Milton Town Council unanimously approved moving forward with the idea of creating a council district system at its May 4 meeting. The first step is for town staff to explore finding outside help to guide council through the process. 

Council has been discussing the idea of a district system since October. While the details are still to be worked out, and a system would not likely be in place for years as it would require a charter change and a transition period, council members had gotten to the point where they needed to decide whether to move forward. 

Mayor John Collier’s proposal is for three geographic districts that would each elect two council members, with the mayor being an at-large seat voted on by all voters. That would keep the balance of council at seven members. Under this proposal, voters would only vote for their two council seats plus the mayor. Each district would include 1,100 to 1,200 residents based on U.S. Census data. 

Under the proposal, the transition to a district system would be gradual. Current members would serve out their terms. As terms expire, those seats will be converted to district-based positions. District boundaries would be reviewed after each 10-year census.

The town would have to get a charter change from the state, and then the town could pass an ordinance spelling out how the district system would work. Collier has said the goal would be to have a deviation of 10% or less between the largest district and the smallest district, but the goal is to aim for a total deviation of 5%. 

Discussion at the May 4 meeting was relatively brief, but Councilman Robert Gray debated whether it's better to have three districts or four. Collier said his preference is for three because with four districts, it would give a single district the possibility to have a quorum if it had two council members and the mayor. 

Either way, council agreed that outside help is needed. 

Gray said, “I think it's inevitable that we go to some sort of district system. We have several large annexations already in town and another one potentially moving in. We’re going to become too large to not have districts.”