Local officials charged with finalizing an Evansville-Vanderburgh County consolidation proposal agreed Thursday, through a non-binding resolution, to increase the number of common council members to 15 four more than the original draft plan called for.
Members of the Evansville City Council and the Vanderburgh County Commissioners also approved a non-binding resolution not to implement term limits for the common council. However they failed to agree on whether to subject the mayor of a future combined government to such limits.
The two bodies must pass identical plans before a referendum can be placed on the ballot for voter approval, possibly in November 2012. A citizen reorganization committee drafted an initial merger plan early this year. Thursday marked the fourth of a continuing series of joint-workshops between the two bodies designed to help officials work toward the required twin proposals.
Officials also agreed that the possible future combined council include 12 districts and three at-large members, though each at-large official would have to live in a different part of the county to prevent overrepresentation for one small area. Current city council at-large members H. Dan Adams and Curt John and commissioner Marsha Abell all live in the city's Ward 5, which is officially represented by Councilman John Friend.
"I think what we're addressing is peoples' fear that they won't be represented," Adams said. "This will increase the number of districts and regionalize the at-large and really meet that need of the average voter who is worried their going to lose their representation."
The collective decision not to term-limit the common council also led officials to abandon discussions about the possibility of staggered terms to protect high turnover at one time, since the possibility of an entirely new council without term limits is much less likely.
While the commissioners agreed to term-limits for the mayor, several city council members disagreed arguing the voters get the chance to elect a new mayor every four years. The two bodies agreed to revisit the issue during a future workshop. John and Councilwoman Wendy Bredhold were absent from Thursday's workshop.
There were discussions at an earlier workshop about placing the new government's elections on odd-numbered years, like current Evansville city elections. But Ted Ziemer, who serves as the commissioner's attorney, said state law requires that if voters ultimately approve consolidation in November 2012, elections for the new government must be held in 2014.