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Resident urges council to keep neighborhood voices if seats go at-large
Summary
Don Courtney told the council that converting council seats to all at-large positions could open elections to big-money influence and weaken neighborhood representation; councilors said they will hold a workshop in August or September to study seat allocation.
Don Courtney, a recently arrived Rock Springs resident, addressed the council during public comment and urged caution about proposals to convert council seats to all at-large positions. He said that in his experience at-large elections can favor name recognition and outside money and can erode neighborhood representation.
Courtney described a sequence of local changes in his previous state that he said led to centralized power and reduced local responsiveness. Councilors thanked him for his remarks, said they value community input and noted that the council plans a workshop in August or September to examine seat allocation and the implications of any change to at-large elections.
Councilors signaled skepticism about a wholesale move to at-large seats, noting concerns that some neighborhoods could lose direct representation. No policy change or vote occurred; the council only committed to scheduling a workshop and public outreach on the topic.
The next procedural step is the workshop scheduling; the council said it would announce dates once arranged.
