Editorials

Recently, the St. Clair County Commission voted unanimously to let citizens go to the polls in November and decide whether to give the commission power to regulate junkyards, sewage, litter, weeds, stray animals and such.

As we have pointed out numerous times in the past, these are the sort of nuisance, health and safety matters that, in other states, county commissions regulate as part of their normal activities. That is why most counties in most states have commissions.

But not in Alabama. Hamstrung by a Constitution written to centralize government, it took an act of the Legislature (the Alabama Limited Self-Government Act in 2005) to give voters the power to decide if they want their local government to have this authority.

Now St. Clair citizens will decide.

It will be an interesting test.

St. Clair is a county in transition. Once, not so long ago, it was overwhelmingly rural and farming, but rapidly it is becoming suburban as Birmingham moves in from the west and river development increases. These new folks are the ones most willing to expand the powers of the commission.

However, agricultural interests in the county remain strong, and they oppose the measure. Even though farms are exempted from most of the regulations or are already monitored under existing laws, representatives from the state’s farmers federation and poultry association are concerned that future commissioners might be less inclined to protect farm interests.

There are, of course, a number of factors at work here. There is the opposition to any change in the existing relationship between local government and local citizens, a position rooted in an opposition to constitutional reform. Any fundamental alteration in established procedures, it is argued, suggests that the Constitution itself is flawed and therefore should be rewritten. So don’t change a thing.

More prominent, however, is the question of what happens to agricultural interests when they come in conflict with urbanizing forces.

This is a drama that has been played out in other counties. Already, Autauga, Dallas, Jackson, Marshall and Mobile counties have voted for limited home rule. Bibb, DeKalb, Escambia and Montgomery counties, along with St. Clair, are to vote on the proposition in November.

Although the legitimate interests and concerns of farmers need to be taken into consideration, it is only right that local government have the authority to deal with local matters such as those being proposed. We hope St. Clair and the other counties voting on this issue approve it.