Lynn Horsley (Midwest Democracy Project) — Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser on Monday vetoed a measure calling for a November ballot question that would change the redistricting requirements in the city charter.
The veto is yet another wrinkle in the ongoing argument between those, like Funkhouser, who think the council should redraw its district boundaries now and those who think the city should wait until 2010 census figures are available.
The current city charter requires the city to redistrict now, before the next city general election in March. But the council voted 8-5 last week in favor of a November ballot measure seeking voter approval to change the charter so that redistricting occurs only every 10 years, after official census data are released.
Funkhouser vetoed that council measure and said the six council districts were so out of balance in population that federal law made redistricting mandatory now. Northland districts have thousands more people within their boundaries than those south of the river.
Councilman John Sharp, who advocates postponing redistricting until next year, said he was confident the council could override the veto at its meeting Thursday.
Even if the council overrides Funkhouser’s veto, it must seek a court order to place the measure on the Nov. 2 ballot because the election board deadline for ballot items has passed. The city attorney’s office filed a petition Friday asking a Jackson County circuit judge to order the charter measure onto the ballot, but the court has yet to rule on the request.
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