Toledoans at polls: 9 isn't fine

9/16/2009

Voters on Tuesday decided that nine is not enough and rejected Issue 2, which keeps Toledo's 12-member city council intact with an even split of district and at-large representatives.

Issue 2 was spearheaded and supported by first-term Councilmen Lindsay Webb and Tom Waniewski, and Dave Schulz, who failed in previous elections to get on council.

"Every newspaper in the city, every politician in the city was against us and that's the reason we went down," Ms. Webb said. "I think there is a significant percentage of the population interested in seeing a change in the way city council functions."

Toledo has operated since 1993 with a 12-person council of six at-large councilmen elected from anywhere in the city and six elected from districts.

They are elected to four-year terms in staggered two-year elections - the at-large seats one year and the district seats two years later.

Tuesday's primary election winnowed the field of 23 candidates for the six at large seats down to 12 - of which the final six will be chosen by voters in November.