Changes to the composition of the College Park City Council that would have created at-large positions have been pushed aside, perhaps for years.
Council members agreed at a work session this week to drop the topic, at least for this year, according to Assistant City Clerk Yvette Allen.
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But Council Member Bob Catlin said things will likely remain status quo until at least after the next census in 2010.
Council Member Andrew Fellows recently proposed the creation of at-large positions and the eventual establishment of a fifth district that would virtually guarantee that students from University of Maryland, College Park have a representative on the body.
The city is divided into four districts, with residents electing two candidates in their district. Under Fellows’ proposal, each district would have one position, and there would be four at-large spots. The council members and the mayor serve two-year terms.
Fellow said it would be good for the plan to go into effect for this fall’s election, Nov. 13.
But with Election Day approaching, Catlin said, “There is concern about having that kind of change … and there is concern about finding or having four people run at-large.”
In addition, Catlin said, some council members were concerned that the at-large process would enable multiple people to get elected from a part of the city with high voter turnout, so “they would be over-represented.”
Council Member Mary Cook said the council “didn’t seem very open” to changing the status quo.
“In the future, we are going to have to redistrict anyway because we are going to have so many new developments,” she said. “And I think that is the time we will have to bring it up.”
Fellows has said the creation of at-large positions would give residents “more reason to come out and vote because you’d be voting for more people.”
