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POSTED: Thursday, Oct. 23, 2008

Bellingham voters to consider term change for council's at-large seat

BELLINGHAM - Since the city's charter was approved in 1972 at least one City Council member, the at-large position, has served for only two years.

Now, City Councilman Jack Weiss believes it's time to change the term of the at-large seat, now held by Councilwoman Louise Bjornson.

Council members, with Weiss' guidance, approved in a 6-1 vote to place a question before residents Nov. 4 asking if they want the positoin to have a four-year term. Bjornson was the lone dissenter.

How long do council members serve now?

Six of the City Council members represent different wards in the city. Those representatives serve for four years at a time. Half of the six spots are on the ballot every two years. The at-large position is elected by all residents and serves for two years at a time.

Why is Weiss proposing the change?

Weiss and his fellow council members who supported placing the measure on the ballot believe that the at-large position has become a costly seat to campaign for. The average cost to campaign in 2007 was about $17,000. To do that every two years is expensive, Weiss and others argue.

The councilman also believes that a two-year term doesn't allow for that council member to get fully educated on what he has called "complex" issues that the city deals with on behalf of taxpayers. A four-year term would allow that person to get better acquainted with an issue and be more involved in it. And decisions might be less politically motivated by that at-large member, who must seek re-election more often than other council members.

Weiss has said he's not picking on Bjornson specifically, who has been on the council for more than two decades.

What are arguments against the change?

Kenni Merritt, a local attorney and an active community and civic volunteer, argues that the city's freeholders, who wrote the charter, purposely intended the at-large position to be a two-year position.

The main thought behind it, opponents say, is that having the at-large position elected every two years allows city residents to elect or unelect four council members every two years. That way if residents aren't happy with the direction the council is going, they can change up the majority.