20080109 Westminster Eagle: Districting plan faces hearing in January by Bob Allen

Westminster Eagle: Districting plan faces hearing in January by Bob Allen

Posted January 17, 2008

01/09/08 By Bob Allen

Bill would create four districts, one at-large

The latest proposal to expand the Board of County Commissioners from three to five members will be open for public comment at a hearing set for Jan. 19 in Westminster.

State Del. Donald Elliott (R-Dist. 4B) said he co-created the plan with State Sen. Allan Kittleman (R-Dist. 9). It calls for four commissioners to be elected by districts with a fifth elected at-large, or county-wide.

The at-large commissioner would serve as president of the Board of Commissioners.

Under the plan, Carroll voters would vote for two commissioner candidates, one running in their district and one at-large.

On the eve of the General Assembly opening in Annapolis this week, Elliott said he believes his proposal has enough bipartisan support to get it through the assembly. A similar plan failed to make it to the floor in 2006, mostly because of disagreement over how and where district lines should be drawn.

"Last (time) a lot of people felt the (commissioner) districts should align with state legislative districts," Elliott said. "This time, that has been done to the extent that it could be done."

The failed proposal also differed in that it called for five commissioners, all elected by district. That's what voters selected in a 2004 referendum.

Elliott said his four-district plan is a compromise that carves out districts as equitably as possible, based on population, a per capita balance between registered Republicans, Democrats and independents and geography.

"The bottom line is, we are trying to make a compromise with this," Elliott said. "I feel very strongly that with this county growing the way it is, a change in governance is in order."

Skeptics have said the new proposal should not go forward because it differs from the five-district plan chosen in the 2004 referendum -- and as a result may eventually be overturned in court.

Elliott says his proposal does not need to go to referendum and is on solid legal ground.

"We're not violating the public's wishes," he said. "We have checked with the Attorney General's office and we have a written opinion from them that this is not in violation of the referendum and that we are not doing anything illegal.

"For some of these people (who oppose his plan), they are using that (argument) as a way to try to kill this bill, as in the past," he added. "There are still people who want three commissioners and others who still want five at-large commissioners.

Janet Jump, former president of the Board of Elections who also served on the committee that drew up the initial districting plan, likes Elliott's revised plan and thinks a commissioner-by-district system is long overdue.

"Carroll County is very diverse; South Carroll is a world away from North Carroll," Jump said. "These (sectional) differences deserve to be honored and recognized in running the county government, and the present system doesn't do this."

"I think creating districts is the only way we can recognize these differences," she said.

Elliott said his plan is modeled after Charles County and it works effectively there.

"I've talked to people in Charles County and other counties (where the board of commissioners has been expanded) and they told me it does make a difference," he said.

The new five-commissioner plan has been submitted to members of Carroll's delegation to Annapolis. The delegation will vote on it sometime after taking public comment at the Jan. 19 hearing.

"If approved by the delegation, it will be dropped in the hopper and be voted on by the Maryland General Assembly," he said. "Hopefully this time we have bipartisan support we need."

The public hearing on the proposed five-commissioner plan and other local bills proposed for the 2008 General Assembly is scheduled for 9 a.m. to noon, Saturday, Jan. 19, in Room 003 of the County Office Building, 225 N. Center St., Westminster.

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