Detroit Charter Commision supports council by district

In 2009, Detroit voters elected a new commission to rewrite the city charter. Flaws in the current charter, only recently revised in the 1990s, were revealed during the Kilpatrick administration. Vague wording left the City Council powerless to remove Mayor Kilpatrick.


Besides the Kilpatrick saga, public spats at council meetings were made (in)famous by the Internet. Those episodes left a bad taste in voter's mouths.


Currently, The nine Detroit City Council members are elected at large in a city wide vote. That will change.

 March 16, The Detroit News:  The panel has tackled the most controversial issue that helped bring it together in 2009: electing council members by districts. Still undecided, though, is how much power the council would have in day-to-day affairs.

    "That balance is the most important part of the discussion," said Detroit-based political analyst Eric Foster. "If the council has the same power and influence as they do today, they will be an unproductive, politically ineffective operating body. If you balance it out between the two, then you have a good check and balance structure that exists.

    Electing council by districts, rather than citywide, has been a contentious issue in Detroit for nearly two decades. Aside from Columbus, Ohio, Detroit is the last big U.S. city that elects all nine members at-large. Residents indicated they wanted to switch to districts in a non-binding 2009 referendum.

Of all the issues facing the charter commission, council by district will be the biggest change. Right now, five council members reside in Northwest Detroit, three in the Midtown/Downtown area, and one on the Eastside.


The configuration leaves huge areas of  the 139 sq mile city with no council members living in the vicinity.

In the past, the at-large system led to potentially unqualified candidates who used name recognition to claim or retain a seat. (cough...) Remember Martha Reeves and federal inmate No. 43693-039 a.k.a. Monica Conyers?


The charter is not releasing details. But it appears it will give the current council the power to draw districts. It could follow the Detroit Public School district setup: 7 districts, with 2 at large seats. The districts would simply use the same borders as the school system.

Other Charter recommendations require candidates to live in the districts they want to represent for at least one year prior to an election. After an election, council members would have to live in the district they represent.

The charter will also recommend the Council President be elected by it's members, rather than receiving the most overall votes in the general election.Former television and radio reporter and current Detroit Council President Charles Pugh had no prior legislative experience before his election to the current council.

Are there winners and losers?

• Current council members may have to relocate to retain a seat, but after years of neglect, would they be popular in the neighborhoods they move to? 

• Detroit residents would finally have a council member beholden to their districts. Street lights out? Call your council member

• The predominantly Latino Southwest Detroit, with it's growing population, would finally have representation.

•  If the council is split between districts and at-large seats, residents will have more than just their district representative to call on.

Further details may come as soon as this Saturday. The new charter will be on the November ballot.

The ultimate question is, will a new council configuration make a difference in the life of an average Detroiter? Only time will tell.