Council districts in Everett would broaden representation

eople in Everett want district city council elections. That’s clear.

I’m part of the effort to get this issue on the ballot for voters to decide on this issue. We’re canvassing houses, we’re at the farmers markets, and other sites. And 99 percent of people I talk to have signed the petition, while 1 percent want more information from the website districtsnow.org.

Smaller districts make sense. We can get working class people on city council because a smaller area means they don’t have to raise $30,000 to win, they can raise a couple thousand or even do a grass-roots campaign and win.

Right now, Everett has a lot of residents who aren’t registered to vote. Many who are registered don’t vote. Not voting is a vote. It means people don’t feel they can affect city policy. They’re too smart to waste their time if it won’t make a difference. Candidates with the most money win. We all know that. Its money and politics 101.

The city council and the people seem to agree that we want the majority of Everett citizens to connect with our city in a powerful way. Some ways are to speak at a city council meeting or join one of the city’s boards and commissions. We encourage you to submit an application at https://everettwa.gov/216/Boards-Commissions.

My speeches to the community are met with: “We can win if we only have to share our vision in a small area.” We live there. We can represent our needs as an elected official. It’s personal for me; I live in Lowell, central Everett, where a grass-roots candidate failed to win 5 times!

Smaller city council districts means that a candidate will knock on people’s doors for the first time. Conversations will happen about our city in areas that don’t have them now. People in those areas can finally say “maybe I can run and win a seat on city council.” People meet and greet their neighbors in a way that increases voters and voter turnout in their areas. As they campaign, they can register voters. It’s a win-win.

Representative democracy means that both working class and CEOs can be a part of government. Districting is a way to increase representation. Our city wants to know how to serve those areas better. They want more diversity to connect with city government. How about this way? City council said no. If the people say yes, sign the petition, then Vote for it when it’s on the ballot.

We’re growing fast and we need to take care of all areas of Everett to lower crime levels, provide good-paying jobs, and make sure we include everyone in the decisions affecting our daily lives.

People with power will connect with city government. Let’s give the people more power to influence public policy and they will come. Together we can create the Everett we all love.

Whatever you do, register to vote and vote.

Brenda Bolanos-Ivory

Everett

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