Morgan City voters are asked to update charter

By BILL DECKER
bdecker@daily-review.com
Morgan City voters will have a chance beginning Saturday to bring their home-rule charter into line with a 23-year-old reality.
In the Sept. 30-Oct. 7 early voting period, and on the Oct. 14 primary election day, voters will see a proposed charter amendment that calls for the election of City Council members from districts rather than at large.
The proposed amendment may surprise voters who have been voting for council members from five districts in six election cycles since 2000.
The original charter calls for the five City Council members to be elected at large. All candidates were listed on all city ballots, and the five candidates with the most votes were elected.
But around the country, at-large voting had been one of the tools used to keep minorities out of elected offices. A federal court challenge to at-large voting here resulted in a consent decree in which council members were to be elected from geographical districts. One of the districts that resulted, District 3, has an African American majority.
The first City Council election in which candidates ran to represent districts was Oct. 7, 2000. The winners that year were Jarrod Longman, now the parish assessor, in District 1; Ronnie Ratcliff in District 2; William Bradford in District 3; Logan Fromenthal in District 4; and, after a runoff, Cindy Bailey in District 5.
The amendment on the Oct. 14 ballot replaces at-large election of council members with district elections, formalizing the system that has been in place for more than two decades.
At Tuesday’s Morgan City Council meeting, councilmen got a look at three alternative proposals for new council district maps based on the 2020 Census.
The proposals were prepared by the South Central Regional Planning and Development Commission staff.
Patrick Gordon, planning director for the commission, showed council members paper maps of the alternative proposes.
The alternatives give District 3, now represented by the Rev. Ron Bias, an African American majority of 50.9% to 53%, Gordon said.
Although the districts no longer must be approved by the U.S. Justice Department in advance, the degree to which minority voting strength is protected is an important factor if the maps are challenged under the terms of the Voting Rights Act.
The council will now wait for digital versions of the map they can use for closer inspection.
Councilman Mark Stephens said he hopes the new district map will be in place by January.
Qualifying for the next City Council election will be in July.