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Gresham City District Charter Amendment (November 2012)
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A Gresham City District Charter Amendment measure was proposed by initiative petition and was on the November 6, 2012 ballot in the city of Gresham, which is in Multnomah County, where it was defeated.
This measure sought to amend the city charter so as to split the city into districts and make it that council members would be elected from a designated district rather than at large. The city would be divided into six districts, one for each council members, but the city mayor would still be voted for by the entire city. Residents in favor of creating districts collected the necessary signatures to get this issue on the ballot. The city recorder still needs to verify the signatures to officially place this issue on the ballot. And the measure must be voted for by 60% of the voters to be approved.[1]
Election results
| Measure 141, Gresham Charter Amendment | ||||
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| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
 No | 18,393 | 57.32% | ||
| Yes | 13,697 | 42.68% | ||
Election results from Multnomah County, Current Election Results
Support
Supporters of the measure say that many of the neighborhoods of Gresham, citing Rockwood and North Central as examples, do not get fair representation as a majority of the current councilors live in the Gresham Butte neighborhood.[2]
Opposition
Those who oppose the districting measure claim that it is divisive and would potentially fracture the community. Mayor Shane Bemis and four City Council members signed a resolution formally opposing the measure as "gerrymandering false sub-communities of the opposition efforts into an us-versus-them scenario (that) would fracture the community into indivudal special interest groups."[3]
Text of measure
Language on the ballot:
| “ | Shall the Gresham Charter be amended to elect the mayor at large and councilors elected and residing in six districts?[4][5] | ” |
See also
Additional reading
Footnotes
- ↑ The Oregonian, "Districting ballot proposal earns more than enough signatures," July 9, 2012
- ↑ "Oregon Live," "Districting supporters start gathering signatures Saturday at Gresham Farmers' Market"
- ↑ "Oregon Live," "Gresham City Council formally opposes districting; move raises tension, questions"
- ↑ "Multnomah County Elections"
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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