By Andrea Gregory

The primary election is over and the city is preparing to vote one more time to fill a vacant city for alderman-at-large. However, one board member said officials should start talking about possibly skipping a stop at the polls next time a vacancy opens up. 

The proposal came from William A. White, alderman-at-large, and has been sent to the legislative matters committee for review. The idea is to have the fifth place candidate in the regular election to fill a vacancy if one appears. It would take a charter change, requiring the assistance of the state legislature, and it could end up as a question on a citywide ballot to see how voters feel.

White said he was approaching the process from a financial standpoint when he asked his fellow aldermen to review the process.  ‚ÄúI proposed discussing it,‚Äù said White.

White said voter turnout tends to be low during citywide special elections. Last week, only 11 percent of registered voters showed up at the polls.  Also, he mentioned filling the vacancy is costing the city more than $100,000.

“Is there a more cost-effective way?” said White.

Giving the job to the fifth place winner would seem to save money, said White. A vacant ward alderman seat would still go through the election process since ward races tend to bring a higher percentage of voters to the polls, and a ward election is less expensive.

However, giving the title of alderman-at-large to the fifth place finisher is not sitting well with Alderman President Robert C. Trane.  ‚ÄúI don‚Äôt favor anything that disenfranchises a voter,‚Äù said Trane.

Marty Martinez, who finished first in the recent primary election, was the fifth place candidate in November 2005. Trane said coming in fifth does not necessarily mean a candidate should be next inline to join the board.

“In the last election, 1,7000 people opposed giving it to the fifth place finisher,” said Trane, counting the number of votes that went sixth and seventh place candidates.
“I don’t see a push to make this change,” said Trane, noting even if the board were to go forward with White’s suggestion, it would take two to four years for it to go into effect.

It is not common for an alderman-at-large seat to open up. The last time the city was in this situation was decades ago.

The seat that is currently up for grabs opened when Denise Provost quit the Board of Aldermen to concentrate on her newly elected role as a state representative. The board has been running one alderman short since last fall.