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Vern Miller is from Caldwell Community and he pointed out the divisiveness of this <br />proposal. He said that everyone knows that Chapel Hill has the weight in the County and he <br />said that the people in the outlying areas are now a minority in the County. He said that after <br />they attended a public hearing in the fall, everyone that talked at the meeting -most of them <br />were from the Chapel Hill/Carrbaro area -was in favor of the citizen's proposal. He is very <br />frustrated with County government and the song and dance. He said that the County <br />Commissioners do not seem to want to act on this proposal. <br />Howard McAdams, Jr. is a full-time farmer and a volunteer fireman. He asked if the <br />volunteer fire departments would have to pay for part of the 800-megahertz radios. Also, he <br />thanked the County Commissioners for recognizing his wife at the last County Commissioners' <br />meeting and he thanked them far supporting agriculture and the agricultural summit. He said <br />that he would like for the Board to consider another plan and either change what is put in the <br />referendum, ar put both plans an the referendum and let the voters decide which plan they <br />would like. <br />Oscar Compton is from Cedar Grove and was representing the Cedar Grove Ruritan <br />Club. He said that they strongly support all efforts to bring district representation to the Board of <br />County Commissioners. He said that this would be the fair and equitable thing to do. He said <br />that he bought a farm in 1989 and he appealed to the Planning Department to let him build a <br />country store. There was a store there before for about 79 years before it got burned. He said <br />that if he could have had district representation at that time, he would have been able to build <br />the store. He was told that he could not build a store because of the node. He asked far district <br />representation. <br />Lee Mortimer said that he is not a resident of Orange County, but he was asked by Keith <br />Cook to serve as an advisor to the 1993 task force that the Board of County Commissioners <br />appointed to study possible changes in the elections. This study is also referenced in the <br />background materials. He said that Proposal 5 is not likely to satisfy the people that are asking <br />for an alternative method of deciding who will represent them on the Board. The 1993 task <br />force made two recommendations -one for cumulative voting and a district plan requiring two <br />County Commissioners to live outside of Chapel Hill/Carrbora. The proposal for one rural <br />resident Commissioner falls short of either of the proposals made 13 years ago. The problem <br />remains that the two-thirds of voters living in Chapel Hill/Carrboro will continue to decide who <br />will represent rural and northern Orange County. He said that the proposal would undoubtedly <br />pass the referendum because the two-thirds of voters who decide elections now know that <br />nothing will change for them. He said that the one-third of voters seeking a change would <br />remain unsatisfied. He said that, in truth, district plans are not the best model and in many ways <br />they do not improve representation. He agrees with the task force members who supported the <br />cumulative voting recommendation in 1993. He said that this would be the optimum <br />compromise between district and at-large representation. Cumulative voting would allow <br />candidates to be voted on and elected by all voters of the County, just as they are today. But <br />minority groups of voters -racial, political, or geographic -can cumulate their votes behind one <br />favorite candidate and be relatively certain of electing someone who they feel truly represents <br />their point of view. He said that several North Carolina counties and municipalities use a similar <br />system of limited voting to elect boards and town councils. He said that the people asking for a <br />new election system would probably prefer that the Board postpone any action until it feels more <br />able to move ahead with something that addresses the concerns in a more meaningful way. <br />Gary Barnes is a resident of Chapel Hill and the Chair of the Community Action Network. <br />He said that they have taken an interest in the district election issue since Representative <br />Faison proposed his bill. He said that, in general, they were supportive of two ideas -having <br />proportional representation for residents of the County and increasing the number of County <br />Commissioner seats to seven. He noted that the current proposal really means that only one of <br />the five is assured to reside in a rural area, where 33% of the electorate lives. In terms of the <br />