The Push For Single-Member Districts

LEE COUNTY HAS 5 DISTRICTS, EACH ONE REPRESENTED BY DIFFERENT COUNTY COMMISSIONER. YOU CAN LIVE ANYWHERE IN LEE COUNTY AND VOTE FOR ALL 5 COMMISSIONERS. THIS AT-LARGE VOTING HAS BEEN IN PLACE FOR DECADES. BUT CRITICS OF AT-LARGE VOTING WANT RESIDENTS TO BE ABLE TO VOTE. ONLY 4. THE COMMISSIONER WHO REPRESENTS THEIR DISTRICT. THIS IS CALLED SINGLE MEMBER DISTRICT VOTING VOTERS WILL GET TO DECIDE THIS ISSUE COMING UP IN NOVEMBER. WGCUS BRYANT. MONTEILH EXPLAINS WHAT ALL THIS MEANS FOR VOTERS TO BE COMING. >> AS IT PERTAINS TO HOW COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ARE ELECTED. LEE COUNTY'S LARGEST OF FLORIDA'S 67 COUNTIES THAT ELECTS COMMISSIONERS THROUGH COUNTYWIDE ELECTIONS. A BILL TO CHANGE HOW OUR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ELECTED WAS SPONSORED BY REPUBLICAN REPRESENTATIVE. MY IS YEAR LUMBAR DO AND HAS BEEN CHAMPIONED BY LEE PROPERTY APPRAISER. MATT CALDWELL FOR MORE THAN 20 YEARS. PROPONENTS ARGUE THE LEGISLATION AIMS TO INCREASE LOCAL REPRESENTATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY. SPEND CONSIDERATION OF SINGLE-MEMBER DISTRICTS FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS. >> THEY'RE OF THE 8 LARGEST COUNTIES IN FLORIDA. LEE COUNTY IS THE ONLY COUNTY THAT STILL HAS EXCLUSIVE MEMBER AT-LARGE ELECTIONS FOR THE COUNTY COMMISSION. SO IT'S BEEN UNDERSTOOD TO BE AN ISSUE FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS. SINGLE MEMBER DISTRICT VOTING WILL ALLOW VOTERS. >> THE OPPORTUNITY TO CHOOSE THEIR SPECIFIC COMMISSIONER. >> INSTEAD OF ALL 5 DISTRICTS DECIDED BY A COUNTYWIDE VOTE. SUPPORTERS SAY IT WILL ALSO REDUCED THE NEED FOR MAJOR FUNDRAISING AS CANDIDATES WOULD ONLY NEED TO CAMPUS VOTERS IN THEIR DISTRICT. I THINK IT WOULD BE GOOD TO OPEN UP. SO COULD BE MORE. >> WELL, ROUNDED HAVE OTHER PEOPLE VOICE THEIR OPINIONS. AND IT CAN CHANGE THE COURSE OF. THE ELECTION. >> ACCORDING TO THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS IN AT LEAST 14 OF 23 PASSES ELECTIONS, INCLUDING 2024, THE CANDIDATE WHO WON THE MAJORITY IN THEIR DISTRICT WAS NOT ELECTED TO THE COMMISSION AND THE COUNTY WIDE ARE AT LARGE ELECTION CASE IN POINT. AMANDA COCHRAN, WHO IS CURRENTLY RUNNING FOR THE LEE COUNTY COMMISSION DISTRICT 5 SEAT THAT DISTRICT ENCOMPASSES MORE RULE AND UNINCORPORATED COMMUNITIES, INCLUDING BUCKINGHAM TIES AND PARTS OF LEHIGH ACRES. THE LATE MIKE GREENWELL DEFEATED HER IN THE COUNTY WIDE RACE. DESPITE COCHRAN WINNING ABOUT 65% OF THE VOTE FROM RESIDENTS WHO LIVED IN THE DISTRICT. I CAME CLOSE. I'VE GOT 45% OF THE OVERALL VOTE. >> BUT I DID WIN 65% OF MY DISTRICT AND 15 OUT OF 17 OF THOSE PRECINCTS. I WON THE ELECTION DAY VOTES AND EARLY VOTING. IT WAS THE MAIL-IN BALLOTS THAT ULTIMATELY DECIDED THAT ELECTION FOR BUYERS VOTING. >> MELBOURNE, MORGAN WAS A TRAILBLAZER. SHE'S THE ONLY BLACK PERSON TO HAVE SERVED AS A LEE COUNTY COMMISSIONER IN 1983, MORGAN WAS APPOINTED TO THE POSITION BY GOVERNOR BOB GRAHAM AT THE RECOMMENDATION. THEN STATE REPRESENTATIVE FRANK MANN MORGAN SERVED FOR MORE THAN A YEAR AND A HALF. BUT THEN LOST HER ELECTION BID. SHE SEES THE IMPORTANCE OF DIVERSE REPRESENTATION AND HOW ELECTED OFFICIALS PROVIDE A VOICE TO THE UNDERREPRESENTED. I ENJOYED HELPING PEOPLE. >> THE AVERAGE PERSON IN BODY. THE AVERAGE PERSON. I JUST HELP PEOPLE. AND I LOVED IT. PEOPLE LOOK AT HOW YOU TREAT THEM. >> AND THAT WAS ANOTHER THING. MY MOTHER TAUGHT ME. >> HOW YOU TREAT PEOPLE. AND I DON'T CARE WHERE I GO. WHEN I GO THERE. I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN TREATED WELL. YOU TREAT PEOPLE WELL. YOU DON'T TREAT THEM WRONG. >> WE ASKED SOME LEE COUNTY VOTERS, THEIR THOUGHTS ON REPRESENTATION AND THE PROPOSED REFERENDUM. >> YES, MORE REPRESENTATION EXACTLY. FOR THE CULTURE OF THE TOWN AND THAT THE WAY PEOPLE. WANT THEIR GOVERNMENT TO BEING THEIR LIVES OR NOT. >> THAT BEING THE LITTLE COMMUNITIES WOULD HAVE THEIR VOICE ON WHO THEY. WHAT ELECTED IT WOULD MAKE A DIFFERENCE VERSUS AND EVERY MONDAY TO VOTING THROUGH THE EVENING. AND I THINK THAT'S WHAT WE NEED. DIVERSITY. FAIRNESS. >> THE OVERALL MESSAGE THAT I WANT TO SEND 2. LEE COUNTY RESIDENTS IS THAT I JUST WANT THEM TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO VOTE ON IT. IF THE RESIDENTS VOTE ON THIS ISSUE AND THEY DECIDE THAT THEY WANT TO KEEP AT LARGE AND I SUPPORT THEM BECAUSE THE VOTERS HAVE SPOKEN. >> FOR WGCU NEWS, I'M BRYANT MONTEILH