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June 17, 2012

Letter: Murray County citizens will be given a choice

Dalton Daily Citizen

From the front page of The Daily Citizen on Tuesday, readers learned that they will be given the chance to express their preference for the form of government that will lead Murray County into the future.

While this “straw poll,” for information only, that will appear on both the Democratic and Republican primary ballots is non-binding, it is the first step in the process of changing our form of government to a board of commissioners should the citizens of Murray County express their desire to do so. The question reads, “Should the form of government of Murray County be changed from a sole commissioner to a board of commissioners?”

Both forms of government have advantages and disadvantages. Of important consideration is that Georgia is the only state in the United States that even allows the sole commissioner form of government. Further, of the 159 Georgia counties, only eight continue to be operated by a single individual that exercises both the executive and the legislative powers of government.

In conversations with two excellent former commissioners of Murray County, the following points were expressed.

Tyson Haynes emphasized that he strongly supports giving the citizens a chance to vote on this issue. He went on to say that he dealt with both sole commissioners and boards of commissioners in his many years at the Georgia Department of Transportation. He found that there was more potential for less transparency, more misconduct and more abuse with the sole commissioner governments.

Jim Welch stated that when only eight counties out of 159 (5 percent) have chosen the sole commissioner form of government, it’s hard to say that the 151 remaining counties have made the wrong decision. Mr. Welch went on to say that while a sole commissioner can make quicker decisions (which leads some to say that this form of government is more efficient), most decisions that must be made by the commissioner do not need to be made quickly. In fact he said that a slower decision-making process, which allows several people to consider their decision carefully, often results in a better decision.

Hopefully, citizens will carefully consider their vote on this issue. Murray County will benefit if citizens vote on what they truly think is the best form of government for moving Murray County forward into the 21st century. Voting on this issue should not be based on personalities or on any other prejudices.



Floyd Franklin

Chatsworth

 

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