Why Hickory City Government Must Change.wmv
Channel: hickoryhound
Date: 2011-09-21

In 1970 the City of Hickory changed from a pure ward system to modified at-large or blend system for electing City Council members. This meant that council members were nominated from their wards through primaries but had to be elected city-wide. This change created an electoral system which has eventually led to the under-representation of lower income and minority citizens in elected positions.

A group of concerned citizens from various wards in the city has initiated a petition to bring about a public referendum on this issue. These citizens believe that each of Hickory's six municipal wards should have a representative on the City Council elected by the people of that ward. They would also favor having the Mayor and two or three Council members elected at-large.

Our petition requests the Hickory City Council to change its present electoral system of the "At Large" system to a "Pure" ward system, a system that will let citizens of each ward elect their own representative.

Other advantages of a pure ward system are that the City Council and city government in general would become more responsive to local neighborhoods and more voters would want to participate in elections. Furthermore, the pure ward system is more efficient and less costly than our present system. Above all, it brings government closer to the people and therefore is more democratic. Studies of cities where representatives are elected by wards have borne out these facts.