Single-member Districts for Austin?

According to the Statesman, city councilman Martinez is putting together another push for single-member districts for the Austin city council. Single-member district proposals have been tried and failed before, but this one may succeed. There are some good reasons for it, mostly related to getting better representation and access for different groups around the city. Having a single-member responsible to about a constituent issue is another factor.

While the article mostly talked about how ethnic minorities (blacks and hispanics) would fare, the factor of geographical influence of different parts of the city is a primary reason to consider it. Oak Hill, northwest Austin, east Austin, and just about every neighborhood that is not central Austin, plays a second fiddle role to central Austin in the current system. A 'minority' that could benefit from the change could be suburban taxpayers. Current liberal city council races are often a fight between liberals and leftists (viz. Jennifer Kim vs. Margot Clark). Depending on how the map is made, there would be a change for northwest and southwest Austin to be a more moderate-to-conservative electorate, relatively speaking. Conversely, other districts could be recruiting grounds for even more liberal candidates, but at least there would be a better chance to have a conservative voice on the council even if it is not a majority.

It would be a mistake to use single-member districts as an excuse for creating a lot more council member seats. The added cost of a bigger city council was one reason a previous plan was defeated. A plan that might be acceptable would be one that replaces 5 of current at-large council members into 5 single-members districts, with 2 at-large seats, one of them being the Austin Mayor. A plan that had the right map (lack of a map killed a prior plan) and kept the council to its current size (or maybe 9 members maximum) would probably be acceptable and get a positive vote.