By Michael Howell
The question of whether the election of county commissioners should remain partisan or become non-partisan has been re-placed onto the draft ballot being proposed by the Ravalli County Local Government Study Commission. After voting twice to keep the issue on the draft ballot and then reversing themselves and deciding to take it off the ballot, the five-member LGSC voted last week to put it back on the ballot and let the voters have a shot at it.
The effort to take the question off the draft ballot was brought forward by LGSC Chairman Alan Thompson late in the process and at the time he characterized it as “a huge change.” Thompson said he did express early on in the process that he believed county offices that have specific duties such as the Treasurer and the Clerk and Recorder could be non-partisan, but he felt strongly that the “policy making” offices, like the County Commissioners, should definitely be partisan. He had strong support from LGSC member Scott Boulanger.
The effort was defeated twice in two successive votes. LGSC member Sharon Schroeder, who was leaning toward removing it from the ballot, said that she believed that, unlike the question of changing from five to three commissioners, this issue had only been brought up by commission members and was not a big issue for the public. She said that she needed more time to consider the matter and hear from the public.
But at a third meeting which was noticed as a meeting to adopt the format of the tentative draft ballot, it was brought up by Thompson again at the end of the meeting, this time characterizing it as “a little change.” Schroeder said that, based on the input she had received from the public, she would now vote for removing the question from the ballot. A new draft ballot was prepared to reflect that decision.
That draft was taken out for public review to a number of public hearings held in Florence, Stevensville, Corvallis Hamilton and Darby.
The LGSC then met again to consider adopting the draft. At this meeting the question about partisan or non-partisan commissioner elections was raised once again and Schroeder reversed her stand. She said that she had heard enough from the public at the public hearings up and down the valley to believe that it is a legitimate issue for the public and should be placed on the ballot. She said she did not want to take the chance of disenfranchising the public.
In the end, the LGSC voted 4-1 to add the option back in, with Boulanger casting the lone dissenting vote.
The LGSC also discussed the pros and cons of placing the issue on the ballot at the June primary or waiting until the November general election, which traditionally gets more of a turnout. It is complicated due to the various options of four- or six-year terms and five or three commissioners that are on the ballot. Placing it on the November ballot could require a special election to be held to meet legal time requirements.
Chairman Thompson noted that reducing a commission from five members to three is unprecedented and the commission was blazing a trail here. If the voters decide to reduce the commission to three members, then the two seats open for election in November 2016 will be for two-year terms and in 2018 only three seats will be open.
Following the election of three new commissioners, lots would be drawn to determine the length of their terms. If the voters choose four-year terms there would be two lots for four-year terms and one lot for a two-year term. If the voters choose to go to six-year terms, they will draw lots for a two-year term, a four-year term and a six-year term.
A tentative draft is now available at the County Commissioners’ office and on the county’s LGSC web page that shows five issues to be placed on the ballot. One ballot measure is to stay with five commissioners or reduce it to three. The LGSC is recommending a reduction to three. A second measure is to stay with four-year terms or increase it to six-year terms. The LGSC is recommending six-year terms. A third measure is to hold District elections for each seat rather than the current At-Large vote where all residents vote for each seat. The LGSC recommends At-Large. The fourth measure is whether to hold partisan or non-partisan elections for the commissioners. The LGSC is recommending partisan. The last measure to be placed on the ballot would be whether each of the other county offices should be partisan or non-partisan. The LGSC is recommending non-partisan for all the offices, other than the commissioners.
After the public has had a chance to read and digest the tentative report, a final meeting is scheduled for December 8, at 2 p.m. at the commissioners’ meeting room to take final public comment on the report. The LGSC has until March 2016 to finalize its report.