How Preferential Treatment Toward Municipal Employees and Contractors Can Affect Elections
Ferguson, MO — where Michael Brown was recently killed by a police
officer, and the police department's first reaction was to protect
the officer and keep the facts secret — is an unusual case of a
local government where a scandal is likely to actually increase
rather than decrease citizen participation in government.<br>
<br>
There is <a href="http://www.vox.com/2014/8/18/6029141/why-ferguson-government-is-so-whit…; target="”_blank”">an
interesting column today in <i>Vox</i></a> about why a primarily
black city has a nearly all-white government. The article quotes
Prof. Jeff Smith, formerly a St. Louis-area state senator,
explaining the situation (which he says is relatively common to
suburbs where minorities have moved in recent decades) as follows:<blockquote>
Longtime white residents have consolidated power, continuing to
dominate the City Councils and school boards despite sweeping
demographic change. They have retained control of patronage jobs and
municipal contracts awarded to allies.<br>
<br>
The North County Labor Club, whose overwhelmingly white
constituent unions (plumbers, pipe fitters, electrical workers,
sprinkler fitters) have benefited from these arrangements,
operates a potent voter-turnout operation that backs white
candidates over black upstarts. The more municipal contracts an
organization receives, the more generously it can fund re-election
campaigns. Construction, waste and other long-term contracts with
private firms have traditionally excluded blacks from the
ownership side and, usually, the work force as well.</blockquote>
Thus, the failure to pass laws that require minority
participation in local government contracts (as owners and as
workers) can be an indication of the same sort of preferential
treatment that allows nepotism among the uniformed departments.
Since construction unions and contractors, along with government
employee unions, make the difference with respect to many local
elections, if the unions do not reflect the populace, those who
are elected often do not reflect the populace either.<br>
<br>Of course, this is the not only problem. In Ferguson, as in so
many municipalities, it is pitifully low voter turnout, based on
indifference and/or lack of trust, that allows unions,
contractors, and their families to win elections all by
themselves.<br>
<br>Another cause of this low voter turnout, as the article explains,
is the decision when to hold local elections. In Ferguson, local
elections are held in April of odd years, when few people are
thinking about elections. According to the article, cities tend to
hold elections in odd years, while counties more often hold them
in even years. The recognition of this problem has led to a trend
in changing local elections to even years, to get more voters
involved. California, as usual, is leading the way, with even-year
elections in such cities as San Francisco, Oakland, San Diego, San
Jose, Anaheim, Richmond, Berkeley, San Leandro, and many cities in
Los Angeles County. <br>
<br>
Next year, however, things will likely be different. Ferguson's
residents will now care who runs their city.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
---