BEAG Meeting Summary 072421 - Laserfiche WebLink

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3 lead to better representation. Seven single member districts matched the number of seven townships in the County. Responses in the SurveyMonkey also supported non- partisan elections. Candidates could also be required to be long-standing members of the community, not individuals new to the County who do not understand what rural voters need. If nothing changes, the citizens of Orange County will be greatly discouraged. Group Member Jaaz Catterall indicated agreement with many of Group Member Arab's comments and noted that true election districts would increase voter engagement. Group Member Nathan Boucher indicated an interest in the Group recommending providing greater representation for the northern part of the County. Group Member Jennifer Bremer commented that she leaned toward single member districts and not in favor of at-large candidates and noted that 60 counties in North Carolina have five commissioner seats and 33 have seven seats. Group Member Williams stated that he agreed with individual districts and that at-large seats might be worth considering if the population was more evenly distributed throughout the County. He expressed concern that the Group had not conducted much discussion so that he could be comfortable with making a recommendation and that it might be worth requesting more time for the Group to work. Group Member Susana Dancy noted the strong interest in district level voting from the SurveyMonkey and that pursuing districts along township lines was hard given the County's population distribution. Group Member Martha Jenkins noted that she appreciated Group Member Arab's comments and agreed with many of the other comments, that the Group was not drawing the districts, and that following township lines would not comply with the one person/one vote requirements. Group Member Krishna Mondal expressed an interest in seven single member districts which would provide good representation from various groups and from the unincorporated areas. Group Member Jonathan Weiler noted that he supported the re-balancing from the heavy Chapel Hill representation on the Board of Commissioners, and that he realized he was in the minority with the thought there should be a mix of at-large and district seats with better representation of the other areas of the County. Group Member Sykes indicated an interest in single member districts with seven or nine seats, with population growth being a consideration for more than seven seats, and that she felt like it was best to not pursue something that might involve the North Carolina General Assembly. Group Co-Chair Mulkey indicated interest in seven single member districts. He noted that making elections non-partisan usually wound up focusing to political parties anyway