Few speak on Stokes voting districts
Committee chairman says many will wait until lines are drawn
DANBURY (Winston-Salem Journal) - Few voters in Stokes County turned out to speak during hearings on the potential for drawing up voting districts throughout the county, according to a report by a voting-district committee.
About 50 people of the more than 25,000 registered voters in Stokes County attended meetings held across the county by the voting-district committee this winter. And some people came to more than one meeting, said Mark Johnson, the chairman of the voting-district committee.
Johnson presented the committee’s findings to the Stokes County Board of Commissioners at the board’s regular meeting last night.
DANBURY (Winston-Salem Journal) - Few voters in Stokes County turned out to speak during hearings on the potential for drawing up voting districts throughout the county, according to a report by a voting-district committee.
About 50 people of the more than 25,000 registered voters in Stokes County attended meetings held across the county by the voting-district committee this winter. And some people came to more than one meeting, said Mark Johnson, the chairman of the voting-district committee.
Johnson presented the committee’s findings to the Stokes County Board of Commissioners at the board’s regular meeting last night.
posted by BP News Bureau | 9:06 AM
1 Comments:
The fact that one of the most liberal members of the King elite is spearheading this effort is all you need to know about it.
Technically, during the time that I served on the board, there was not a member of the board from King. Buster Robertson lived near King and worked in King, so it was really a moot point. I think the current board is made up mostly of people from around the King area. During any particular two year period, someone is going to be unhappy with the geographic distribution of the board members.
Stokes County has four very distinct demographics, roughly related to the four geographical quadrants of the county. The sharpest divide, however, is between the bedroom community elements of King and the rural elements of the rest of the county. The vast majority of King residents have no social attachments to the county and couldn't care less what happens there, as long as the schools are babysitting their kids during the day and their taxes are lower than they would be if they lived in Winston-Salem. On the other hand, the majority of the denizens of the rural parts of the county have generations of history there. While I was not born or raised in Stokes County, my ancestry goes back to 1769. Roots are deep there.
I used to think districts were a good idea. I got over it. There are two inevitable downsides to a district system. The first is that it will tend to increase the size of the board. Each of the four geographic quadrants of the county would want their own representative, leaving one "at-large" member. It will eventually dawn on someone, probably from King, that the Northeast quadrant is home to about 5% of the county's population, but would wield a 20% voice on the board. That would inevitably lead to attempts to dilute the voice of the districts with lesser populations through the addition of more at-large members. Arguments in favor of the more populous districts having multiple members are also inevitable. One need only look at Guilford County for an example of the process. The second downside is related to the skewed population distribution. In an area like the Northeasern part of the county, the likely candidates for the board would be crazies with an axe to grind . The tax collector pissed them off, the landfill was closed when they arrived, the Sheriff refused to shoot someone else's barking dog, and on and on. Every year, there is at least one pissed off hillbilly running for a seat on the board. Districts will make that worse.
I don't think the County Commissioners should even exist, much less be elected. The antebellum JP and Sheriff arrangement worked just fine, all fears of Boss Hogg aside. If a board is to run the county, it should be appointed by the General Assembly. As well, the skool bored shouldn't exist either, but if it must, it should also be an appointed board. Electing local bureaucrats is a silly endeavor that clutters up the electoral landscape and contributes to the general apathy of the proletariat as well as the growth of onerous bureaucracy.
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