Would a county CEO be a king?

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A centerpiece of the sweeping proposal rolled out yesterday by the Commission on Local Government Reform involves consolidating
many county offices under one elected official.

A county chief executive would appoint the assessor, auditor, coroner, recorder, surveyor, treasurer and even the sheriff.
The prosecutor still would be elected.

Officials who would be affected by the idea didnâ??t wait long to launch a barrage of criticism. Hamilton County council member
at-large Brad Beaver told the Star that he likened a chief executiveâ??s authority to that of a king.

Most of us are used to working under a CEOâ??s authority, and governors and the U.S. president are empowered with a roughly
similar structure.

The commission co-chairmen, former Gov. Joe Kernan and Chief Justice Randall Shepard, say the state needs major change to
make local government operate well.

Are you comfortable with bringing nearly all of county government under one person?

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