COURTESY : The Sumter County Times Online

By Bob Reichman
Published July 22, 2004 

When voters got to the polls on Aug. 31 they will either decide that The Villages will rule Sumter County government or they will decide that it will not.

The choice is that simple.

No matter what else you hear, that's the real issue here.

In order to successfully succeed with issues before the County Commission, a majority of commission votes is required. That means that at least three commissioners must support a given issue being considered by the five-member board.

In the past, two county commissioners have been stumbling blocks to a number of Village-related issues. Both Jim Roberts and Joey Chandler have voted in opposition to some Village projects or challenged them.

That's doesn't mean Roberts and Chandler have a vendetta against The Villages, it simply means that they base their decisions on more than the fact that it's what The Villages want.

That's made some people pretty angry and what better way to alleviate the problem than by getting rid of the stumbling blocks.

One Sumter would probably do just that. It would silence these two stumbling blocks by electing new commissioners that would be more supportive of Village issues.

We've heard people say that One Sumter will provide a more democratic voting system.

On the surface, it would, and in an ideal situation, at-large voting would be ideal.

But that's not what we're talking about here.

We're talking about a huge development in a relatively small portion of the county controlling local government because it contains the majority of the county's active voters.

We're talking about electing five county commissioners who could all be elected because they've passed the test of favoring Village projects and issues.

We're talking about an end to equal representation in Sumter County government.

It's as simple as that.

We strongly suggest that voters oppose One Sumter when they go to the polls on Aug. 31.