Notes on City Committee Numbers
“When I became Chairman, the support system of the Democratic Party was less than 50% in the 34 districts of Plainfield. Now today, we have support in over 30 of those districts.”
--Jerry Green
May I remind anyone interested that in 1989 there were 42 voting districts, with a slot for one male and one female candidate in each. Therefore, this most grassroots body of elected officials has shrunk by about 20 percent. The First Ward had 9 districts, now has eight; Second Ward had 13, now has 11; Third Ward had 11, now has 10; and the Fourth Ward had nine, now has five.
As I understand it, when fewer than 250 voters come out to the polls in a district, it is liable to be merged with another district. This is not about the number of registered voters, it is about the number who actually come out and vote. So over 20 years, voter apathy has led to less representation.
Why would voters in a community predominantly of people of color turn their backs on this hard-won right? Any thoughts?
--Jerry Green
May I remind anyone interested that in 1989 there were 42 voting districts, with a slot for one male and one female candidate in each. Therefore, this most grassroots body of elected officials has shrunk by about 20 percent. The First Ward had 9 districts, now has eight; Second Ward had 13, now has 11; Third Ward had 11, now has 10; and the Fourth Ward had nine, now has five.
As I understand it, when fewer than 250 voters come out to the polls in a district, it is liable to be merged with another district. This is not about the number of registered voters, it is about the number who actually come out and vote. So over 20 years, voter apathy has led to less representation.
Why would voters in a community predominantly of people of color turn their backs on this hard-won right? Any thoughts?
--Bernice Paglia
posted by Bernice at 10:31 AM
1 Comments:
Perhaps people have been beaten down so much they do not feel that they have a say.
As a newcomer to Plainfield, the one characteristic that stands out to me the most is the acceptance of being second class - to other cities - to this city - to everything.
I constantly hear, "That's the way it is", or "You can't do anything about it."
That type of dejected attitude keeps this city mired in quicksand. I am excited to see more people getting involved. I think the election of Adrian and Annie showed the people that they really do have a say if they get involved.
I hope more people will get involved and that our language will start changing from, "That's the way it is", to "we deserve the best; anything less is totally unacceptable."
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