I’m surprised by how often I find myself explaining to people, many of them long-time residents, about Englewood’s four wards. Created for political reasons, each ward having its own representative on the City Council, the wards also have a social and emotional significance to many. A ward is defined in Webster as "a division of a city for representative, electoral or administrative purposes." Our wards have existed since Englewood became a city in 1899. The members of the Charter Commission, who recommended other significant changes in our local government which were approved by the voters in 1979, chose to retain the ward system.

Geographically, Englewood divides roughly into four quadrants: First Ward - northeast, Second Ward - southeast, Third Ward - northwest, Fourth Ward - southwest. Palisade Avenue divides the First and Third Wards from the Second and Fourth Wards, but the other boundaries are more complex. Since the law requires that the population of the four wards be roughly equal, boundary shifts are necessary from time to time. Following the 1960 census, the boundary between the First and Third Wards was moved west to Tenafly Road to reflect the population influx to the Third Ward after World War II. More recently, a shift of the boundary between the Second and Fourth Wards was implemented following the 2000 census. The new boundary, determined by a County commission, with no publicity, shifted residential areas between Dean Street and Grand Avenue from the Second to the Fourth Ward. It also shifted much of our unpopulated (until recently) industrial area from the Fourth Ward to the Second Ward, so that the Second Ward now extends as far as Teaneck! Since this is where large new residential construction projects are either completed or underway, a further boundary change will clearly be needed following the 2010 census.

Each of our four wards has unique characteristics. The First Ward, thought by many to represent the affluent "hill," in fact includes, not only some of Englewood’s most luxurious residences, but a sizable area of modest homes west of the railroad tracks where hispanic immigration has been significant. The Second Ward, also part of the "hill," is known as the center of the growing Orthodox Jewish population of Englewood. It is also the only ward which still has a functioning Republican Party. The Third Ward is the most racially integrated ward, and has historically been the most active politically and in support of the public schools. The Fourth Ward is distinctive in that its population, largely African-American, is more stable and has more cohesion than in the other wards. There are several families in the Fourth Ward who can trace their ancestry here back to the nineteenth century, which is rare in the rest of Englewood.

Although it has become a cliche to speak of Englewood’s diversity, the ward system exists ostensibly to help insure that diverse groups have representation on the City’s governing body, the City Council. The ward system also makes it more difficult for a group from a limited geographical area to gain city-wide control. It could, on the other hand, be argued that our elected officials would be more likely to represent the interests of the City as a whole if they were elected by the entire electorate, as is the case in most of our neighboring towns. It could also be argued that the ward system fosters unnecessary dissension, and that our citizens have in fact far more interests in common than they are aware of. For example, the provision of effective municipal services at a reasonable cost to the taxpayers is clearly an objective of citizens in all four wards.

Regardless of any such arguments, the ward system is here to stay. Our objective then should be to elect ward representatives who see the bigger picture, and who will represent the whole City as well as their wards. Whatever ward we live in, we are all part of this unique community called Englewood, and we will succeed or fail together.