The Jan. 23 Journal-Gazette said it is "essential to involve the county's Democrats and minorities ... any consolidation effort could be viewed as a way for the GOP to seize power."

Openness is not "nonpartisan" voting ("Will the Party End?", Jan. 25), it means permanently ending the gerrymandering and "winner-takes-all" elections that stifle representation!

How?

The Center for Voting and Democracy (http://www.fairvote.org/) has several proposals that no advocate of good government could overlook.

First, use Instant Runoff Voting so that every candidate must get a majority, not just the most votes, for a single citywide office.

Second, use Full Representation for City Council elections. With Full Representation any interest group, like Democrats, blacks, Libertarians with at least 10 percent of the overall vote, would get council representation, whether or not they're scattered across the city, or clustered in one area.

Full Representation will end the blatantly biased and unfair process blithely called redistricting.

Finally, set up local governments between the neighborhood associations and the city. Current township or school districts are fixed, and offer a fine way to assure local representation without so much chicanery.