We have been producing The County Seat for almost 3 and a half years now. That experience has given me the opportunity to work with members of both Commissions and County Councils. The two forms of government function very differently. Councils duplicate the functioning of the federal government or the state government with a strict (or at least in theory strict) separation of legislative function and executive function, in other words, those who make the laws do not execute or enforce them.
Commissions are different. The person you elect as your commissioner serves as both ordinance creator and administrator. In most settings that would be a dangerous concentration of power, that is not the case here. the Commission form of government employs unique separations that keep things in Check. For example many of the people you would find in a governor or presidents cabinet as appointees of the executive are directly elected by the people. Commissioners do not have any executive or procedural power over the Sheriff, the Clerk, The assessor, the surveyor, the treasurer or, most importantly the auditor. These people answer to you as a voter instead of the Commission.
The reason I said the auditor is the most important piece of the puzzle is that their job description is to audit the county’s finances and report their findings to the people of the county. They are truly and independent auditor charged with auditing the rest of the elected officials. The sheriff is equally important as he is responsible to enforce the law regarding your conduct as a citizen, but also to make sure that the other elected officials do their jobs legally.
This intricate web of independent power makes each of these jobs more important to honest and effective local government, yet often we don’t give the other county jobs a second thought. If they are not vetted as to their integrity and their capability, then a county government can get out of control and power can be abused. I urge you to remember that as election time draws near in June and in November.
One last note about Commissions. It is my experience that commissions get things done quickly. The consensus to move ahead on a problem only requires three heads in the game, and they are motivated to move to solve problems as they have to live with the legislative consequences for they are the ones who also oversee the road department, sanitation, mental health, economic development, tourism etc.
When you have a council, problems are often tabled for months at a time while they slowly build consensus. My personal thoughts are that in Washington there is great value in that, (the less they accomplish, the less our lives are burdened) but in a county, specifically a rural county where distances are great and populations are small that is not a virtue. There is value in having a council in counties where there are large divergent populations in a concentrated area, for more voices are heard in the crafting of ordinance (the closer we live together, the more rules we seem to need to get along). When our day to day safety and welfare are affected the quicker a problem is solved, the better. I know of at least two council form counties in Utah who are considering returning to a commission form of government. Perhaps that is a good conversation to have.
Commissions work very well and can serve the public very effectively and efficiently, but it takes our vigilance and engagement to make it all work ethically.
Just my Thoughts.
Chad Booth. As always, I would love to hear your thoughts.