Board should increase to seven
Dear Editor,

I was pleased to see in your Jan. 10 article "Supersized Supervisors" that the board [could] consider expanding the board to seven members. The proposal is long over due. I have proposed this very idea to the board after the 1990 census and after the 2000 census. During the public hearing at Mount Pisgah Methodist Church in Midlothian, the public expressed [its] desire for seven districts. The idea was not well received by the county administration. Loudoun County, on the other hand, which has a population 50,000 less than Chesterfield, has had a nine-member board for years.

If we were to see how Chesterfield representation compares to other large population counties in Virginia, this is how we would stand: Chesterfield 60,000 per supervisor Loudoun 27,000 per supervisor Fairfax 100,000 per supervisor Prince William 49,800 per supervisor Stafford 17,000 per supervisor

Only Fairfax at nine districts and one at-large supervisor has a larger representative basis.

Former Supervisor Harry Daniels suggested in the article, "If a member of the General Assembly can represent 80,000-90,000, why can't a county supervisor…" If we follow Harry's thoughts, let's also have the board meet only for 60 days a year once a year. It would give them less time to tax us and less time to add new developments to Chesterfield.

If we really want to have fair redistricting for Chesterfield, be it five or seven districts, it should be done by a citizens' committee, not by the board to gerrymander like the last redistricting.
Robert E. Olsen
Midlothian