The Nashville Town Council is considering doing away with representative districts and instead having all five members elected at-large.

Currently, three members are elected by voters in three town voting districts — Districts 1, 2 and 3 — and the other two are elected at-large, by all in-town residents. This change would make all five elected by voters living throughout Nashville town limits.

Council member Nancy Crocker, the Dist. 1 representative, proposed the ordinance at the May 20 council meeting.

The town council unanimously passed a first reading of the ordinance at that meeting, but Crocker asked to delay the second reading and final vote until they could hear what voters thought about it.

Anyone with opinions can contact council members via the ways listed in the box with this story.

Crocker said she learned about the all-at-large option while reading a manual from AIM, an organization of Indiana municipal governments. A town of less than 3,500 people can either elect its council members through a combination of districts and at-large votes, like Nashville does now, or can elect all at-large, she said.

She cited some reasons in favor of switching to at-large: taking pressure off the town clerk-treasurer’s office when voters call in asking what district they live in and who they can vote for; possibly encouraging more people to run for town council if they don’t have to defeat a person who lives in their neighborhood for that particular seat; and saving money. Crocker said that redistricting would be needed after the census numbers are complete, but if the town doesn’t have voting districts, it could save about $14,000 by not having to do redistricting.

There will be no municipal election in 2021, so any changes, if made, would take effect in time for the 2022 election.

One possible disadvantage to changing could be the slim possibility that a majority of council members get elected from the same neighborhood, Crocker said. That could enable them to steer decisions that could benefit them and not necessarily the whole town or other neighborhoods. But she thought that scenario would be “highly unlikely.”

Currently, Crocker represents Dist. 1; board Vice President Alisha Gredy represents Dist. 2; President Jane Gore represents Dist. 3; and Anna Hofstetter and David Rudd are at-large members.

Gore’s and Gredy’s terms are up at the end of 2023; the other three are up at the end of 2022.

In the past decade or so, few candidates have run for district-specific seats, and often, there was only one candidate, eliminating the need for an election. However, during the last town council election in 2019, Gredy and Gore both had one opponent each; and during the last at-large election in 2018, there were four candidates for two available seats.

Crocker, a district-specific candidate, also had an opponent in 2018 — a 16-year incumbent and down-the-street neighbor whom she defeated to win election.

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The Nashville Town Council wants feedback from in-town Nashville voters about possibly switching from council districts to all at-large seats. Contact any of the following:

President Jane Gore (Dist. 3): <a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a>, 812-988-6591

Vice President Alisha Gredy (Dist. 2): <a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a>, 812-988-2275

Nancy Crocker (Dist. 1): <a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a>, 614-638-8849

Anna Hofstetter (at-large): <a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a>, 812-320-8471

Dave Rudd (at-large): <a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a>, 812-988-1234

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