UP CLOSE | Does board size matter?
Just seven months after Mayor John DeStefano Jr. swore former Ward 1 Alderman Ben Healey ’04 into his new position on the city’s chief legislative body, Healey decided to shake things up.
“We could just as easily serve our constituents with a smaller board size,” he wrote in a March 2002 letter to the rest of the 30-member Board of Aldermen. “It is a struggle to organize colleagues towards any sort of unity that might counteract the power of the city’s executive branch and provide some meaning to an underutilized system of checks and balances.”
And though Healey’s...
Martine, you are to be complimented on a fine piece of journalism. The city can use more of this type of in-depth thoughtful exploration of the issues. You are way ahead of the Register and the NHI.
Hey Harrison, the YDN covers city issues every day. You just don't read those stories unless they're about you.
city "issues" != city politics. both are important.
Of course size matter for girls as well as guys. If a broad is too large, don't date her. She will only get bigger after she gets married.
Perhaps size matters less than indebtedness. Sad, but true, few alders vote in support of their constituents compared to the number who vote for what is best for their personal interest.
Yup , takin a couple of hundred bucks from Union members just don't cut it for them in these trying times
Ward 1 is always ignored on the Board of Alderman. The "lofty goals" are seen as little more than poltical carpet bagging from transient students. Sorry, but the rest of the city has totally different goals than a Yale student seeking political mileage for their own future. Stick with your concerns about Yale, and the Townies will take care of their own.
Hey Martine, this is a great piece. Does this mean the YDN is going to keep covering city issues after the election so that when the next one comes around, people who read the YDN will know something about city politics? Because that would be great.
Although it would have been cool to have had some kind of independent voice (poli sci professor not affiliated with the city?) on whether a big board or a small board is more independent, because Bitsie & Ben at this point are just talking past each other with no real indication of who might be right. Still awesome story, hope to see more like it.