Agenda - 09-10-20; Item 3 - Discussion Regarding the Membership Composition of the Planned Committee to Examine the Election Method for Members of the Orange County Board of Commissioners

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20 7 PUBLIC COMMENT: Tony Blake said Commissioner Dorosin was kind enough to respond to his email, and provided more current conversations that have taken place. He said he supports the discussion and thinks improvements could be made, but he has the following concerns about pushing this change through too quickly. He summarized his concerns: • As is stands right now, the "voting method" agenda item 6-b lacks definition and a suggested plan/model for discussion. • Discussion of changing the voting method is too important to be rushed. • Data is old and there is not enough time to collect/update the data, have the discussion and get feedback before the 2020, election. • A target of 2020 would put a lot of pressure on staff who are already dealing with emergency conditions and budget concerns. • Meeting "virtually" is still somewhat less effective than face to face. • Part of the BOCC is "lame duck", and it is important that the newly elected commissioners be a part of driving this conversation. • The 2020 census results may change things and require a new look within 2 years, resulting in wasted efforts. Commissioner Dorosin thanked Tony Blake for his comments, and others the BOCC received. Commissioner Dorosin said he does not have concerns about the 2020 primary, but rather the primary illustrated some if the issues that have been discussed in Orange County for the past few years. Commissioner Dorosin summarized his comments, which are in the agenda. He said he has been talking about this since 2016, and this is an on-going issue with the Board but the Board has not made any decisions. He said November is the earliest possible time to make changes, and that may be too soon, but if the majority of the Board does not want to do anything, then it should vote as such, and move on. He said it is his preference that the County moves to 7 single-member districts. He said the primary highlighted that the district one presidential year race is the only seat on the county commission that is a multimember election, and all others are single member elections. He said the multimember seat is the only multimember seat on the ballot, which is confusing to the public. Commissioner Dorosin said they need an electoral system where commissioners are all elected the same way, and that is by single member districts. He said another important issue is that the County will have to draw the districts once the census comes out, and it is important for the BOCC to make decisions now and do everything at one time. Commissioner Dorosin said there have been concerns that going to single member districts will lead to dominance by the southern part of Orange County, i.e.: Chapel Hill and Carrboro. He said he feels these concerns are overblown, and in the last two at large elections residents have elected representatives that live in the Chapel Hill area. Commissioner Dorosin said one of the challenges with multi-member districts, is that they encourage voters to do single shot voting. He said this is a legitimate strategy, but not necessarily a fair one. Commissioner Marcoplos said this is a complicated issue. He said in 1992 there was a group who discussed this, and recommended cumulative voting. He said he disagrees that single district is the most democratic way to go, and proportional representation is used by a majority of countries around the world, and does not require districts. He agreed it is important to not rush this discussion, and to engage the public.