Current council system guarantees balance

To the Editor,
Concerning the upcoming March 7 election, I urge a NO vote on the issue of council member representation.
Currently, each of the city’s four wards elects its own council member. Everyone in town may vote for two at-large council members. This system insures representation for each area of town. The at-large members must balance the interests of the city as a whole. Each ward is not the same. Infrastructure conditions may vary from one area of town to another. The particular needs of one part of town may not be as acute somewhere else. A council member from a specific ward is probably more in tune to that ward’s concerns.
If all council members are at-large, it is certainly possible that several council members, if not a majority, could live in the same area or even the same neighborhood, resulting in over representation for a confined area of town and potentially underrepresentation for the rest of the city.
Our present system helps guarantee a wider mix of the city on the council to address a ward’s individual issues balanced with the overall best interests of the city.
Nick Strittmatter
Monticello, Iowa