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At-large is bad for students
Currently 4 of 7 council members represent student populations, providing students
with diverse representation that is attentive to their issues:
| Urbana (at-large=0) | Champaign (at-large=3) |
|---|
| Recycling for all apartments | No recycling for apartments |
| Tenant rights ordinance | No landlord-tenant ordinance |
| $135/year street parking | $420/yr ($35/mo) street parking |
But by adding 2 at-large seats, the 4 city council members
who represent student populations would become a minority.
Other Nearby College Towns
Students have been elected many times to ward seats on Urbana's City Council. In
Champaign, which has 3 at-large and 6 district seats, students have gained election to
the district seats there as well.
In stark contrast, students have never gained election to an at-large
seat in Champaign. When you look at other nearby college towns, you find the
same thing. At Illinois State University (ISU) in Normal, students have never been
elected to their at-large city council. Students there have long been unhappy
with their representation. And at Southern Illinois University (SIU) in Carbondale,
students not only have never gained election to their at-large council, but they
even put a referendum on the ballot in 2001 trying to eliminate at-large in favor
of a ward system like we have in Urbana! They lost by only 545 votes and vowed to
continue their fight against at-large in search of better representation.
Voter turnout
An argument used to promote at-large is that students have a
low voter turnout rate in city elections. But the U.S.
Constitution says students and minorities deserve
equal representation in city government no matter whether
they vote. Even in the Urbana ward with the highest voter
turnout, only 30% of registered voters voted in the last election.
back to the issues
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VOTE NO on AT-LARGE seats in Urbana