Trustees Elected at Large turn Small

The attached e-mail was sent to Arlington Heights Village President Mulder and all Trustees on March 19, prior to the election of April 9, 2013.

Not one elected official answered my e-mail in any form.

Trustee Elected at Large

During the recent campaign all candidates praised our 'trustee at large' system of local government. A trustee elected at large theoretically represents all village residents rather than an 'aldermanic' system that represents just one district. 

Supposedly the benefit of a trustee elected at large is, that it is a cheaper system to administer than an alderman system. Also, we are told, that with trustees elected at large residents have all trustees representing them rather than just one.

Unfortunately the exact opposite occurs. As most residents end up with no representation at all. Similar to the no response I received. It seems odd or almost co-ordinated that no one returned any response here.

Time for an Alderman System

Just as many residents have expressed a similar frustration that no one is listening on the Village Board. There is a simple explanation. Trustees elected at large could be concentrated from one area. Or as we see during local elections, trustees answer to very few voters. Therefore trustees elected at large have no obligation to represent all village residents but only a tiny minority of voters concentrated in one area or of one interest.

Even though an alderman system is supposedly more expensive. It might be worth the extra cost to get some democratic representation.