Shaping Orange County's Future Final Full Report

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GOAL 2. M Address Citizen Concerns about Representation in Government Rationale Two issues have been raised concerning citizen representation in government, one in regard to lack of representation for residents living in town extra - territorial jurisdictions (ETJs), and the other in regard to rural citizen representation on the Board of County Commissioners. Citizens in the Town ETJs have expressed concern about being regulated by the towns, without having a say in who is elected to town boards. This issue of regulation without representation is a difficult one without easy answers. Carrboro's institution of a "planning board" for the Northern Transition Area provides an example of a possible mechanism for addressing such citizens' concerns. The issue of County Commission representation was first raised in the SOCF process during Community Forums held in the summer of 1997. Since then it has reappeared and been discussed on numerous occasions, and is unanimously considered by the Task Force as one of the most critical issues for the SOCF initiative to address. For many rural residents who have spoken with the Task Force, it is the primary issue that they feel needs to be addressed. Many residents feel their viewpoints are not represented adequately through the current process for electing County Commissioners. This has led to divisions within the county. Changing the system by which County Commissioners are elected so that all residents feel they have representation in the government could go a long way toward building community within the county. For a brief history of County efforts to address this issue including formation of a task force to study the issue in 1993 and drawing of a draft plan in 1996 please see Appendix N. This appendix also has information on methods of elections and parameters that new election plans must meet