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Support gained for expansion of county board By Dani Dodge The League of Women Voters on Friday garnered additional support for their position that the Jackson County Board of Commissioners ought to be expanded. They could pursue a ballot initiative as early as May 2002. "The fact is that (county) decisions are often made by two people," said Curt Bennett, a former Medford City Councilman who was one of a number of people who came to the meeting to lend support to the League. "Sitting on the council, I saw that the citizens of Medford have very little input into Jackson County." The League, though, declined at Friday�s committee meeting to take action on their position that the county board should be expanded from its current three-member configuration. The League committee � made up of members of both the Ashland and Rogue Valley leagues � agreed to meet again before making a recommendation to their boards of directors. If the leagues do take action they will conduct a public education campaign to gauge the level of support for their idea and determine the most popular form a new county government would take. Only then would they move forward with an initiative petition � aimed at changing the structure of the board of commissioners. The next meeting will be held in two weeks. The leagues have been discussing the structure of the county government for nearly four years. One committee � the county Re-study Committee � investigated the ideal county structure for two solid years. During its research, the committee interviewed county employees, commissioners and the administrator, as well as people from every county in the state. In the end, that committee concluded that the county board of commissioners ought to be expanded to five or more members and possibly not get paid full-time salaries. The main reason for the change is to separate the legislative and administrative functions in the county, leaving day-to-day administration up to paid professionals, and leaving policy-making up to the elected officials. Since the leagues approved that position, League member Bill Mansfield drew up a sample charter amendment for discussion. It calls for a seven-member board earning $200 each per month instead of the current three-member board making $58,000 a year. But others at the meeting, including Mansfield, said there are other forms that might work even better � like one in Washington County. There the five-member board has four part-timers who are elected by district, and one full-time chairperson who is elected at large. At the meeting, committee members and supporters discussed timing of the possible initiative and tentatively agreed that the May 2002 election would be the one to shoot for. That way, the structure of the board would be changed before November 2002 � when under the current system two new commissioners would be elected to four-year terms. When asked why the League is considering moving forward on their position now, Anna Hirst the president of the Ashland Valley League of Women Voters replied: "I don�t feel we have very good representation. There are only three people representing 180,000 people in the county and I feel there should be more representation." Reach reporter Dani Dodge at 776-4471, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.