Column: Time for a change

By Jon Monteith

Two candidates have emerged as frontrunners in next Tuesday’s mayoral primary race – Tod Satterthwaite, Urbana’s current mayor, and Laurel Prussing, a former state representative who has also served as county auditor and a Champaign County Board member. On the surface, Satterthwaite and Prussing may appear to share progressive records, but when it comes to representing the students of Urbana, Prussing is the right choice.

Remember the unsuccessful campaign last fall to add two at-large seats to the Urbana City Council? Proponents of these two at-large seats came to council last year and spoke publicly about the need to dilute the student influence on council. Mathematically, the proposal was clear – right now four out of seven council members represent wards in Urbana with a large student population. Often, these wards are comprised mostly of students, making it easier for a student to win the seat. Adding two at-large seats to the council would have tipped the balance, with four “student area” council seats and five “non-student area” seats.

In theory, a student could run for an at-large seat, but a victory would be very unlikely. According to Urbana Democratic alderwoman Danielle Chynoweth, a student would need around $10,000 to be competitive in an at-large race.

“Students tend to vote for students, so they can win council seats when the election occurs in a ward with a significant number of students. However, it would be extremely difficult for a student to win an at-large seat, because the entire city votes in an at-large election and students do not make up a majority of Urbana voters,” Chynoweth explained.

Arguing that this change would have stifled the student population’s voice in Urbana government, Prussing campaigned rigorously against the proposal. Seventy-six percent of the student population agreed with her and voted against the two at-large seats. Guess who helped think of the proposal in the first place? It was none other than Mayor Satterthwaite.

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Chynoweth also said, “Tod (Satterthwaite) signs are quite common in the same yards that had Bush signs last November. The Republican News-Gazette has put forward several rally cries for Republicans to raid the Democratic primary. And I watched a Republican Precinct Committeeperson hand Tod voter data. It is clear that Tod is working closely with Republicans.”

Satterthwaite’s alliance with Urbana Republicans concerns me. Do I object to politicians reaching across party lines to gain support in a general election? Of course not. However, I think we have a serious problem on our hands when a Democratic mayor is relying on Republican votes to win a Democratic primary.

Meanwhile, Prussing is a hardworking Democrat who relies on the support of her own party to win elections. More importantly, her progressive record reflects the values of many students living in Urbana. As a county board member, Prussing pushed for open advertising for jobs after a county official said he did not advertise because he did not want black people to apply.

Prussing isn’t afraid to lead the way. As a state representative, she sponsored the state’s anti-discrimination bill before many state Senators were willing to vote for it. In addition, she introduced recycling to Champaign County back when few people knew what it was. In 2003, she worked to put Sen. Barack Obama on the ballot – at a time when his name was virtually unknown.

Most people hear about next week’s mayoral primary election and say, “I’ll just wait until the general election to vote for my party’s candidate.” Well, this time things are a bit different. Since no Republican has registered to appear on the ballot in the April 5 general election, the winner of the primary will likely win the mayor’s seat.

So, Urbana students, who’s it gonna be? You could re-elect Satterthwaite, who nervously calls on opposing party members to save his job, or you could vote for Prussing, who would be a mayor that truly represents the Urbana population. Regardless of your decision, realize that you have the power to determine the outcome.