vision2020
Re: Optional form of govt
You've convinced me, Prof. Gallant. Anything that removes government
a step away from the great unwashed is OK with me. ;-) B.
Kenneth Gallant <gallantk@uidaho.edu> wrote:
>
> Obviously by now, everyone knows it is
> easy to get me to rise to any bait that is offered, but OK, I *will*
> respond to Bert's point:
>
> We cannot make the commission offices non-partisan--that's from the
Idaho
> Constitution and Statutes.
>
> It's true that two commissioners have raised havoc in Bonner County,
and
> the other elected officers have done ZERO to protect the citizenry
from
> them. At least an appointed manager would provide insulation for the
> daily operations of county government that affect the citizenry--the
size
> of tax assessment, routine police patrols, welfare determinations,
> weed control, etc. That really does seem to
> be the experience nationally--insulation helps.
>
> We are afraid we will elect bad people to office of county
commissioner,
> but
> we think the same electorate, us, that elects those people will do
> better electing a sheriff or assessor.
>
> This is a difficult argument
> considering that in democratic theory, the policymaking and ultimate
> accountability
> functions of the commissioners are appropriate for elective office,
but
> the technical functions of the row offices generally are not.
> It's also a difficult argument given that the more elective offices
there
> are, the less time the average citizen has to pay attention to
> qualifications for any one of them. (And to the many of us on the
list
> who do pay attention to the plethora of offices, well this list is
made
> up of Moscow's political junkies, including me) I'd rather have us
all pay
> good attention to electing the commissioners, rather than indifferent
> attention to a boatload of offices.
>
>
> Kenneth S. Gallant
> Moscow, Idaho 83844-2322 USA
> 208-885-6541 (phone)
> 208-885-4628 (fax)
> gallantk@uidaho.edu
>
> On Tue, 20 Oct 1998, Bert Cross wrote:
>
> > I've read the full report and listened to arguments pro and con and
> > have decided to vote against the optional form of county
government.
> > The thing that bothers me most is still having only three
> > commissioners. We have seen what havoc only two commissioners can
> > cause (look at Bonner County). I would opt for at least five. And
> > since their work load would be diminished, salaries should be
reduced
> > to help pay the county administrator's salary. We also might
> > consider making the commssion offices non-partisan. The commission
> > would then be a policy-making body with the adminstrator carrying
out
> > its policies.
> >
> > The ironic thing in the current election is this: If I vote for
> > assessor, county clerk, and county treasurer and then vote FOR the
> > optional form, I am then voting to rescind my three prior votes.
> >
> > I agree we need to fine-tune our county government and make it more
> > efficient and effective. The county manager concept is generally a
> > good one. More officers should be appointed rather than elected.
But
> > we need to work out some of the bugs before we jump to this rather
> > drastic and sudden change.
> >
> > I also must plead guilty to failing in my own civic responsibility
> > when the study commission was seeking public input, as many of us
> > did.
> >
> > Bert Cross
> > 1448 Borah Ave.
> > Moscow, ID 83843
> > Phone: (208) 882-7660
> > email: bcross@uidaho.edu
> >
>
>
==
:-) Briana
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