Following nearly an hour of public comment on Tuesday, Jan. 23, where Centralia residents voiced opposition to an ordinance that would have removed voter districts and made all city council positions at-large, the council voted 4-1 against the proposal.
Councilor Cameron McGee was the proposal’s lone supporter.
Meeting attendees commented they were concerned the move would allow the council to become stacked with candidates backed by special interest groups or it would discourage people from running for council because they could not afford or have the time to campaign across the entire city.
Some also believed that removing voter districts should be left up to the voters themselves.
“Any change on how the City of Centralia is governed should be by the vote of the people, not by council ordinances,” said former Centralia Mayor Susan Luond during public comment.
Packaged along with this proposal were Centralia City Code housekeeping changes making a number of amendments relating to mayoral duties and powers and changing the mayor pro tem position to deputy mayor. These changes were approved unanimously on Tuesday.
Councilor Sarah Althauser and Mayor Kelly Smith Johnston were not present during the meeting, and originally a motion was made to remove the ordinance’s second reading from the council’s agenda and postpone it until the next meeting when all councilors could be present.
After public comment, the second reading was added back to the council’s agenda for Tuesday by a vote of 3-2, with Councilors Chris Brewer and McGee opposing the motion.
This ordinance as a whole was originally approved by the council on its first reading on Jan. 9 by a vote of 5-1 as previously reported by The Chronicle, with Councilor Max Vogt being its sole opposition.
McGee originally brought forward the idea of eliminating voter districts to align Centralia with the majority of other cities in Washington.
He also hoped the change might reduce the number of council candidates running unopposed for their positions.
“I initially brought it forward because I believe it would increase access and opportunity to be on council citywide,” McGee told The Chronicle in an email. “We don’t have racially or economically disparate districts, and they encompass many neighborhoods within each. The decisions we make on council affect the entire city.”
Vogt opposed doing away with voter districts, as he believed the districts already provided access with a lower barrier for those interested in running for council.
He also believed the decision to remove districts should be left up to Centralia voters, a sentiment echoed by many who spoke out during public comment.
“I contacted the MRSC, which is the Municipal Research and Service Center,” Vogt said during the meeting. “… The trend over time has been towards the creation of districts, often a hybrid system with a mix of wards, districts and at-large positions, in part to address the inequities of minority representation at the local level.”
He added both Yakima and Pasco have been sued and forced to revert from an all at-large voting system to having voter districts.
Councilors Mark Westley, Adrianna Garibay and Brewer stated virtually all of the comments they had received since the ordinance’s first reading were opposed to removing voter districts.
“During public comment tonight as well, it seems to be very overwhelming towards one position … I feel differently personally, but I am also here to represent the public,” Brewer said. “At this time, I’m really torn, but listening to everybody speak I’m not sure this is worth going forward with at this point.”
“If it’s been working until now, I think that’s how we should be,” Garibay added.
Centralia’s current city council system, with four district positions and three at-large, was initially adopted by the city in 1986, according to former Centralia City Clerk and Councilor Caroline (Neely) Rickard, who spoke in favor of retaining the system during the Jan. 9 meeting.
