with elections to try and get some things done that were fairer for the citizens for the future.  Let's start with the basics.

     It's never made sense to me to have council districts but yet have every citizen vote for every council person.  Don't get me wrong, it makes sense to have council districts, it's the voting part that I call a foul on.  As you may or may not know, Delphi has four districts and one at-large seat.  Each of the districts is marked off on a map, and the person elected represents that area.  But why does everyone get to vote on this person?  Why should someone who lives near the high school get to vote on the north end of town's representative?  I understand that the city is only so big, but you would be surprised how different each part of the city is and how they have different situations, problems, and priorities.  I just think that if you represent a certain area, only the people in that area should elect their representative.  If one area turns out 60% of their voters and another area only turns out 10% we have the one area with all of the say on who gets elected.  That is not what is intended in an election.

     There is also another problem that concerns me even more than the above problem.  Do you know that we spend somewhere between $8,000.00-$10,000.00 every election for the election to be handled and processed by the county?  Every municipal election is in an off-year.  What does that mean?  Every four years, there is a presidential election with other races included.  There is also an off year.  There is a year that has state, county, and federal elections during that year.  Then there is a municipal election year, completing the four-year cycle before it starts over.  The municipalities involved in the election for their year must pay for their election to be processed.  The total amount of the expenditure is divided between the participants.  In other words, the total amount must be divided between Delphi, Burlington, Camden, and Yeoman based on registered voters and turnout.  For the past several municipal primary elections, Delphi has been the only one to actually have contested races and, therefore, the only municipality to hold an election. This means the entire cost of the election falls on the citizens of Delphi. Flora was smart enough to see this and opted out by restructuring their board and clerk makeup.  Now, not only do they save money by having their elections every other year when the county has theirs, but they also don't elect all their seats together.

     Speaking of which, this leads me to the third and final thing that needs to be changed.  With the current way Delphi is structured for our elections, all seven positions are elected at the same time.  What's that mean?  It means that in certain elections, the mayor, the clerk, and all five council members could all be elected and new at the same time.  In other words, you as a citizen will potentially NOT have anyone with experience in any of your city's positions.  This actually happened a few cycles back, and in my opinion, it wasn't good.  I sat on the city council for four years.  Like any other position, it takes a year or so to be able to really figure things out.  When I was elected, I was very appreciative of someone like Carolyn Pearson to be able to look to for knowledge and, more importantly, experience.  Things need to change, and the council seats need to be staggered.  Two seats need to be elected every year, and the other three seats need to be elected two years later.  Then you have a cycle going where people with experience will be there for the new people being elected.  

     I wasn't elected in the last cycle, so I didn't get the chance to change things and do election reform the way I just described.  However, currently in Indianapolis, there is House Enrolled Act 1633 (HEA 1633) being spearheaded by the Secretary of State, who is the chief election official for Indiana, that is taking up some of the issues I just addressed.  I support the changes that I just talked about and, as long as this bill covers those, I support this bill, too.  We have to make changes like these to make our city better and be the best it can be for our future.  I encourage you to call your council representative and the mayor and express your support for these changes.  (If you can find their numbers or email addresses.)  This is important and is the only fair way to hold elections here in Delphi.  If these changes aren't made, then we will see more abuses of power on our local level.  We've seen enough of that already, and making these changes gives power back to the people and takes it away from the people we've elected.  Make your voice heard on these issues and on Election Day.