From: Dennis W. Baute
Columbus
Our Bartholomew County Commissioner Districts have been grossly unequal in population and size for years. The city of Columbus has provided the lion’s share of county income for years. The City of Columbus is a huge component of the county, but we have not had a city resident serve on the commission since at least 2002. The Commissioners themselves get to decide how the three districts are divided and many city residents may not realize they are included in the county. Our current commissioners again expressed their satisfaction with the unequal districts at their September 30, 2024 meeting.
Columbus city residents are essentially loaded into one district that includes almost 2/3 of our total population. The other two districts share the remaining 1/3 of our population. This practice almost guarantees rural residents will have a majority on the commission and city residents will have a minority.
Our rural Commissioners have served in good faith for years and years; for that we are thankful. To ensure everyone is more fairly represented, however, we need more equal representation and possibly more turnover.
