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Saw this on the Lew Rockwell.com blog today. Worth a watch to see Dr. Lott take apart the MSNBC drone.

TIME FOR 9 COUNTY COMMISSIONERS?

I think so. We had a lot of conversation on this today. All I'm looking to do is get more representation, and more voices, into the county government. We have three at-large commissioners. To do anything takes 2 of 3 to agree. Not a very high bar. All it takes is 2 or 3 commissioners of similar background and view, and it becomes a rubber stamp. 

What I propose is we keep the 3 existing at-large commissioners, and then expand the board to include 6 additional commissioners who are volunteers, and are elected by geographical district.  The costs added are minimal. (different meeting situation with room for 9) I'd also suggest that we make all future county commissioner races non-partisan. As it is, our county commissioners are beholden to the democratic and republican party organizations, which may be good for the parties, but not necessarily good for the county and the people.

Other benefits: 1) More voices of the region representing the point of view of their district. 2) Possible reduced influence of county administration and staff. One could make the case that Danny Jordan's compensation deal wouldn't have "flown  under the radar" had they needed to convince 5 of 9 rather than 2 of 3 board members. 3) When the county does something BIG (ie Gold Ray Dam removal) a five of 9 vote or better does a good job of demonstrating strong regional county support for its actions.

Finally, having 6 commissioners volunteering for this kind of service would be true grassroots campaigning. Each would represent 25-30,000 residents, and you could campaign inexpensively with signs, stickers, door-to-door.  The current at-large candidates require big money and big party support to be effective.