Bring Government Closer to the People, Commissioner Says

It’s time to bring county government closer to the people.

That’s the message Hillsborough Commissioner Les Miller says is behind his proposal to create a referendum that would enable voters to decide if they want smaller single-member districts represented on the county board.

The Hillsborough County Commission has seven districts. Four of those districts are represented by commissioners who are selected by residents within specific parts of the county. Three board seats are elected at-large, by all voters within the county.

While that plan worked when it was drawn up in the 1980s when Hillsborough County only had about 600,000 residents, it’s not effective any longer, Miller said. The county now has more than 1.2 million residents and commissioners that serve single-member districts represent just over 307,000 people each.

Miller wants to see that number shrink by asking voters to decide on a referendum that would call for creating five single-member districts and two at-large seats. He doesn’t want to grow the commission; rather he just wants to shrink the number of people each single-member district commissioner serves.

“Local government (is the) most important form of government people see every day because we take care of them,” Miller said.  “It’s time we bring those districts closer to the people and make them much smaller.”

A Look at the Numbers

Miller says smaller districts would enable more accountability to the people and could foster more accessibility between residents and their elected officials. He points to other large counties in Florida as an illustration of just how large Hillsborough’s districts currently are.

According to Miller, those numbers are:

• Broward County – It has 1.7 million-plus people and nine single-member districts each serving about 194,000 people.
• Palm Beach County – It has about 1.3 million people and seven single-member districts. These commissioners each served about 188,000 people.
• Orange County – It has more than 1 million people served by six single-member representatives whose districts encompass about 190,000 people.

That’s compared to Hillsborough’s four commissioners who each represent more than 300,000 people each. Shifting to five single-member districts would reduce the population served to about 245,000 people in each district, Miller said.

Miller is the District 3 representative on the County Commission. That district covers a good portion of Central Hillsborough County.

The county’s three at-large commissioners are Ken Hagan, Kevin Beckner and Mark Sharpe.

What’s Next?

Miller plans to ask his fellow board members during the April 17 commission meeting to advance his idea to the county attorney’s office. If they agree, he’s asking the county to put together a referendum that will go to voters in 2014 approving the change in districts, which wouldn’t take effect until 2016. The proposal requires a change to the county’s charter.

The County Commission meets at 9 a.m. April 17 at County Center, 601 E. Kennedy Blvd. To find out what's on the agenda, visit the county's website.

What do you think about Miller’s proposal? Do you think the county needs to bring government “closer to the people?” Share your thoughts, Bloomingdale, by commenting below.