Several people have asked me for information about replacing the current Sole Commissioner method of governing Bartow with a Board of Commissioners:

• The "Sole Commissioner" method of county government is not allowed in any state except for Georgia.
(Nationwide there are over 3,000 counties)

• In Georgia, out of 159 counties, only 9 have a Sole Commissioner.

• Of those 9 counties, Bartow is the largest and the only one with over 100,000 in population.

• If Bartow County voters were to replace the current Sole Commissioner method of government with a five-member part-time Board of Commissioners, the cost to local taxpayers should not be more than currently spent on a Sole Commissioner. (The annual salary of each part-time commissioner would be equal to or less than 20% of what the current sole commissioner earns)

• Bartow County would have five board districts each roughly equal in population.

• One part-time commissioner would be elected from each district.

• The five board members would vote among themselves to select one of the board members to be board chairman and another as vice-chairman.

• The hired County Manager would handle the day-to-day operations of the county. (Bartow County already has a County Manager – so no added expense here)

• During the very first election held to select board members, 3 of the districts would each elect a board member to a 4-year term, while the other 2 districts would each elect a board member to a 2-year term.

• In future elections all board members would be elected to 4-year terms.

(The reason for doing this is to set up staggered terms so that going forward you would not have a situation where all 5 board seats are up for election in the same year.)

• When Bartow voters previously had the opportunity to vote on replacing the Sole Commissioner method of government with a board, the ballot question was worded in such a way that ensured it would fail.

• If state legislators are serious about giving Bartow County voters a fair opportunity to vote again on this issue, then the ballot measure must be a 2-part question:

(A) Should Bartow County's "Sole Commissioner" method of government be replaced with a part-time multi-member Board of Commissioners? Yes or No

(B) If the majority of Bartow County voters approve replacing the current Sole Commissioner method of government with a part-time Board of Commissioners, how should the new Board of Commissioners be structured?

(1) Five part-time commissioners. Bartow County would be divided into five equal districts with one part-time commissioner elected from each district. The five board members would vote among themselves to select one of the board members to be board chairman and another as vice-chairman. A hired County Manager would handle the day-to-day operations of the county.

(2) Seven part-time commissioners. Bartow County would be divided into seven equal districts with one part-time commissioner elected from each district. The seven board members would vote among themselves to select one of the board members to be board chairman and another as vice-chairman. A hired County Manager would handle the day-to-day operations of the county.

(The reason for structuring the ballot question this way is to give every voter an opportunity to say "yes" or "no", and then give every voter (regardless of how they voted on question A) the opportunity to select how the new board should be structured)