In a county where close races are the norm, Tuesday’s narrow decision to move to a three-person board of commissioners was no exception. With a margin of less than 150 votes in a race that saw more than 8,000 voters cast ballots, the county chose to move away from a sole commissioner. With all precincts reporting but the final totals being delayed by a minor discrepancy with the paper absentee ballots, the multi-member choice had 4,378 votes to the sole commissioner option with 4,252 votes.
The 240 paper ballots had been counted once with a two vote difference in favor of remaining with a sole commissioner. The election staff had to recount the paper ballots due to a minor discrepancy, but with no chance of a different outcome. Surprising was the choice of a three-person board over the five-person board being favored by a vast majority of the voters. The three-person option was chosen by more than 65 percent of the voters.
Current sole commissioner Rob Jones said he wasn’t surprised by the move to the multi-man commission, but was very surprised by the choice of the three-member board. The group organized to spearhead the referendum efforts had been strongly in favor of a five-person board. While he had supported the county remaining with a sole commissioner, Jones said he felt good that a large turnout had decided the issue and “the majority have spoken”…
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