SB 379, introduced by Senator Boots, provides for a county to elect to transform its governing structure. To do this, the Board of County Commissioners must adopt an ordinance calling for the reorganization of county government such that a unitary executive will replace the three member board of commissioners and assume all of the executive powers of the county. In turn, the fiscal body will become the legislative body and assume all of the legislative authority previously exercised by the board of commissioners.
To become effective, the proposed reorganization must be approved by the voters at an election in an even-numbered year. If approved, two years later, the voters would vote on the first single-member executive.
Obfuscation and delay.
Yes but at least it returns the decision to a. local control and b. the voters have a final say. Plus since it is a local ordinance, I believe it could be overturned a lot easier then if the GA went ahead and rewrote either the Constitution or Indiana Code itself. This measure if it passes will allow for Counties to experiment with the idea. That is a good thing all around.
Agree that the matter needs further consideration in that an edict from governor/legislature may not be what suits the needs of every county. Indy’s unigov has still left many questions as to effective and efficient governance. Again, a point that do not expect “great” savings from this whole concept and definitely less “representative” governance.