Dear Editor,

You have to learn to count to three.  That phrase was repeated to me countless times in 1998 when our community of Hickory Flat fought against 7,000 apartments that were planned for the Ga. 140 corridor. We have a five-member county commission so you need three votes to carry any decision.

Currently, every Cherokee County voter can vote for three commissioners, our two district commissioners (one from each post), and the commission chairman.  It is essential that every resident of Cherokee County continue to vote for three members of the Board of Commissioners.

One state representative, Sean Jerguson, and his supporters want to change our local elections.  They feel we should only vote for our post commissioner and the chairman.  They like to chant “one man, one vote” but what they really support is, “one man, one less vote.”

The current system gives us representation that is close to where we live, while still giving us a majority influence on our Board of Commissioners.  It was a brilliant solution when it was conceived and has given us low taxes, and a high quality of life.  Much better than that enjoyed by other counties that vote using Mr. Jerguson’s model such as Cobb and Gwinnett.

A false claim that commissioners routinely win elections without the support of the post they live in, is not true.  The election results available online never show that happening and the records go back 10 years.

The true reason for this change was given by the husband of a politician at a meeting in Woodstock.  Politicians find elections costly and difficult if they have to run in larger districts. This change may be good for politicians, but if something is threatening my community, I don’t want to count to two, on a five member board.  Do you?

Deborah Wallace, Hickory Flat