The Wheel

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Are Richardson's Voting Districts in Need of Change?

The Richardson City Charter calls for a review of the city's voting district boundaries every ten years, making adjustments based on US Census results to ensure that the four districts have similar population size.

During the election campaign, one idea that all council candidates were open to was formation of a citizens' commission to review and make recommendations to update the Richardson City Charter. Some candidates were champing at the bit to do it; some were merely willing to go along with it if it's the will of the people. It is likely that *something* will have to be done.

If we already know we have to adjust the district boundaries in any case, and we're likely to open the Pandora's Box of a full City Charter review, should we consider making dramatic changes to how Richardson elects its City Council?

Let's discuss, after the jump.

Analysis of the Votes for Richardson City Council

The voters have spoken. The votes have been tallied. The new City Council in Richardson has been seated. Another council term is already underway. Before we get into all the issues to be faced by the new council, let's take one last look back to see if there are any surprises to be found in a precinct-by-precinct vote analysis.

After the jump, crunching the numbers.

Rice and Northwestern: Champions

Northwestern Wildcats: 2011 NCAA Lacrosse Champions

Rich Barnes/Icon SMI

3-day weekend. Lazy start to summer vacation. Before we close the books on the 2010-2011 school year, let's celebrate some deserving athletic achievements by two schools that are known more for academic success than success on the playing fields.

This weekend, the Northwestern Wildcats, the school that other Big Ten fans mockingly say are kept around to boost the conference GPA, won their sixth NCAA championship in seven years in women's lacrosse. It's not a sport that draws the audiences of football or basketball, but the athletes work just as hard and deserve the same credit when that work pays off. Congratulations to a group of young women who demonstrate that it's possible to excel on both the playing field and in the classroom.

Also this weekend, congratulations to the Rice Owls baseball team, who won both the Conference USA regular season and conference tournament -- the latter by an extra-inning 4-3 win over cross-town rival University of Houston. Good luck to the Owls in the NCAA tournament, which picked Rice as one of the eight top regional seeds in the 64-team tournament. The tournament climaxes in the College World Series starting June 18 in Omaha, Nebraska. Rice won it all in 2003.