The Lowndes County Commission needs to grow because Lowndes County keeps growing. Expansion of the Lowndes County Commission is an editorial objective of The Valdosta Daily Times. One we believe should be an objective of most Lowndes County residents.

The commission has many reasons for growth. With Lowndes’ growth in population and economy, the workload of each commissioner increases. More commissioners invest the county with more opinions, ideas, and political muscle concerning the wide range of issues facing Lowndes.

As it stands, three voting commissioners represent about 100,000 people.

Even Lowndes County’s cities and towns, with much smaller populations, have more representatives. The Valdosta City Council has a mayor and seven councilmen. Hahira usually has a mayor and four councilmen representing a population of approximately 1,600 people. Remerton has about the same number of councilmen and a mayor to represent a population of about half of Hahira’s size. Lake Park has a mayor and four councilmen representing an even smaller population.

Meanwhile, many neighboring counties have a fraction of Lowndes County’s population but as many and, in certain cases, more commissioners on board.

Cook County Commission has five commissioners representing a population of approximately 16,000 people. Brooks County Commission also has five commissioners representing a population of approximately 16,000 people.

Districts have different population sizes, but a comparative average of the number of people a Lowndes County commissioner represents compared to the number of people represented by a Cook County commissioner, while leaving a chairman out of the equation, offers a startling contrast.

The numbers break down to the Lowndes commissioner representing an average of more than 33,000 people compared to the Cook County commissioner representing an average of 4,000 people.

On the current ballot is a plan to increase the Lowndes County Commission’s membership by two, with the creation of two super districts.

These super districts would split Lowndes with commissioners representing the east and west of the county. It would also increase the commission to five voting members and a commission chairman, up from the current three commissioners plus chairman.

Expanding the size of government may go against the political grain of some, but this is not an issue of big government, but a truly American issue of representative government. And five commissioners and a chairman will better represent the interests, demands and needs of Lowndes County.