By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
St. Joseph City Council members meet tonight to again consider how to reshape council districts, with a bit of controversy thrown in.
Voters approved a proposal to whittle the number of council districts down from five to four, increasing the number of at-large council members from three to four.
District Two council member Marty Novak says time is running out to make a decision, because candidates need to know the districts.
“Now we’re at the point where we have to divine those districts,” Novak tells host Barry Birr on the KFEQ Hotline. “Because the election is going to be coming up next year, people are going to need to go out and make declarations starting in September.”
Novak points out that those seeking to run for the St. Joseph City Council will need to begin gathering signatures by late September to place their name on the ballot.
Five proposed plans have been narrowed down to two. One would create four quadrants in the city. The other would create districts around the core of downtown St. Joseph, which at present seems to be favored by a majority of the council.
Novak, who represents downtown St. Joseph, acknowledges he favors a council redistricting plan that would have the downtown as its core, stating his vote reflects his work representing the district that includes downtown St. Joseph on the city council.
“Yeah, I’d like to see a continuation of representation of the historic district in downtown,” Novak states. “I’ve been working with those people for three-and-a-half years. I think it’s fair that I present that side and that’s what I’m doing.”
Accusations that the city redistricting process hasn’t been straightforward have been levelled by activist Kenneth Reeder, who has charged council members with making deals behind closed doors, reiterating that accusation during a call to the KFEQ Hotline.
It didn’t sit well with Novak.
“It’s been a litany of one thing after another after another, everything from there were backdoor committees and all kinds of accusations that Mr. Reeder made; all of them totally unfounded and totally untrue,” according to Novak. “I’ll call it what it is, it’s baloney.”
Reeder pressed his point during his call to the KFEQ Hotline when Novak was a guest.
“It was done, a large part of this, in the back room,” Reeder stated.
“What I would say is, prove it. Prove it, Ken,” Novak shot back, interrupting Reeder. “You make these accusations and you let these things slide, but you cannot prove it. You cannot prove this. That’s not true, because it didn’t happen.”
Novak, along with Mayor Bill McMurray, and fellow council members Brian Myers, Brenda Blessing, and Madison Davis have voiced support for the plan that keeps the downtown at its core, Plan 3.
Plan 2, which would divide the city into the northwest, northeast, southwest, and southeast areas of St. Joseph, has received support from council members Gary Roach, Kent O’Dell, P.J. Kovac, and Russell Moore.
The St. Joseph City Council could decide the issue tonight, but a final vote could be delayed.