Chatham County is looking at possible changes to how county commissioners are elected as the county is preparing for rapid growth with developments including Chatham Park expected to bring tens of thousands of new residents to the county.

Earlier this year, the Chatham County Board of Commissioners authorized the formation of a temporary task force to study and develop recommendations for possible expansion of the board and how members are elected.

That task force is now asking for feedback from county residents on three options for electing commissioners.

Currently, the county is divided into five districts. A commissioner is elected from each district. While the commissioner must live in the district, they are elected by a countywide vote.

Continuing with this method to elect commissioners is one of the three options being considered by the current task force. The other two options include voting districts, where all commissioners would have to reside in an individual district and would be elected by the residents of that district. The final option would be a combination where five commissioners would reside in and be elected by voters of each district. But this option would include two additional seats on the board who would be at-large candidates and elected by voters across the county.

Residents can provide their input at a task force meeting on August 2. Comments can also be submitted online or through mailed-in submissions through August 10. More information on submitting feedback on the proposals is available here.

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