Five-member commission referendum advances at capital

The primary purpose of the advisory referendum will be to find out “whether the electors of Union County desire the governing authority of that county to be changed from a sole commissioner to a five-member board of commissioners,” according to the notice.

Per ballotpedia.org, an advisory referendum is “a type of ballot measure that is non-binding, meaning the outcome of the ballot measure has no legal effect.”

However, Gunter has committed to honoring the referendum outcome, whatever that may be. If a majority of Union County voters say they want to change their style of government, then that’s what Gunter will do. If not, then he will consider the matter to be closed.

Should voters approve the change, the transition would take time to implement but could be in place for the election of five commissioners during the 2028 election cycle.

There are only seven counties in the entire U.S. that have a sole commissioner style of government, and all of them are in Georgia. Five are in North Georgia: Bartow, Chattooga, Murray, Towns and Union counties; with Bleckley and Pulaski counties in Central Georgia.

The most common criticisms of sole commissioners are lack of representation, oversight and accountability in decision-making, while many proponents believe a sole commissioner is less costly and more efficient than a multimember board that may also be subject to political infighting that hampers the work of government.

Gunter plans to find out the number of local voters on each side of the issue, which was brought to him last year by residents in favor of a five-member commission who previously advocated for a petition signed by thousands of voters seeking to put the question to the electorate.

Historically, the Commissioner’s Office has had no interest in seeking such a change, which is one avenue for the process, so a grassroots group of residents spent over two years collecting enough signatures to file a referendum petition, completed in November 2024.

The petition failed after Union County Probate Court, citing the Georgia Constitution, determined that the only proper venue to initiate a ballot measure concerning a change in the form of local government was the Georgia General Assembly.

And that’s exactly where the issue has landed, demonstrating that the original petition process, though deemed legally invalid for its intended purpose, was not ultimately in vain.

“They wanted a referendum, so we’re going to give it to them,” said Rep. Gunter, who will be filing his bill potentially as early as this week as part of the 2026 regular session of the General Assembly.

The bill will be a local act, which is legislation pertaining to a single county or city, paving the way for the referendum to appear on Union County ballots in November.

Gunter has already been in touch with the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government about holding one or more educational town halls. He will be reaching back out – likely after the session ends this spring – to schedule a town hall for late summer or early fall.

“I want to get it close enough to the General Election so that people don’t forget what we talked about and are motivated to come out and vote,” Gunter said.

The town hall will cover the ins and outs of changing to a five-member commission, including such considerations as salaries and other costs, whether there will be a county manager or simply a chairman filling that role, if commissioners will be elected by district or at large, acquiring the necessary office space for four more commissioners, etc.

Importantly, the public feedback Gunter receives in the town hall meeting will play a direct role in shaping the legislation that establishes the structure of a five-member commission here – assuming, of course, that a majority of General Election voters tell him that’s what they want.

“If there’s some question that I’ve left out and didn’t get an answer to (in the town hall), I can schedule another one after the 2026 election, and we can get the rest of the information from the community as to how they want it set up,” Gunter said.

Regardless, if the referendum results in a vote to change local government, Gunter’s office will be responsible for drafting the appropriate legislation, so “from that point on, I’ll be getting all the information I need to set up a five-member commission.”

Carl Vinson will be involved in both the planning and drafting, and Gunter will also be looking to examples of other local governments, like Lumpkin County, where his colleague, District 51 State Sen. Steve Gooch, made the same transition years ago as the last sole commissioner there.

Gunter said there will be plenty of time to work out the details, as elections for a five-member commission board could not take place until at least 2028, as Sole Commissioner Harold Collins must be permitted to serve out the remainder of his current four-year term.

Until Nov. 3, the question remains: what will Union County voters decide?

It will be a consequential decision, as the Commissioner’s Office oversees a $30-plus million operating budget that touches all public services in the county, from emergency response to garbage disposal, recreation, road and bridge repair, building inspection and much more.