Single-member districts make sense
To the editor:
Originally a country girl from Alabama, I would like to do some straight talk about the proposed referendum for single-member district elections in Lee County. First, I would like to say in plain English what it is all about and why I’m for it. Basically it boils down to fair representation for the residents of a district and an equitable system for candidates.
Currently, a commissioner is elected countywide (at-large system), rules countywide and has to be a resident of the district that he is representing. That means, for instance, that every voter in the county would vote for the commissioner to represent the Lehigh Acres community. An analogy would be voters in every state selecting Florida senators. The only thing that would change in a single-member district system is the commissioners would be elected only by those voters from within their districts. So only the community voters of Lehigh Acres would vote for their commissioner.
In the current system, everyone votes countywide, so everyone’s vote is diluted when it comes to choosing their own commissioner to represent their district. There have been several cases where the commissioner was elected to represent an area but wasn’t the choice of that district. This is a failure of the at-large system. Residents of a district would know their candidates better than anyone else.
A good reason for going to a single-member district election is the fact that countywide elections have become too expensive. Campaign financing shuts out many well-qualified candidates, who simply can’t afford to run. The only option for many would be to take money from special interest groups. It has been said that it takes at least $100,000 to run a reasonable campaign to reach around 342,000 voters. In a countywide election, a candidate would have to pay for campaign signs, media advertisement and direct mailing for five districts instead of one.
Another reason for going to a single-member district election is the fact that we have become a large and complex county with more than 600,000 residents. We are the only county in the state that has at-large elections in counties that have a population over 450,000. Our sister county Collier uses a single-district election process. Since our county is so large and diverse, locally elected commissioners would know their own districts better.
Contrary to Commissioner Judah’s opinion that single-member districts would be fiefdoms, I consider the at-large system a fiefdom due to the true meaning of a fiefdom. A fiefdom is where the landowners have all the control and the tenants have no say-so about the land they are working. In an at-large system, the residents of a district often have no one they choose to represent their interests. It is taxation without representation.
All the chickens will come home to roost at the regular meeting of the Board of County Commissioners at Commission Chambers on April 6. That is when the commissioners consider placing the single-member district referendum on the November 2010 general election ballot. I would like to thank the three commissioners Frank Mann, Brian Bigelow and Bob Janes who favor the issue being placed on the ballot. Come out to ensure a common-sense approach to the electoral process.
Sandra McClinton
Cape Coral
Member of the Coalition for Common-Sense Government
Vice Chair of the Lee County Democratic Party