After an hour of back and forth debate, the Home Rule Charter Commission approved a resolution giving direction for what council in a home-rule Princeton could look like.
Commissioners unanimously approved a resolution calling for a seven-person city council, six councilmembers and the mayor, during the regular meeting Wednesday, March 16.
The commission also agreed to make the terms for councilmembers and the mayor staggered, but did not come to an agreement about term length.
Over the course of the meeting, commissioners ran the gamut of how to organize places for council. Some commissioners argued for all places to be elected at-large, meaning any resident in Princeton could vote for each place on council.
Others argued for a system to be determined using exclusively single member districts, which could limit the say voters had on the makeup of council. There was also a proposal for using a blend of at-large and districts to elect council.
Commissioner Maxine Ellis was in favor of single member districts because she did not like how current councilmembers live in close proximity to one another.
“Our population in the city isn’t getting a fair shake,” Ellis said. “If you look at districts, you’ll at least be giving the whole city representation.”
For the full story, see the March 24 issue.
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