MORGANTOWN — A lawsuit aimed at forcing the city of Morgantown to equalize the number of residents in its seven wards was dismissed Friday.
Attorney Michael Clifford, of Isner Law, represented Roger Banks in the suit, which focused on the discrepancy in ward population.
Clifford said he intends to confer with Banks regarding where the matter goes from here.
“So we think that everybody in Morgantown should be equally represented. If you’re in 3rd Ward, you should be represented with 5,000 other people, unlike it is now, where some wards have 3,500 and some wards have 7,000. People aren’t getting an equal say in what’s going on in the government,” Clifford said.
The city of Morgantown, Mayor Bill Kawecki, City Manager Paul Brake, Ward & Boundary Commission Chairman Roy Nutter and City Council members Rachel Fetty, Ryan Wallace, Jenny Selin, Ron Dulaney, Mark Brazaitis and Barry Wendell were all listed as respondents.
Clifford previously explained that precedent on this issue came from case law dating back to 1964, which says legislative districts should be equal in population, and that deviation exceeding 10 percent creates a prima facie violation of the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.
The most recent report presented by the city’s Ward & Boundaries Commission and accepted unanimously by City Council included deviations as high as 37.5 percent, according to the lawsuit.
Banks, a third-term member of the Ward & Boundary Commission, was the lone vote against presenting the report to council.
Morgantown City Manager Paul Brake said the dismissal was an affirmation of the democratic process, noting the report was accepted on a majority vote of both the Ward & Boundaries Commission and City Council.
“We’re pleased with the outcome,” Brake said. “It was a majority vote. If we’re going to second guess because there’s one person who doesn’t like the outcome, it’s not fair to those individuals who voted in favor of this. They did their due diligence in that regard. There are instances where you don’t prevail. You make your best case, a decision is made and you move on.”
While he wouldn’t provide details, Clifford hinted that the issue may continue, noting, “It seems like another action might be more appropriate.”
“Obviously, if the city of Morgantown decided to save the taxpayers’ money and judicial resources and equalize their wards, additional action wouldn’t be necessary,” Clifford said.
