Partisan vs Non-Partisan

Over the past two months the question of whether or not the political parties should be included or excluded in local elections has been debated in Asheville.
07/20/07

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Over the past two months the question of whether or not the political parties should be included or excluded in local elections has been debated in Asheville. Although the idea of “non-partisan” elections sounds appealing, my experience as a candidate and as a member of City Council has led me to the view that there are some real downsides with the current structure.
While I still believe there are good arguments for the change we proposed, the process we have used to bring this forward has been lacking. We should have gotten more community input up front. Frankly, those of us supporting this change have also done a poor job articulating why we felt the changes were a good idea. So far, only one side of the story has been told.
At this point, it appears that the Let Asheville Vote group, which has worked to place the question on a public referendum, has been successful. If the local Board of Elections verified that at least 5000 of the signatures they have gathered are from registered voters in Asheville, the upcoming Council election will be non-partisan and there will be a referendum on what process to use for future elections.

I would like to outline some of the reasons I think the current "non-partisan" system is flawed, rebut some accusations, and share some ideas for possible ways to move forward with a larger community dialogue about our local democratic process.

Read the rest at the Buncombe County Democrat Party HQ

And in case the page changes or goes away: JKN Snapshot of page