This is going to be much shorter than the topic deserves, but I am sure I will revisit it later. The Senate passed SB 506 which provides for restructuring the county executive in all counties except for Lake and Marion County. It requires the county commissioners to adopt a resolution that
the voters of the county shall: (1) elect a single county chief executive officer to serve as the county executive and a county council that has the legislative and fiscal powers and duties of the county; (2) elect a board of county supervisors that is a combined county executive, legislative, and fiscal body that has the executive, legislative, and fiscal powers and duties of the county; or (3) provide that the voters shall choose, in a public question to be held in 2010, the structure of county government. Provides that if a public question is held in 2010, the voters shall choose one of two options for the structure of county government: (1) the county shall elect a board of county supervisors that is a combined county executive, legislative, and fiscal body that has the executive, legislative, and fiscal powers and duties of the county; or (2) the county shall not reorganize county government.
Meanwhile, other parts of the Governor’s efforts to restructure local government have apparently been gutted; most notably the effort to do away with township government.
I have mixed feelings on the subject of restructuring local government, but I would say that townships strike me as being further up the list of likely targets for modification than the board of commissioner approach to a county executive.
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