Condo and Coop owners unite: take over city government.

I have written consistently about the structural problem with the government of White Plains.  Rather than function like all our other legislatures (county, state, federal), which have district representation, White Plains clings to the delusional fantasy that its form is somehow special, that having Common Council members elected at large they magically represent all citizens, rather than a constituency of a geographical district.  Baloney.  It ain't working.

As has been documented here, including with a map showing where they live, Common Council members represent themselves and their suburban neighbors.  Their only issue is driving into and out of downtown White Plains as fast as they can, diminishing any hint of quality of life for those who actually live in White Plains in apartment buildings and who, I am guessing, pay most of the taxes for most of the school kids who live in the suburban houses.

There are two ways that this can be corrected:

1. Change the form of government so that Common Council members are elected by geographic district.  This will have the immediate impact of eliminating most of the incumbents since they live so close to one another.  That also removes the spin the bottle dynamic of their choosing one of themselves to become the next mayor and continuing the same beat that has been heard for far too long.

2. Just take over.  Apartment dwellers have the numbers and the organizational structure to get the word out.  Board presidents should meet on a regular basis, outside of the house dominated Council of Neighborhood Association (CNA) and form their own organization and force the city to reckon with it.

Better yet, develop a platform and slate of candidates unaligned with the two national political parties and use the existing at large system to the advantage of apartment dwellers and to the disadvantage of house dwellers who have long dominated city government to the extreme disadvantage of apartment dwellers.

Condo and coop owners unite.  It is the only way that White Plains will ever change for the better.