Charles Shiflett Column October 9, 2005

Avoiding A Repeat Of 1992

Ask a dozen people and you'll probably get a dozen diferent answers… at least if you're talking about
how best to change Bartow County's form of government from a sole commissioner to a board of
commissioners.

Some want a part-time seven-member board that would select its chairman from among the sitting
commissioners. The board would hire a non-political county manager to handle the day-to-day
operations of the county. Others favor that proposal, but would prefer only five members. Then there
are those who want a four-member board with a fifth commissioner to be elected countywide to serve
as fulltime chairman and manager.

Finally there are a few who want to stay with a sole commissioner form of government. Georgia is the
only state in the union that allows sole commissioners. Plus only twelve of Georgia 159 counties have
a sole commissioner. There are many good reasons why this style of government is frowned upon, but
that is for another column.

It's nostalgic to visualize the average citizen being able to walk into the sole commissioner's office and
get an answer to his or her question or concern on the spot. However, Bartow County will soon hit the
magic 100,000 population mark with no end in sight to the growth. That's just too large of a
constituency for one person to adequately manage the county's affairs.

So what do we do? First a little history for some of the many newcomers to our area... Bartow
residents had an opportunity in 1992 to change to a board of commissioners, but the proposal was
defeated at the ballot box and here's why.

The ballot question as written presented voters with only one option: Replace the current sole
commissioner method with a part-time multi-member board and a fulltime commission chairman
elected countywide who would retain most of the powers already held by the sole commissioner.

Those in favor of keeping the sole commissioner county government voted no, as did many of those
who wanted a multi-member board which would select it's own chairman and hire a county manager.

If we're serious about avoiding a repeat of 1992, there is a way. The2006 ballot proposal could be
structured with two simple parts:

(1) Should the current sole commissioner method of governing Bartow County be replaced with a board
of commissioners?

(2) If the sole commissioner method of government is replaced with a multi-member board of
commissioners, how should the new board be structured?

(a) Five part-time commissioners elected by district who would hire a county manager to handle the
daily operations of the county government.

(b) Four part-time commissioners elected by district and a fifth fulltime commissioner elected
countywide who would handle the daily operations of the county.

That's it! Everyone could vote his or her preference on whether or not we have a board with question
number one. Then everyone could have their say on how best to structure the board with question
number two. If question number one fails, then number two is a moot point.

Our state legislators have done a professional job in the way they are handling this issue. They are
holding a series of public hearings to allow all residents an opportunity to be heard. They have also
assembled an advisory board to assist them in putting the ballot proposal together, though the final
draft of legislation is still the legislators' call.

I fully believe most of these individuals selected for the advisory board understand that in order for
Bartow County's government to be able to handle the increasing demands that growth is placing upon
it, we have to seriously consider a multi-member board.

I also trust that our legislators will give all Bartow residents an opportunity to vote their preference in
November 2006 by avoiding a repeat of 1992. Next week, I'll examine the pros and cons of each
proposal and look at why certain local constituencies might favor one method of government over the
other.

A special note: I have received over 100 e-mails from individuals asking about the metals testing I
wrote about two weeks ago. For those interested, the test is a simple urine test that is performed with
a kit that your doctor can obtain from Great Smokies Diagnostic Lab. I have no relation to or interests
in this firm and there should be other companies offering this testing as well.