Two people can get more done in a room than 22. We have 11 districts, and according to comparable counties with similar population, we should have about 11 board members, or 1 per district. We currently have 2 members per district. Each district in Shelby county is appx 2,000 residents. So you are tasked with finding not ONE, but TWO quality board members to serve each time, out of only 2,000 residents. You may wind up with 1 great one, and another that has just showed up in an election and ran unchallenged. This is a problem.
Every single board meeting pays each board member $60. With 22 members, that means each meeting costs the tax payer $1320, plus mileage thats paid out. Last year in 2020 alone, with board meeting and committees, Shelby County paid out more than $54,000 to board members. Think of it this way, if you just had a newborn baby, by the time they graduate high school, the county has spent about $1 million of your money on once a month meetings. This could easily be cut in half.
There are 2 issues with reducing the board size.
1- Either board members will have to be on more committees, or we need to reduce the # of committees that we have. (the second is better, and would save money at $45 per meeting per member)
2- After the census comes out, the reapportionment plan is when the county redraws its district borders, and defines how many board members it will have. This requires that board members essentially vote themselves out of a potential seat for the next election. I will GLADLY being do this, but many will not. You need to contact members from your district and let them know your opinion.