Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Davidson 4-Year Terms Proposal Withdrawn

In what may seem to be an ironic victory for small-d democracy, during Tuesday's "special meeting" the Davidson Town Board withdrew the resolution that would have put the 4 year terms charter amendment on the ballot this November. 

The Town's current format of two year elected terms for both the Board and Mayor in an at-large setup is the most "democratic" form of government allowed by state law.  The Town's proposal to go to 4-year staggered terms would have reduced the level of small-d democracy by reducing the frequency when an elected official had to face the voters.  It also would have ensured a majority of the board was only on the ballot at one time every 4 years.  In my opinion, neither of these things would be preferable for a small town like Davidson with an active and engaged citizenry.

Without going into the gory details of the arguments for and against this issue that were presented at tonight's meeting, I'll just say I'm glad they made the decision they did.  It was the right thing to do.

DavidsonNews.net article on the meeting.

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