County Commissioners Pass Resolution Opposing Bill

Barrow County commissioners on Tuesday attempted to wrest control of oversight of the county charter review from local state legislators.

Commissioners voted unanimously to pass a resolution opposing a bill introduced by Rep. Terry England, R-Auburn, and asking the local delegation to withdraw House Bill 580 from consideration.

The bill would establish a 13-member commission of residents to study the current form, composition, administration, functions, powers and duties of the governing authority of Barrow County and submit a written report of its findings and recommendations. 

"Basically, the main issue is in that bill the three state representatives would (each) appoint two appointees to that committee, whereas the chairman and commissioner would only appoint one each," Commissioner Steve Worley said in a phone interview. "We just felt like that was a little too much involvement at the state level."

In the resolution opposing the bill, commissioners indicated they would like to form their own committee to review the county charter.

“I am actually taken back a bit by the resolution,” England said Wednesday in an e-mail. “I had been in conversation with several of the commissioners over last weekend and thought they were somewhat in agreement after we talked about it. Our delegation is going to mull it over for a few days and decide what we will do from this point.

“Our intention on dropping the bill is to provide for the committee to review the charter and make any recommendations for changes that deem needed,” England continued. “I don't have an axe to grind as it seems to be thought by some. We just wanted a pure process to allow the committee to work and report back to us and the county commission any recommendations for change.”

England said the process would allow for public input from residents as the commission would be required to hold public meetings in each town and city within the county.