Agenda - 08-24-2005- - Laserfiche WebLink

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7 in Orange County, The classification of people protected by the Voting Rights Act has not been precluded from getting elected. The only groups protected by the Voting Rights Act are minorities, African Americans, and Spanish- speaking. Commissioner Gordon said that Representative Faison has a bill before the General Assembly, and she asked what happens if it passes. Geof Gledhill said that if it passes, there would be a referendum on changing the structure and the Orange County Board of Elections will conduct a referendum on changing the structure of the Board of County Commissioners consistent with that bill, It would create a seven - member Board and create three districts — District A would consist of Chapel Hill Township, District B would consist of the center part of the County, and District C would consist of the rural peripheral of the County. There would be four members from the Chapel Hill district, two members from each of the other districts, and one at -large member. Geof Gledhill said that Representative Faison's bill has specific dates for when everything would take place. It is the kind of plan that the Board could adopt by resolution if it were inclined to. Commissioner Halkiotis thanked the staff for the work done on this report that may be more thorough than the one in the 1990's He noted some interesting historical facts within the report . He made reference to an interesting quote that he agrees with that "fairness is a political judgment." He said that he has an open mind about this, but he objects to the process that was embarked upon by others. Commissioner Jacobs said that he appreciated staff and that people brought this to the Board's attention. He does not appreciate the way it was forced on them. If the Board is inclined to adopt a resolution, then more information is needed, and he has questions: • Definition of a resident in a district. He would like the staff to provide information from different jurisdictions that makes this clear. • Does every County Commissioner race in North Carolina have to be partisan (municipal or school boards)? He wants to know if this is automatic or a choice. • He would like to know about other counties with a comparable population and one population center and how they elect County Commissioners. • In 1993, several people urged the Board of County Commissioners to read task force meeting minutes. He would like a copy of these minutes. • Commissioner Wilhoit spoke about multiple member districts and he would like information about this. • Artie Franklin wrote a column about super blocks, and he would like some information about this • There was information provided in 1992, and since then, two of the counties changed their method of electing commissioners and went from at —large to district. He would like to know why they did this —this was in Edgecombe and Jackson Counties, It looks like Northhampton County went from district to at- large, He would like to find out what counties changed and talk to a County Commissioner that is serving now that they can talk to about this. • He wants to make sure that when they look at permutations, that a voter gets to vote for a majority of the County Commissioners. • On page 137, Shaping Orange County's Future proposed a method for addressing positions. He suggested looking at Action Strategy A on page 137. Chair Carey said that the Board should listen to the residents on this matter, in addition to getting all of the answers to the questions that Commissioner Jacobs raised. He shared