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Columbus hearing draws three hours of public testimony on council’s voting structure
Summary
At a public hearing called by the council’s president pro tem, residents, academics and advocates offered sharply divided testimony on whether Columbus should keep its at-large-with-residency system, adopt true by‑district elections or a hybrid; proponents said districts increase accountability, opponents warned of housing and representation tradeoffs.
President Pro Tem (S1) opened a packed public hearing and asked the city’s legislative research director to review how Columbus arrived at its present 9‑member, at‑large-with-residency system before a night of public comment that lasted more than three hours.
Matt Erickson, director of the Legislative Research Office, traced the city’s electoral history from an all at‑large 1914 charter through the 2016 charter change that created the current nine‑member model with district residency requirements and staggered terms. Erickson explained technical map constraints the charter now requires — including a very tight variance rule and contiguity/compactness guidance — and outlined how the districting and charter review commissions operate after each decennial census.
Much of the evening was taken by 36 speakers. Advocates for a citizen‑led amendment called Our City, Our Say urged council to let voters approve “true” districts in which each district…
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