It has become plainly apparent that the growth in Bartow, Cherokee and the surrounding counties in Georgia are expanding at a rapid pace; more so even than the rest of Georgia, which is saying something as Georgia itself has grown in spades. Some of that growth has been beneficial to the residents of these counties; some - such as the Bartow commissioner's recent decision to rezone what is the Pine Log Wildlife Management Area for development - has not, but has rather been at the expense of the wildlife, the country feel, and - probably the most notable - the safety of our North Georgia area residents. Bartow County - and parts of Cherokee County - fall smack in the middle of the state-celebrated commercial development along the northern I75 corridor. The infrastructure has simply not kept up with the population boom that is a direct result of rapid residential and commercial development, putting peoples' lives at risk. Many vital, irreversible decisions have been made that simply do not reflect the will and wants of the tax-paying residents of Bartow County, and the impacted proximal counties.

Bartow County is currently one of only 7 counties in the state of Georgia that have a single-role commissioner, vs. a board of commissioners. More telling, Georgia is the ONLY state left in the entire country with any counties having sole-commissioners. The other 6 Georgia counties are all vastly more rural and are remaining so, and/or have little to no commercial and residential development, thus far fewer key decisions to be made that impact their residents. Simply put, Bartow has grown and its governance model has not grown along with it. 

This petition intends to gather signatures of residents of Bartow and nearby impacted counties who support getting a change added to the Georgia Constitution, specifically mandating all Georgia counties having a population of over 100,000 residents to elect a board of commissioners, with staggered terms, rather than a single sole-commissioner. Additionally, it aims to gather support from Bartow residents to move Bartow County from the sole-commissioner model to a board of commissioners model.

My understanding is that this topic has been raised and voted against at least twice in the past 30 years, the last time in 2006. It's clear that the key issues facing these North Georgia counties today are not at all what they were 30 years ago; not at all what they were even 5 or 10 years ago, in fact. The outdated sole-commissioner model in Bartow simply isn't scalable with today's volume and impact of issues. The residents need and deserve a more balanced board-of-commissioners. All communities in Bartow deserve to be represented - Adairsville, Allatoona, Rydal, all of them. With a single elected official, this is not currently the case. 

Additionally, residents in adjacent counties are also significantly affected by Bartow's single-commissioner model, as they must live with the consequences of decisions made by a government structure that directly impacts them due to their proximity. There are areas that, while technically located within Cherokee County lines, have Bartow County postal codes and are governed by Bartow municipalities. Communities such as White and Sutallee, Georgia, exemplify this overlap, where residents are subject to Bartow’s local government decisions, but are technically within Cherokee's jurisdiction. These residents, too, deserve a voice in local governance, as their lives and properties are negatively impacted. 

Most residents are opposed to having a single elected official wield so much decision making power for such a rapidly progressing county. It's a poor governance model that needs to be changed as immediately as possible.

Given that local attempts to get this change implemented have failed, it's clear that State assistance and attention are needed. This is our ask. 

Your signatures will show support for getting a change added to the Georgia Constitution, specifically mandating all Georgia counties having a population of over 100,000 residents to elect a board of commissioners, with staggered terms, rather than a single sole-commissioner. Logically, growing counties with high levels of measurable growth should be governed by the board of commissioners governance model. It's evident that Bartow County both meets the 100,000 population requirements, and also easily falls into this rapid growth category. If a change to the State Constitution is a stretch, minimally, we'll move to change the governance model to a board in Bartow County. 

This will be sent to State Representative Matt Gambill and other state legislators, as well as Governor Kemp to request this change be added as an amendment to the Georgia State Constitution, and for support in enacting this change in Bartow. 

Times change - fortunately or unfortunately - and it is fair to expect our elected officials to forecast and support ALL needed changes that accompany progress. This is one of those changes that is needed NOW in Bartow County.

Please consider signing and sharing, to show your support for this initiative.

If our elected officials won't do this on their own, we need to rally together to make the change ourselves, and remind them that their jobs - that we have entrusted them with - is to represent the peoples will, and not their own.

This change is long over due. 

Thank you for your help.