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but you can never go back to five once you go to seven. He said that five Commissioners have always adequately carried out the business of the County. He said that when it comes to district versus at-large nominations, he prefers district nominations since it most closely resembles the petition that was brought to them last year. He wants to try and achieve some of those goals without compromising any of the principles. He said that at-large election is the option that eliminates the parochialism that he wants to avoid, so he supports at-large election. Regarding the maps, he likes map #5 because it achieves most all of the objectives that he wants to pursue. He said that the applicable date for implementation should be 2008. Commissioner Halkiotis said that he recalls some of the bitterness in the 1980's when he filed to run for County Commissioner. He said that he has not seen this bickering, name-calling, and targeting in the last 20 years. He said that they have moved away from this in a progressive, humanitarian, and caring manner. He said that the at-large piece is the only insurance policy they have that positive, humanitarian, and caring people will rise to the surface irregardless of what part of the County they are in. He thinks that the present system has done a remarkable job and he supports proposal #5. He said that they have gotten things done in the County because they have only five members. The nomination piece needs to be as free and open and as democratic as possible. He wants to separate the politics from the human being. Commissioner Foushee said that she supports proposal #5. She said that she toyed with seven members but she thinks that everything can be accomplished with five members. She said that she has not made up her mind about nominated districts versus residential districts for the primary. Commissioner Gordon said that she supports proposal #5 and noted that she proposed it. She said that this proposal does things like track the population numbers closely so that the number of votes per commissioner seat is about as close to 1 person 1 vote as it can be. She thinks that five County Commissioners are a more effective Board. She said that, as far as the nomination versus residency, she is not ready to comment on this yet. Regarding the transition, she would pick 2008 as the implementation date. Chair Jacobs said that he has been moved by listening to people advocate for a more democratic and more responsive process. He said that this also brings out the more conservative side of how he acts, which is sympathetic to the idea that once you make a choice, you cannot go back. He said that, after being responsive and democratic, his most significant concern is that they do not become mare divisive about the decisions they make on how to do this. The three most important things to him are to vote for a majority of the Commissioners in every election; to make the process mare democratic; and not to make the process more divisive. He said that he has talked with other elected officials and managers from other communities and they have said that they run the risk of people representing a parochial view to the point of not having the overall view foremost in the consideration. He thinks that the County Commissioners genuinely try to think about what is the best thing for everyone in Orange County and not what is best for their neighborhood or their district. He said that the reason that he proposed #3 with 7 commissioners is because he wants to do what is best for the County and this proposal is more representative. He is very much opposed to nominations from districts. However, he is willing to come off #3 since his colleagues are all interested in #5. He would rather start slow. He said that he is for districts but not for district nominations. The Board agreed with the implementation date of 2008. Five or seven members: