A Jefferson County subdivision under construction in 2004. (P-D file photo)

On Nov. 4, Jefferson County voters will be asked to change a form of government that has existed since frontier days. Proponents of the ballot measure say the county has outgrown the old system; opponents say it’s working just fine.

Jefferson County is run by a three-member commission. Two associate commissioners are elected by districts; the presiding commissioner is elected by voters countywide. The county commission system operates in most rural Missouri counties.

But Jefferson County, population 220,000, no longer is exclusively rural. Indeed, it’s one of the fastest-growing counties in the state. A proposal on the county’s ballot next week would replace the county commission with a system similar to that in St. Louis and St. Charles counties: An elected county executive would run day-to-day operations, and a seven-member council would set budgets, approve appointments and enact ordinances.

Ginger Frank, who chairs the Citizens for Charter Government advocacy group, says the current system was designed for smaller counties. She discovered that when trying to get one of the commissioners to pay attention to a subdivision dispute in her neighborhood. She said he was too busy for her. “The representation we received was so substandard that I began to realize how badly our government in Jefferson County works,” she said.

Her solution: Seven councilmen from smaller districts, who would be able to pay attention to local needs.

Presiding Commissioner Chuck Banks opposes the move, even though the proposal would make him county executive until the 2011 election. “I would become the most powerful person in Jefferson County ever,” he notes. But he also says that the council districts are drawn in a way that would give too much power to people who live in municipalities and rely less on county services. “The rural folks, who own the majority of the land mass, would become the minority in representation on the board,” he says.

He also says the proposal would raise costs by adding volunteer commissions and a merit hiring and employment system that would make it harder to fire workers at will.

Ms. Frank says that eliminating the $68,700 salaries paid to the associate commissioners would pay the entire cost of the part-time council. Former Presiding Commissioner Mark Mertens, who favors the proposition, says the merit selection system will stop politicians from hiring their cronies and ensure that the best applicants get the jobs.

The proposition on the ballot also would make Jefferson County a “home rule” county with greater autonomy. As it is, Ms. Frank says, “We’re a colony of Jefferson City.”

Mr. Banks says it’s perilous to give politicians the power to restrict such things as fireworks or gun use, which are “part of the rural tradition.”

The “rural tradition” argument is not persuasive. Political power lies with individuals, not property. A resident of a three-bedroom home on a quarter-acre in Arnold should have the same access to government and government services as a farmer in Dittmer. Three commissioners can’t understand the neighborhood concerns of 220,000 people.

A seven-member council would bring government closer to the people, and a home-rule charter would give them the power to enact the people’s will. A growing county needs a merit selection system, which represents progress away from old-time courthouse patronage and toward efficient government. Jefferson County voters should vote Yes on Proposition Home Rule Charter.