Single Member Voting Districts---why not?

[wrobert]

I would be interested in thoughts on Walton County going back again to single member districts. A couple of years ago I sat on the redistricting committee and we looked at changing district lines. Not a lot of changes were made, and the biggest reason was that in Walton County, the districts are just geographic lines that determine where you must reside to run for office. Due to county wide elections, every commissions and school board member is accountable to every voter within the county. I bring this up because the county is so diverse, that I believe, it forces political decisions to be made in an effort to please an audience that they do not necessarily represent. How fair is it that the voter in Paxton gets to decide who your county commissioner is? How much do you feel you have in common with that Paxton voter?

Also it is getting so expensive to run county wide races. Typical BCC races are getting up to $100K and school board races are in the $20-$30K to run effectively. If races were run on a smaller scale, someone with less money could stand a chance getting elected.

Walton County had single member districts at one time. When they did the next election saw a south Walton resident elected to the BCC. The following election single member districts were rescinded and with the exception of Cindy Meadows, the representation then lived north of the Bay.

 

[Smiling JOe]

So are you saying that the Commissioners representing districts in NoWal should not be voting on issues regarding SoWal? I haven't thought about your proposition until now, but my first thought is that if those Commissioners will not be held accountable for their County-wide decisions, we might see changes we don't want in particular parts of the County. I like being able to some voting power over each of them, because they all make decisions which affect me. You bring up a real problem that a Commissioner living in Mossy Head or Paxton actually makes decisions affecting only people who live or own property in SoWal. That scares me sometimes, and it should scare those people in Paxton if Commissioners from other areas, who may not be able to relate to Paxton and its citizens, are making decisions for the people of Paxton.

I believe I understand your proposal, but I need some help understanding some direct benefits for the people of WalCo. Could you share a few specific examples of benefits?

 

[30A Skunkape]

OK, let me ask since I am not too familiar with the local politics yet:Why not split the county in two?

 

[Bdarg]

I think he means that commissioners would be voted in by district and sit on a county wide commission. Essentially it would be setting up the county election similar to state representatives or congressional elections. Thus, south Walton presumably would have at least one commissioner to better represent its concerns. As it stands now, all the commissioners could be from say Paxton and would govern the whole county.

I like the idea on the surface. I would be interested in seeing how the districts would be laid out. I think proportioned by population and possibly population centers would offer the most representative distribution and representation.

 

[Smiling JOe]

I thought the Commissioners had to live within their own district, but all of Walton County voters get to vote for the Commissioners, no matter of their district. ??? Is this not right?

 

[wrobert]

I thought the Commissioners had to live within their own district, but all of Walton County voters get to vote for the Commissioners, no matter of their district. ??? Is this not right?

You are correct. Currently the county is divided into five districts. Each representative has to live in their district. For BCC they must live their the night elected, for school board the day they qualify. The argument has been made that these districts need to be realigned due to population, and to give fairer representation to the citizens. The redistricting committee rejected that argument because each commissioner is elected at large under the current system.

Let me try to illustrate what I see can happen now. Cindy is up for reelection. Now let us say she has done a fantastic job of representing her district, yet her votes have been contrary to what the people in the other districts want to see. Joe Bob hits it big on a land deal and moves to her district. He is a 'good ole boy' as a lot of you like to call them, and knows everyone north of the bay but no one south. Due to tremendous name id or even dollars he could be elected as your representative without winning his own district. He could continue to make decisions that would be detrimental to his district as long as he keeps the rest of the county happy there is no way to stop him.

Right now, south Walton has two districts that cover it. So the possibility of two representatives from the area is there. But I have seen that used as a campaign strategy north of the bay. It is really sad when you hear people say 'Vote for xxxxxxxx because you do not want them having two representatives on the board.'

 

[Smiling JOe]

I hear what you are saying, but with either way, unless the district lines are redrawn to isolate SoWal, the Commissioners from the two districts which include SoWal, could also live in Freeport, since those districts stretch north of the Bay, and SoWal would still have no one representing them.

 

[Andy A]

It cuts both ways. If the representative Commissioner's from the North part of the county do not consider the needs of the South, he is just as likely to be defeated. I like the present system of "at large" as I feel it gives everyone a voice with all Commissioners instead of only one. It appears to me to create a more cohesive atmosphere rather than having individual districts battling one another a lot of the time.

 

[Smiling JOe]

It cuts both ways. If the representative Commissioner's from the North part of the county do not consider the needs of the South, he is just as likely to be defeated. I like the present system of "at large" as I feel it gives everyone a voice with all Commissioners instead of only one. It appears to me to create a more cohesive atmosphere rather than having individual districts battling one another a lot of the time.

I tend to agree with this. If their decisions affect me, I want to be able to voice my opinion and have them at least acknowledge listening to me, and I want to be able to speak with my vote, if they make decisions which I think are detrimental to my part of the County.