DECATUR - A proposal to elect some council members from wards drew a frosty response from some members of the Decatur City Council.

And the newest council member, Larry Foster, wasted little time making his opinion on the issue known.

"This system of government, the council-manager form of government, was created a century ago to get away from the corrupt aldermanic system," Foster said. "The citizens on the council are representing all the citizens in the community."

Foster joined the council Monday, filling the seat vacated by Michael Carrigan. Carrigan took over as mayor following the recent resignation of Paul Osborne.

If council members were elected to represent only a certain area of the city, they could lose the big picture of what is best for the entire community, said Foster, who previously served two terms on the council.

"If we were all here representing a particular district, are we going to be overly concerned about whether the project that's getting done is in our district, or are we concerned about what is best for the entire community?" Foster asked.

The council will continue its discussion of the issue at its July 7 meeting.

The group ChangeDecatur failed in February in its attempt to have the city abandon the current council-manager form of government.

Group organizers on Monday proposed reconfiguring the council to elect seven council members from wards and three council members at large.

The council currently consists of six councilmen and a mayor, all elected at large. The council hires a city manager, who serves as CEO of the city.

Jeffrey Perkins, president of the Decatur branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, attended Monday's meeting to advocate electing nine council members from wards. Two of the wards, he said, should represent inner-city neighborhoods.

ChangeDecatur supporters showed a map of the city, with suggested boundaries for seven wards. The map also showed that none of the current council members live in the city's urban core.

Frustrated, Councilman Mike McElroy asked repeatedly, "What conclusion are you trying to draw?"

ChangeDecatur organizer Steve Daniels responded, "You could draw a conclusion that if you had these seven wards, four councilmen live in one ward, two live in another ward, one lives in another ward. And four other wards have no representation on the current council."

Councilwoman Betsy Stockard said she lived for many years in an inner-city neighborhood, and she did not stop representing inner-city concerns when she moved.

Daniels said an aldermanic form of government could lead to better service for residents and may better address quality of life concerns.

Councilman Pat Laegeler said everyone on the current council shares those goals.

"What are we missing?" Laegeler asked.

Daniels said the group started by "looking at the vision and the hopes and the prayers that all of us have for Decatur, looking at what has been happening for 20, 30 years."

The group investigated the different forms of governments used by other communities that are growing and thriving.

"All of us know plenty of stories about missed opportunities and underserved interests in our community," Daniels said. "Some are fair criticisms, some are not."

Laegeler responded, "We can look back all we want. I think everybody up here wants to look to the future."

Shortly before the Feb. 5 vote, Osborne and Councilman Dan Caulkins independently suggested that the council could be re-formed to elect some members from districts or wards without abandoning the council-manager system.

If a majority of council members approve the plan, the question could be put on an upcoming ballot.

The municipal code suggests the council could be restructured to include three council members and a mayor elected at large and five council members elected from districts. The city manager post also would be retained.

But Decatur voters by referendum could elect any number of council members at large and from wards.

In other business, council members studied options to provide more space for the Decatur Police Department.

City administrators recommend that the city hire an independent firm with expertise in police buildings to establish criteria for evaluating proposals to build a new police station or to rehabilitate the current Law Enforcement Center.

The council in recent months has considered moving the police station to the Millikin Bank building in downtown Decatur, refurbishing the Law Enforcement Center or constructing a new police department.

Mike Frazier can be reached at mfrazier@herald-review.com or 421-7985.