For over 100 years, Seattle elected its nine councilmembers “at-large,” meaning each position on the council was voted on by the entire city. Then, in November 2013, voters in Seattle approved City Charter Amendment 19, creating seven city council districts, altering the way we elect our city councilmembers and how they represent us. Prior to Amendment 19, each person in the city was represented by all nine councilmembers, but beginning in 2015, each person in Seattle is now represented by only three members of the council—one for the district in which they live and two voted in at-large.
The city …