Voters turn down ward system plan

Wed, Nov 4, 2009    to del.icio.us

The voters have spoken, and a proposed ward system for the City of Grand Haven won't become a reality anytime soon.

"I thought we had a 50-50 chance of winning, more on the positive side of things," said ballot proposal organizer Ade Kuyper of Grand Haven.

Voters Tuesday defeated the ballot proposal with 1,014 votes — measuring against 901 votes in favor — a margin of only 113 votes.

"It was (about) 52-48 percent, so we're talking about a 4 percent swing," Kuyper said.

Kuyper said the close results are encouraging and might allow them to run the proposal in the future.

Ballot proposal language stated that by July 1, 2010, the City Council would have established four wards in accordance with the Michigan Home Rule City Act of 1909. The act would have allowed ward boundaries to be determined by the most-recent U.S. Census figures by that date.

If the four districts were established, City Council members from both the first and second wards would be elected in 2011, while council members from wards three and four would be elected in 2013. The mayoral election would be excluded from the ward voting system.

While those who presented the plan believe the close results may warrant a return to the ward proposal in the future, others see the defeat as an end to the ward discussion.

"I think we have just kind of put the ward system to bed once and for all," Grand Haven Councilman Edward Nieuwenhuis said of the results.

If representatives from various portions of the city feel underrepresented, they should seek candidates to name on the election ballot.

"It's great, in a town our size, all the people get to choose all of the candidates," Nieuwenhuis said.