Bebe HeiskellIn the wake of a 3-mill property tax increase in Walker County, a group of county residents is putting together a petition asking for a vote on whether to dump their sole commissioner form of government.
The petition, created Thursday night by the LaFayette Underground, had gotten almost 450 signatures in the first 24 hours. LaFayette Underground is a community of residents self-described on their Facebook page as giving the "news beneath the news for LaFayette and Walker County."
Lindsey Stephenson, who is associated with the Underground, said she thinks the group's goal is to get around 1,200 total.
"We've been under the sole commissioner for years, and it does have some positive points but it's also incredibly antiquated," she said. "We really just feel like we should have a chance to have a choice."
She said Walker County has been under a sole commissioner for about 70 years, and is one of only a handful of counties in the country left with this system of government. In North Georgia, Chattooga County is the only other county with a sole commissioner.
Although Stephenson said the petition was spurred by the tax hike, the frustrations go back further than that for some residents. She listed things like lack of transparency, absence of a clear budget and questionable spending as common complaints about incumbent Sole Commissioner Bebe Heiskell.
"It is using the momentum about [the tax hike] to get people thinking, 'Hey maybe we really do need to re-evaluate this,'" she said.
Heiskell did not respond to requests for comment Friday.
Changing Walker County's form of government would have to be done through state legislation.
State Sen. Jeff Mullis said no one from the group has contacted him yet, although the petition is slated to be sent to him among other representatives. He said the group would need an overwhelming amount of signatures to have any real clout.
Contact staff writer Hannah Smith at 423-757-6731 or at hsmith@timesfreepress.com.