By Eric Curl
March 14 – The City of Tybee Island issued a news alert on Friday stating that the city will host two public information sessions on Thursday, March 20, to offer details and listen to the public on proposed modifications to Tybee’s municipal election system. The information sessions will be held at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. at the Tybee Guardhouse.
Tybee currently uses a plurality system of elections, whereby every two years all candidates for open City Council seats run against one another in a single race, with the top three vote-getters being elected to office.
The proposed modification would create six at-large City Council posts, with each post representing the entire city. Candidates running for office would choose an at-large post during election qualifying. In any post where no candidate receives a majority of the vote, a runoff would be held between the top two candidates to determine the winner. The proposed modification would not change the number of City Council members representing the entire island.
This proposed modification would require an amendment to the City Charter.
Mayor Brian West said in an email to the city council on Friday that the proposed changes are being considered after hearing concerns from the community about Tybee’s election process. A state legislative bill is currently being drafted that, if passed, would change Tybee’s elections to provide for elections as proposed, West said in the email.
“In the meantime, our legislators want to hear from our community,” he said.
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