At large voting draws passionate response from both sides

BY PRU SOWERS

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

 

Even if attendees at Key West City Commissioner Sam Kaufman’s June 1 district meeting come out against his proposal to eliminate single-district voting for commissioners, Kaufman said he intends to put the issue before his colleagues for a vote.

Kaufman pulled his resolution to allow Key West residents to vote for all city commissioners, instead of for one commissioner running in their specific district, at the May 17 commission meeting when it became clear it had become a controversial issue that did not have the support of a majority of his colleagues. At that time, Kaufman invited any interested voters to his June 1 District 2 meeting to discuss the “at-large” voting issue.

If a majority of the attendees indicate they prefer the single district status quo, which Kaufman said he did not anticipate happening, the commissioner said he still believes an at-large voting structure is best for Key West.

“A lot of big issues are affected by the ‘not in my backyard’ phenomena [where] a small minority of people get their way,” Kaufman said recently, referring to split votes on locations for the new homeless shelter and two proposed parking garages. “They have to think holistically about what’s best for the island.”

Other commissioners were not convinced, voicing their opinions even though Kaufman pulled the resolution off the agenda. Commissioner Richard Payne pointed out that although almost 77 percent of voters in a 1996 non-binding resolution voted to change to at-large voting – and the city charter revision committee recommended at-large voting in both 2002 and 2011 – officials have not made the change.

“Nothing happened,” Payne said about public opinion that appeared to favor at-large voting. “And because nothing happened, sometimes you have to give the city credit for what it didn’t do… there was wisdom there.”

Commissioner Margaret Romero also wants to keep single district voting. At-large voting could make the cost of a local political campaign prohibitive for some candidates, forcing them to advertise throughout the entire city instead of only in their district. That might discourage public involvement, particularly for first time candidates, she said.

“When you run for your own district, it’s much easier to understand who your constituents are and to make yourself available to the people in your district,” Romero said, adding, “At least people in your district feel they have a place to go.”

But it was Commissioner Clayton Lopez who stunned onlookers with the depth of his passion against at-large voting. Reading from a prepared statement, the usually cheerful Lopez painted a picture of deep discrimination against African American voters at federal, state and local levels that would be exacerbated by changing to at-large voting in Key West.

“At the federal level, we are seeing voter suppression at levels not seen since the days of Jim Crow,” he read, referring to laws that were in force until 1965 that enforced segregation at the state and local level. “Massive indiscriminate purging of minority voter rolls statewide. This is yet another one of those suppressions.”

Lopez represents District 6, which includes Bahama Village, traditionally an enclave for African- and Bahamian-American residents. But he said that his objections do not only revolve around race and ethnicity. Local representation and knowledge of the needs of a specific district are equally important, he said.

“Serving all is what’s important. But being the voice for the area you represent is, too,” he said.

Kaufman replied in a later interview that he was sensitive to the emotional statements from Lopez and some residents in the audience at the May 17 meeting. However, he said that gentrification in Bahama Village has reduced the number of Africa- Americans living in that neighborhood. And the Key West philosophy of “One Human Family” had led to more inclusive race relations locally, he said, that don’t require an elected champion anymore. Specific voting blocs such as African-Americans, local Haitian residents and women might be better served if all city commission candidates wanted their vote, Kaufman said.

“I believe that these communities would be empowered if all the candidates were courting their endorsement, not just one district. It’s disempowering to a community to limit representation to one Key West City Commissioner,” he said.

Former City commissioner Teri Johnston, who has laid low politically since choosing not to run for reelection last year, was making calls to local reporters prior to Kaufman withdrawing his resolution, urging that at-large voting be approved. If it is, Johnston said she would be encouraged to run again for city commissioner.

There were often “turf wars” between commissioners during her tenure on that board, she said. One example was parking garages. Since she represented District 5, which includes New Town where parking is not a problem, her constituents urged her not to vote for any new, costly parking garages in Old Town.

“Were we as supportive and visionary as we should have been. Absolutely not,” she said, adding that at-large voting would allow commissioners to take a long-term mindset rather than “six individual fiefdoms.”

But Lopez was not convinced.

“The system as it is now works. Let it die,” he said about at-large voting.

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