City Council Pending Action
Your Board of Directors of the Kingston Pike Sequoyah Hills Association has passed a resolution to support Andrew Roberto’s City Charter amendments which come up for a City Council vote Tuesday, July 23, 6:00 pm, 2024 on the first reading. If passed there will be a second reading in two weeks. Please click HERE to see the actual amendments.
The Board of the KPSHA feels it is important to inform the neighborhood of this action, a little history, and what it means to our neighborhood. We urge you to study the issue, contact a City Council member if you feel inclined, but most importantly to vote in the November elections where this issue will be on the ballot should it pass City Council in two readings.
The State Legislature passed a law in the last session that applies to Knoxville and how we conduct our city council elections. The legislature, in effect, changed who votes for our City Council members. Previously, we in District 2, had the opportunity to vote for all 9 City Council representatives, 3 at-large members and 6 district members. Under the new state law, we in District 2, will only vote for our 1 representative and the 3 at-large representatives. In other words, we will no longer have the opportunity to vote in the majority of the races.
Andrew Roberto’s proposals would restore your ability to vote in all nine races.
When Andrew Roberto spoke to the board of directors of the KPSHA earlier this year, he stated that, in his view, neighborhood groups like ours would lose a lot of power under the new state law. As a practical matter, he explained, the new state law would limit a representative's constituents only to those living in the representative's district. As a result, Roberto felt that members of City Council would no longer be responsive to individuals or neighborhood groups not located within their district.
For example, if there is an issue that is specifically impacting the KPSHA (e.g., a zoning issue), we have previously been able to contact all members of CityCcouncil--or encourage residents of the neighborhood to do so in their individual capacity, as appropriate--to raise awareness about the issue and seek their support and vote. However, under the new state law, Roberto explained, members of City Council may no longer be responsive to the concerns of individuals or neighborhoods that are not in their district because they no longer have any incentive to do so…..those folks did not vote for him/her.
We, as the board of the KPSHA, support our City Council representative Andrew Roberto's proposed changes for the reasons explained. From past experience, it has been important to have the ability to call on all the members of City Council for support on an important issue and have them take our neighborhood concerns seriously. Roberto's warning that such responsiveness may disappear under the new state law rings true to the board members of KPSHA. He cited the County Commission as functioning in this manner and thus being more fractured in its representation.
Again, we as board members of the KPSHA feel it is important to inform the neighborhood of this action and what it means to our neighborhood. We urge you to study the issue, contact a City Council member if you feel inclined, but most importantly to vote in the November elections where this issue will be on the ballot should it pass City Council in two readings. Further education can be found at the following links:
Click HERE to see Andrew Roberto’s amendments
Click HERE to jump to Andrew Roberto’s recent blog on this issue
Click HERE to jump to an article in the Compass on this issue.
