The city of Sun Valley tried an experiment this year—and its
beaker blew up.
The City Council changed the formula by which most small cities in
Idaho select their leaders. It decided to force candidates for council seats to file for a
specific seat. It threw out the winners-take-all system in which the candidates who
receive the most votes in the nonpartisan races get the seats on the council.
This year two council seats were open. One candidate filed for one
seat, while three candidates filed for the other.
Theoretically, the single candidate could have gotten one vote and won,
while two of the other three could have gotten 100 to 200 votes each and lost.
The system the council adopted cheated voters. It cheated them out of
healthy competition for both council seats. It cheated them because in one race, their
votes were meaningless. It cheated them of democracy.
The system cheated the candidate who ran unopposed because he will
never be sure if he would have won election in an open race.
The experiment failed. The system doesn’t work. The system is
susceptible to behind-the-scenes manipulation. Allowed to continue, it will discourage
voters, discourage candidates, and corrode city government.
The mad political scientists in Sun Valley need to go back to the
formula that doesn’t dynamite democracy.
The last act of the outgoing council, or the first act of the incoming
council should be to re-institute the winners-take-all formula—the one that works.
