On April 29 the residents of North Hempstead will have the opportunity to vote in a public referendum on changing the method of selecting members of the Town Council from the current at-large system to the ward system by creating council districts. Those supporting council districts contend it is a better form of government. I would argue that North Hempstead has been delivering good, responsive, open, and fiscally responsible government for many years now under the current "at-large" voting system. So, what is to be gained by adopting the ward system?

Better, responsive local representation? Approximately 52 percent of the town's population lives in villages. That means the most local form of representative government is already serving the majority of town residents. Better accountability? Currently, council people are accountable to 100 percent of the town's 222,611 residents. Under council districts a councilperson is only accountable to his or her district constituents (approximately 35,000) who will determine his or her election or reelection.

Voter empowerment? Under the current at-large system the supervisor and two council people stand for election, together representing a majority of the town board. Under council districts voters could never change the majority because they could only vote for the supervisor and their own council person (two out of six representatives). This reduces, not enhances the power of the voter.

Broadening the candidate pool? Under governing state law candidates seeking a council district nomination would have to obtain 2,000 signatures on designating petitions, an almost impossible goal to achieve without major political party support. By comparison the requirement for a State Assembly district candidate is 500 signatures, a NY State Senate district candidate is 1,000 signatures and a US Congressional district candidate is 1,250 signatures.

Campaign finance reform? Again, under governing state law the terms of council district representatives would be reduced from four to two years, necessitating two campaign cycles and twice the fund-raising activities to cover increased campaign expenditures.

Better representation of African-American residents by creating a "minority-majority" council district? The 2000 Census data (used to configure council districts) would make it mathematically impossible to create a minority-majority district thereby raising false hopes and expectations for minority residents.

When these facts and circumstances are carefully examined it is easy to conclude that council districts will not accomplish the goals its proponents champion. Clearly, the residents of North Hempstead would not be better served by the adoption of council districts. We should not be distracted from the substance of government by the form it takes.