Ponser Turns Out Lights on Ward Rep. Trial

Thank god this trial is done, at least for the time being.

Judge Ponser decided to suspend the trial, at least until the election was over and the legislative process had taken it's course. What a novel concept: Let elected officials decide this issue rather than unelected judges! Ponser and I probably see eye to eye like a pair of feet, but my hats off to him, this is a great decision.

Since Ponsor's query, the petition has been assigned a bill number and was hustled to the Joint Committee on Elections. It could be scheduled for a hearing as early as Tuesday.

State law requires legislative approval of any change to a city charter.

Plaintiffs' lawyer Paul E. Nemser yesterday said he supported a stay, but did not believe their case was on the ropes, as City Solicitor Edward M. Pikula suggested.

Pikula argued against the stay, warning the interrupted trial could "cast a shadow" over the election.

Ponsor said he was unaware earlier in the trial that the City Council and Mayor Charles V. Ryan had approved a measure last summer to provide eight ward seats and five at-large. Nor did he know that a majority of voters approved a similar ward system in 1997, he said.

"The very body whose election system is under scrutiny ... has proposed change," Ponsor said.

The 1997 referendum got on the ballot through a signature drive. Though it was approved by 58 percent of the voters, the turnout was too low to satisfy the wording of the ballot question. The current proposal requires only a simple majority of voters for it to pass.

Although the plaintiffs supported the stay in testimony, several said yesterday they still considered the home rule petition unsatisfactory.

"I won't work against it getting through the Legislature," said Michaelann Bewsee, director of Arise for Social Justice, one of the plaintiffs. "But the plaintiffs are working for an all-ward system."

Of course ARISE doesn't like this. When you try to gerrymander districts and wards to insure the election of the candidates you support, that's usually the way it has to go.