Last June I watched the Legislature debate a County government bill. Senator George Clay of Tuskegee took the floor and proclaimed:

"I oppose any Home Rule. We exist for checks and balances to keep county commissioners from doing anything unreasonable. Those good old boys back home can cook up things that might not be palatable to the local public."

   My first reaction was to be upset. I work for seven outstanding county commissioners who make great personal sacrifices to serve their community and I do not like to hear them unfairly condemned. My second reaction was to acknowledge that many Alabamians share Senator Clay's opinion.

   Although I have the highest respect for the local elected officials I work with, I would not want to invest any of my own money in a business structured like the county government where I serve as Administrator or any other Alabama county government. The businesses we are in are not clearly defined, authority is diffuse, there is little accountability, and the financial structure is almost undecipherable.

An Outsider's Impressions

   I have returned to Alabama after 20 years of service as a city manager and county administrator in other southeastern states. After two years in Baldwin County I have the following impressions of Alabama local government:

Most Folks Do Not Pay Much Attention to County Government

   Almost 80 years ago H. S. Gilbertson called County government the dark continent of American politics.(1) It still is. A couple of years ago political scientists reviewed lists of state legislative priorities and copies of governors "State of the State" speeches. None of them mentioned the County governments which would have to implement many of the programs and deal with most of the issues they were concerned about.(2) My son is taking a required high school class in government and economics. He has a colorful 787 page text for the government part of the course. The book devotes 3 of those pages to County government.(3)

Few Citizens Know Who Does What At The County Level

   Citizens know that everyone who works in City Hall is part of their City government and that the Mayor and City Council are responsible for all the City government. Most citizens assume that everyone who works in the Courthouse is a part of County government and that the County Commission is responsible for all of their County government. Only when he complains to his County Commissioner about a delayed septic tank permit does a citizen learn that the County Health Department is really a state agency that calls itself "county". Baldwin County has 476 people on its payroll: 269 of them work for the County Commission and 207 work for eight different independent agencies and officials.

   This diffusion of authority complicates coordination of services and encourages turf battles. The resulting lack of clear accountability breeds citizen distrust. In Many Areas of Public Concern the County Commission Does Not Have The Authority to Protect The Health, Safety, And Public Welfare of The County's Citizens.

   The appendix to this paper lists a dozen specific examples of things the Baldwin County Commission cannot do without the grant of additional authority from the Legislature.

The Normal Procedures For Assuring Local Governing Board Accountability Are Not in Place.

There is no requirement to prepare an administrative budget for presentation to the county commission. The financial system is not unified. The commission does not have to notify the public before adopting a budget or granting a franchise. Since there is no procedure for adopting ordinances, the legislative actions which the commission is allowed to take do not have to be considered at more than one meeting.

The Financial System is Almost Indecipherable.

   I was amazed to find that unlike other states, Alabama does not require its county governments to publish timely annual financial reports and audits. The audits conducted by the State Examiner's Office do not treat the county as a consolidated financial unit. Separate reports are prepared for the office of each elected department head.

   State law and historic practice create a proliferation of funds. Our staff prepared the flow chart in Appendix 1 to help the County Commission sort our the structure of their part of the County's financial system. The chart does not include the funds handled independently by elected department heads.

The Rules Defining What The County Can Do And How it is to Operate Are Hard to Find And Sometimes Nonexistent.

   There is no enabling act defining the structure and authority of the Baldwin County Commission. The Local Laws Index lists 427 different local acts with their amendments and 10 Constitutional amendments regarding local government in Baldwin County. These laws are not codified and there may be no one who has read all of them. The makeup and form of election of the county commission was established by a 1988 Federal Court Order and has not yet been affirmed by legislation.

The Role of The County Commission is in Transition.

   In the past I believe the typical County Commissioners saw himself as a road commissioner. His primary responsibilities were to allocate the few dollars available for building new roads and bridges and to supervise the graders and road crews as they maintained the dirt roads in his district. Today, the commissioners I work for aspire to be members of a local governing board responsible for the development of our growing county, for the protection of the health, safety, and welfare of the county's citizens, and for the direction of a $31 million organization.

In General, Alabama City Governments Have The Resources and Authority They Need to Function Effectively.

   Municipal governments appear to have authority to meet most local needs. They have some flexibility in generating local revenue. Their limited grant of police power allows them to pass ordinances which address most of the health, safety, and welfare issues which concern their citizens. They can adopt zoning and development controls. Alabama's Police Jurisdiction and Planning Area laws are admirable innovations. Cities have limited authority to initiate annexations. When an Alabama city annexes property the county does not lose revenue. This fortunate arrangement allows the state to avoid the city/county conflicts over annexation which are common in other states. Municipalities do not have home rule authority to change the structure of their city government to meet local needs or preferences.

Alabama Local Government is Not Seriously Balkanized.

   In other states the ability of local government to act cohesively is destroyed by the creation of multiple, independent special purpose districts. Although we have a plethora of Utility Districts and Fire Districts and the easy process for incorporating new municipalities has boxed in some of the State's larger cities, the manufacturing of new governments is better controlled than in many other states.

The Local Government Article of a New Alabama Constitution

   A new constitution with a well written local government article could resolve most of the deficiencies I have observed in Alabama's local government. The article should authorize enabling legislation to do the following:

• To establish three alternative forms of county government: commission, county council/administrator, and elected county executive.

• To establish alternative forms of city government including a council/manager option.

• To authorize adoption of any of the alternative forms of government by local referendum.

• To create city and county government structures in addition to the standard forms through a charter commission and referendum.

• To provide for the consolidation of city and county governments into a single entity.

• To grant city and county governments the authority to adopt ordinances to protect the health, safety, and public welfare of their citizens and to impose penalties for violation of those ordinances.

• To authorize cities and counties to employ an attorney to prosecute local ordinance violations.

• To include in the grant of local ordinance authority the ability to adopt zoning regulations and development controls and to impose development impact fees.

• To allow the functional consolidation or transfer of local government services among cities or between cities and counties.

• To allow state agencies to delegate authority to provide some state managed services to local governments.

Some of the human services, health services, and environmental regulatory services which are now provided by state agencies are local in their nature and need to be coordinated with other local government services. For example, the county building department's inspection of the electrical service of a newly sited mobile home should be consolidated with the state health department's inspection of its septic tank.

• To allow county governments reduce the number of elected department heads.

Richard Childs began making the following argument for "the short ballot principle" early in the century when he and Woodrow Wilson formed the National Short Ballot Organization:

"It is a basic tenant of political reform that the ballot must be short. Voters will vote for as many as 5 informedly. When the ballot submits more than five, they will usually vote on a remaining number without scrutiny, following blindly a party label, thereby surrendering their function to party leaders. Likewise, if an office is too small, uninteresting and undramatic to attract public scrutiny, the same blind relegation of control to obscure party leaders will occur. So you--even you, Mr. Voter,--finding 10, 30, or 50 offices to be voted for, will vote informedly for 3, 4 or 5 and cast your vote for the rest without knowing who those candidates are!"(4)

• To require consolidated budgeting and management of all local government funds along with annual financial reporting and audits. To prohibit new local legislation. To allow cities and counties to repeal or amend old local acts which no longer serve a useful purpose.(5) To authorize cities and counties to adjust sales, use, and property tax levies by referendum and to adjust other charges, fees, and taxes by ordinance.

• To provide recall provisions for local elected officials.

Restraining Forces

   The Baldwin County Commission has adopted a Strategic Plan which includes a chapter on Governance. One of the Action Items in the chapter calls for the commission to "define the local government structure and powers the commission would like to have and ask the legislative delegation to support legislation to provide them."(6) When we talked with our delegation members about limited home rule authority for the county government, they raised the following concerns:

Citizens Oppose Increasing Government Power

The Baldwin County Commission has used the limited authority it has. The commission has adopted building codes, established a mandatory garbage collection system, and prohibited smoking in county buildings. Each of these actions have irritated some citizens. A vocal group of citizen activists now oppose any expansion of County authority. They like the fact that the county cannot respond immediately to address a new problem. The checks and balances of having to wait for the legislative session and then having to convince the delegation to approve a new local act slows things down and increases the probability that nothing will be done.

Home Rule is Seen as a Code Word for Raising Taxes

The Baldwin County Commission is sensitive to this fear and has suggested that any expansion of home rule authority include a restriction requiring referendum approval for any increase in sales, use, or property taxes.

Legislators are Concerned About Ward Politics

   Our Legislators pointed out that they serve large areas of the county while our commissioners represent smaller districts. If the commissioners had increased authority they might begin log rolling or approving actions that benefit only some of our commission districts.

Ask and You Will Receive

   Finally the delegation members suggested that the county did not need any general grant of home rule authority. The legislators assured the commissioners that if they would clearly explain what authority they wanted, the Legislators would pass local acts to grant it.

   This valuable promise has served the County well, but it has some draw backs:

• The session is short and our Legislators are very busy; so only a few pieces of local legislation can be processed each year.

• The practice of legislative courtesy means that each Legislator has an effective veto over any piece of local legislation.

• No one says so publicly, but the paternalism is grating. One elected official does not like to have to go to another and play "Mother may I."

Grassroots Democracy

We all have read the discouraging statistics on declining voter participation rates and increasing distrust in government. At the same time a number of social observers have identified a "...deep sense of civic duty that lies behind all of the complaints and cynical comments that people make."(7)

One surveyor found that a majority of the American people would pay extra taxes, usually "as much as it takes," to help solve the following problems:

1. Improving the U. S. education system

2. Fighting illiteracy in this country

3. Putting in safeguards to protect the environment for all of our futures

4. Preventing child abuse in the future and helping child-abuse victims now

5. Doing something meaningful about homelessness

6. Beginning the war on poverty again--in a business like manner

7. Fighting the war on drugs (8)

   All seven of these problems are predominately local government issues. The public policy issues that Americans say they care about are issues that they will address through their city and county governments, their local school systems and community organizations. The challenge for us in public life is to build local government institutions which merit the trust of our communities citizens and which are capable of delivering the quality services those citizens expect and deserve.

Appendix 2

A Dozen Things the Baldwin County Commission Cannot Do

1. Animal Control

   As one of our more colorful commissioners explained: "We have authority to hire an employee, buy him a uniform, and put him in a truck that says Animal Control on the door. We just cannot let him pick up anyone's dog." Counties do not have authority to adopt Animal Control Ordinances or to issue citations to citizens who violates them.

2. Billboard Control

   Baldwin County's beaches are Alabama's most valuable tourism attraction. The Gulf Shores Parkway is the gateway to this great economic asset. The vista a tourist sees driving down the Parkway helps form his image of the whole beach area. By failing to regulate the growing wall of garish billboards we are projecting an image of over commercialization and tawdry development. Counties do not have authority to adopt sign control ordinances.

3. Erosion Control

   Siltation is one of the greatest threats to Baldwin County's waterways. The county does not have authority to regulate land clearing practices. Federal laws required the county to prepare a study of stormwater runoff and submit a stormwater permit application, but in our application we explained that the recommended controls could not be implemented until the Legislature gives county governments the authority to do so.

4. Noise Ordinance

   A few weeks ago a delegation of citizens appeared at a commission meeting and asked for help with a community problem. A stock car track had opened in their neighborhood and now they could not leave their windows open on a hot summer evening or sleep at night because of the noise from the racing cars. The commissioners assured the citizens of their sympathy but explained that counties do not have authority to adopt noise control ordinances.

5. No Wake Zones

   Baldwin County is surrounded by water on three sides and crisscrossed by navigable rivers. As our population grows conflicts between waterfront property owners and various commercial and recreational uses of the waterways are increasing. The county does not have authority to address these conflicts by establishing no wake zones.

6. Housing Code

   As our county building department inspects new construction to assure that it is safe its staff members have made the commission aware of existing dwellings that are unsanitary and unsafe. Counties apparently do not have authority to adopt housing codes or to require landlords to keep their rental properties in a safe condition.

7. False Alarm Ordinance

   Our sheriff justified his request for additional deputies explaining that he could not respond quickly to serious emergencies because his patrol staff was tied up checking homes and businesses with poorly installed alarm systems which go off every time it rains. The commission started to consider adopting a false alarm ordinance but stopped the discussion when they realized that they do not have the authority to do so.

8. Groundwater Protection

   You can drill a well and get plenty of good water almost anywhere in Baldwin County. Since some of our Gulf Coast utilities experienced salt water intrusion in a few wells, the county contracted with the U. S. Geologic Survey to map our aquifers. Their study is identifying several areas where we are likely to permanently ruin our ground water resources if we do not control where wells are placed, how they are built, and how much water is pumped out of them. The county does not have authority to establish these regulations.

9. Impact Fees

   Baldwin County's booming growth is creating an increasing demand for roads, sewers, parks, and other items of public infrastructure. Other states use impact fee as a way to assure that new residents help pay for the costs they impose on communities they move into. Alabama counties do not have authority to establish development impact fees.

10. Tree Protection

   Generally the cheapest way to develop a piece of land is to clear everything off of it, grade it flat, and then construct a building. Communities that are concerned about their appearance do not allow this type of mindless development. Alabama counties do not have authority to adopt tree protection ordinances.

11. Business License

   Alabama cities adopt local business license ordinances. Counties issue business licenses, but are required to use old legislated business classification and license rules which are inequitable, irrational, and frequently uneconomic. Counties do not have authority to fix the system.

12. Increase Law Enforcement Service

   While working on the county's strategic plan our commission discussed whether future concern about crime and public safety might someday cause the county's citizens to demand that we double or triple the number of law enforcement officers protecting them. The discussion ended with the reminder that even if the citizens demanded the service and were willing to vote to pay for it, the commission does not have authority to raise taxes, even with referendum approval.

Notes

1. Victor S. DeSantis, "County Government: A Century of Change". In The Municipal Yearbook 1989, Washington, DC: International City Management Association, p. 55. Quoting H. S. Gilbertson, "The Dark Continent of American Politics". In The County, New York: The National Short Ballot Organization, 1917.

2. Beverly A. Cigler, "The County-State Connection: A National Study of Associations of Counties", Public Administration Review, January/February 1994, Vol. 54, No. 1, P. 5.

3. West's American Government, West Publishing Company, St. Paul, MN, 1994, pp. 590-593.

4. Richard S. Childs, The First 50 Years of the Council-Manager Plan of Municipal Government, National Municipal League, New York, 1965, p. 30.

5. Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama, "Making Decisions About County Government, The PARCA Report Fall 1993, No. 18, p. 3.

6. Baldwin County Commission, Baldwin County Strategic Plan Implementation Document, South Alabama Regional Planning Commission, Mobile, Al, June 1995, p. GOV. 4.1.

7. David Matthews, Politics for People: Finding a Responsible Public Voice, University of Illinois Press, Urbana, 1994, p. 38.

8. James Patterson and Peter Kim, The Day America Told the Truth, Prentice Hall Press, New York, 1991, p. 231.