Election 2018: Whitfield voters to decide if commissioners should be elected by district (with VIDEO)

Published 12:28 pm Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Dalton businessman Ed Painter says it’s a basic tenet of government.

“The person elected represents the people who elected him,” Painter said. “Our House of Representatives members aren’t elected by the state as a whole. They are elected by the districts they live in and represent. Why should our county commissioners be any different?”

Whitfield County Board of Commissioners members are now elected by the county as a whole, not just the voters of their district. But earlier this year, Painter asked commissioners to place a measure on the Nov. 6 ballot that would change that, so that each commissioner is elected only by the voters in his or her district. The commission chairman would continue to be elected by the county as a whole.

Commissioners agreed 4-0 to do that, and if voters approve the measure on Tuesday, starting with the 2020 election commissioners would be elected only by their district.

Commissioner Barry Robbins said he hasn’t taken a stand on district voting but he thinks it’s a matter that voters should have a chance to consider.

In Georgia, commissioners in Catoosa County, Dade County, Haralson County and Paulding County, among others, are elected by district.

On Tuesday, Walker County voters will decide whether to change to a five-man commission from a sole commissioner. If they approve that measure, their commissioners will be elected by district, not the county as a whole.

“I see positives and negatives to the idea,” said Commissioner Roger Crossen. “I haven’t taken a stand on the idea, but I do think voters should have a chance to vote on this.”

One of the potential negatives raised by Crossen and others is that if elected only by their district, commissioners will favor it and not think of the interests of the county as a whole.

Rocky Face resident Ed Booth said that is one question he has about the idea.

“Shouldn’t they be representing all of us?” he asked.

Painter said commissioners, just like members of the state Legislature and Congress, should think of their districts but that will be balanced out by the need to find a consensus on any issue.

“It’s going to take at least three votes (of the five-member commission) to pass anything,” Painter said.

David Veve, senior lecturer in political science at Dalton State College, said moving from countywide voting for commissioners to district voting is “going back to the fundamentals of representative government.

“If you vote by district, the people of the district decide who best represents their interests, not those outside the district,” he said.

Painter said that even within Whitfield County, voters in different areas might have different needs and wants.

“When you think about it, this is a pretty big county, we go from the Tennessee state line to the Gordon County line,” he said. “People who live in one area might have different ideas about what they need than voters in another area.”