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47O members of the Convention cast the decision in racial tones, and the plain purpose of the Convention was to disenfranchise as many impoverished people, including most blacks, as the delegates could .... The appointive system was maintained, therefore[,] for constitutionally impermissible reasons in 1902 and again in 1956, in part to prohibit blacks and other minorities from being elected." That was the findings of the District Court of Virginia. This embarrassing yet accurate history of the appointed school board system is one very important reason why we must be extremely careful to be inclusive in our selection of a method for elections for Charlottesville's school board--why this Council must strive to be as all-encompassing as possible when deciding on an election method. Over the past several months, there has been much discussion of the elected School Board by my City Council colleagues and I'd like to refresh the audience's memory regarding some of the public statements made by other councilors: The Hook, June 23, 2005: Diversity is one of Mayor Brown's concerns. He also worries that an elected school board might favor affluent candidates. C-Ville Weekly, August 2, 2005: Mayor Brown said that an elected school board could "narrow the pool of people interested in serving." He points out that the election process takes resources that not everyone can afford, thereby automatically excluding some talented people. Daily Progress, August 14, 2005: The major disadvantage cited by Caravati is the uncertainty that a number of African-American city residents would run for an elected school board and win. He goes on to ask: "How do you confront the issue of minority representation?" Charlottesville Democratic Party Debate on Elected School Board, September 17, 2005: In response to a question on maintaining diversity on an elected school board, Councilor Lynch said, "I think that a lot of the details haven't been worked out, for example: How are we going to ensure that we have a widely representative school board? How are we going to make that happen because it's not going to happen automatically... That' s my concern about this movement moving forward." "Right now it's the Council's responsibility to make sure that we have a diverse school board, not necessarily in terms of color or the people on there, but we look really predominantly at how do we have a school board that can engage all of the different aspects of our community. So, we have a large African-American school community in Charlottesville, we need members who can engage them." Daily Progress, October 16, 2005: Mayor Brown said, "I don't know if it will continue the type of diversity we've had on the School Board" if the November 8th referendum passes. In the same article, Councilor Hamilton is quoted as saying, "This is an issue that has great potential to affect the black community. People are saying this will have no impact on the racial makeup of the School Board. ! think that's nalve." In the same story, referring to an elected school board Councilor Lynch states, "... it does mean that someone needs to take it upon themselves to make sure we have a diverse candidate pool..." The Hook, October 20, 2005: Mayor Brown questions whether "diversity will be maintained" if the city decides to elect its school members. The concern, Brown explains, is that the process of running for office may be intimidating to many who might otherwise be qualified to be on the school board. In the same article, Councilor Lynch states: "... I think the process itself will tend to exclude some of the diverse population we're looking for."