PORT TOWNSEND — Reapportionment would encourage greater participation on the Port Townsend School Board, advocates said during a forum last week.
Proposition 1 on the Nov. 6 ballot asks voters in the Port Townsend School District to approve the dissolution of the current five existing school board director district model and reapportion the area into three districts and two at-large positions in which all 12,000 residents would vote for all positions.
Jennifer James-Wilson, who represents District 2 on the School Board said that developing at-large positions “has been something we’ve talked about as a strategic plan for continuity and building capacity.
“I want people to understand that this measure does not take away your ability to elect a candidate,” she said. “Your ability to elect stays the same. You vote for each position, whether it is a district position or an at-large position.
“We have three positions coming up for election in 2019, so approval would set us up for that. If the proposition didn’t pass, we would still have three positions on the ballot next year.”
James-Wilson and Superintendent John Polm presented a summary of the measure at the League of Women Voters of Jefferson County/American Association of University Women — Port Townsend candidate forum last Wednesday night.
“Here in Port Townsend, we have five director districts and they represent geographical areas,” Polm said.
“Those are redrawn typically after each census when we have some minor population shifts to keep them equal in number.”
Although there is currently full board representation, Polm said Port Townsend has had some difficulty in filling positions in the past. Of the current board, the majority were initially appointed to vacant seats and then ran unopposed.
“The theory here is that we would have an opportunity for more involvement in the future with two at-large and three director districts.”
Polm said if the proposition passes, it would dissolve the current districts and redraw them into three equal districts based on population.
“The school district has an obligation to come up with a plan, including a public hearing, before implementing that plan during the next election cycle,” he said.
As it stands now, two board members’ terms expire in 2021 and three members’ terms expire in 2019.
In the 2019 election, three of those current members would be running for different districts or at-large positions.
James-Wilson said the proposition “wasn’t one of sexiest issues on the ballot, but that it is important to us.”
Ideally, districts are drawn so that each district has representation, she said.
“I [was] elected from District 2 in 2009, re-elected in 2017. I was elected at the same time my neighbor who lives 250 feet away from me, Holly Carlson, was elected in District 1. A couple years ago, we appointed a person to replace Holly in District 1, and she lives 150 feet away from my front door.
“I can literally call my current School Board member from my front porch with my voice.”
James-Wilson said she has felt the plan is a bit arbitrary, and not necessarily reflective of the intent of geographic districts by living so close to her neighboring district.
She said the board has had concerns about continuity on the board and the “scarcity of finding School Board members.”
“We’ve had several vacancies to fill,” she said. “Several times I had interested community members who either didn’t live in the district where there was an opening or did live in the district but didn’t want to run against the incumbent.”
Passage requires a simple majority of votes cast.
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Jefferson County Editor/Reporter Jeannie McMacken can be reached at 360-385-2335 pr at jmcmacken@peninsuladailynews.com.
