Agenda - 11-15-2005-9a - Laserfiche WebLink

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BACKGROUND: At the Board's January 24, 2005 regular meeting, representatives of a group of Orange County residents addressed the Board and submitted a 1200-signature petition to the Board regarding the method by which the members of the Board of Commissioners are elected in Orange County. The representatives requested that the Board review the current method of election for the members of the Board, which entails all five members of the Board being nominated and elected to staggered four-year terms on an at-large basis. The representatives specifically requested, as stated in the petition, that the Board "alter the method and manner by which Orange County Commissioners are elected to afford equal and fair representation to the residents of the county by adopting NCGS 153-58(3)b, permitting the voters of Orange County to choose commissioners by electoral districts with each district being as nearly equal in population as practicable." The petition continued, "Further, that the qualified voters of each district nominate candidates and elect members who reside in the district for seats apportioned to that district and that some of the commissioners, but not more than half of the board, be allocated to the county as a whole, to be nominated and voted upon by the qualified voters of the entire county." Neither those making the request nor the petition submitted incltded any explanatory informatics ar detailed any specific proposal regarding the format or implementation of the requested district representation for the Board. The County Manager and County staff reviewed the issue and the petition submitted and provided a report to the Board at the Board's May 5, 2005 work session. The report included information on the following: 1) the legal framework for structure of boards of county commissioners; 2) the various methods of at-large election, district election, and combination of at- large/district election utilized for boards of commissioners in the 99 other North Carolina counties; 3) a history of past discussions by the Orange County Board of Commissioners in regard to Board representation and election; 4) same limited boundaries and statistical information showing the population distribution as it may relate to the consideration/formulation of district representation for Orange County. The report was not intended to be an investigation of the benefits, costs, opportunities, hurdles, or timelines that may be associated with the consideration and possible implementation of district representation for the Board of Commissioners. It was intended to provide an initial framework of information upon which the Board of Commissioners could deliberate and determine as appropriate any further steps in evaluating this issue and responding to the request and petition submitted. The Board subsequently scheduled and conducted two public hearings on August 24 and August 31, 2005 to receive input from the public on this issue. After the August 31St public hearing, the Chair solicited input from other BOCC members on potential district election ideas/frameworks that the Board could consider as a next step in the review process. In addition, the Chair and Vice Chair provided direction and feedback to staff in the development of initial draft mapping and associated materials that followed the ideas/frameworks provided. These actions led to BOCC discussion at the Board's October 17, 2005 work session on five initial draft maps/plans, an introductory preamble, a draft set of Principles, and a draft Process/Timetable, all prepared in concert with ideas/input/frameworks outlined by BOCC members.. The five initial draft maps/plans were provided based on staffs work with population numbers and precinct lines. From that meeting, the Board scheduled and conducted a public