Wentworth Gets Council Thumbs' Down

Sen. Wentworth and Council Member Martinez: Same aim, different approaches

At a special meeting this morning, Austin City Council voted unanimously to oppose Senate Bill 1618 if and when it gets to committee. That's Sen. Jeff Wentworth's proposal to replace Austin's current at-large council system with a minimum of six council members and an at-large mayor. Which seems odd, because at least half of council supports moving to a single member or hybrid system after the 2010 census.

Talking to long-time single member advocate Council Member Mike Martinez before the vote, he hasn't had a change of heart. What he is most concerned about is the bad precedent that letting state government get involved in core city affairs would set. Allowing the legislature to achieve by a 50% vote what would take a two-thirds majority in a city referendum takes the principal of home rule cities out at the knees.

Wentworth's bill is one of those classic pieces of legislation that looks like it's broadly written (it covers any "municipality with a population of 500,000") but is actually finely tuned (the only municipality with a population of 500,000 that doesn't have a single member or hybrid system is Austin.) But opposing it may actually involve some grandstanding by council: SB 1618 was referred to the Senate State Affairs Committee on March 9, and hasn't moved an inch since then.