Wrong vote in Anaheim

The majority of Anaheim’s City Council members don’t seem to understand the urgent need to make changes in the city’s political structure in order insure that the municipal leadership is more representative of the communities it serves.

It is unfortunate that the Council chose last Wednesday to reject the proposal put forward by Mayor Tom Tait and one other Council member, Lorri Galloway, to place on the November ballot a measure to change the at-large voting system to one of election by specific districts.

Those who opposed the measure, Council members Kris Murray, Gail Eastman and Harry Sidhu, want “more time to study things well,” deciding instead to create a citizen’s advisory committee on elections and community participation.

We believe this is just an excuse to buy time and delay as long as possible the inevitable changes to Anaheim’s city structure. The current system is not sustainable given that the majority of residents are not represented by the City Council.

The lack of representative democracy leads to injustices and frustrations that are exploding in civic unrest with recent police actions.

Wanting to push for the November ballot does not contradict the need to do it well. With a good faith effort, there is still time to develop a proposal that clearly delineates the change so that voters can decide whether to continue with the current system or change it.

We are concerned that the creation of this type of committee is really nothing more than an excuse by politicians who know that election by district means they would lose their jobs. As it stands today, four of the five council members live in the same area, Anaheim Hills, which is the city’s wealthiest neighborhood. That is the reason behind Murray’s unusual idea to hold off on the measure until the election of June 2014.

Bypassing the November ballot loses the opportunity to put the measure forward in an election that would have high voter participation. At the same time, prolonging the issue will cost the city money in fighting the lawsuit being brought forward by those who want to change the districts.

We hope that the public’s interest prevails over the interests of three Anaheim politicians and the decision is reversed so that the measure is placed on the November ballot.