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By TESS NACELEWICZ Staff Writer October 31, 2007

Cumberland County has 29 municipalities and more than 260,000 people. Yet they are represented by just three county commissioners, which means each commissioner has about 87,000 constituents.

That is why Cumberland County voters will be asked next Tuesday to authorize the Legislature to increase the number of county commissioners from three to seven. Each commissioner then would represent about 37,000 people.

Commissioner Richard Feeney, the current chairman of the board, supports Question 3 on the county ballot. He said more commissioners would mean each would have time “to go to the town halls and meet the local elected officials and attend town meetings.”

Feeney, who lives in South Portland, said the three commissioners now represent communities spread far apart. Commissioner Malory Shaughnessy of Windham, for example, represents communities ranging from Brunswick to Baldwin.

The commissioners voted 2-1 this fall to put Question 3 on the county ballot, with Feeney and Shaughnessy in favor.

Commissioner Esther Clenott of Portland opposed the plan. She wants to expand the board to five members, saying seven is “too many at one fell swoop.” There isn’t space and staff for seven, and such a large number of commissioners would make county governance more difficult, she said.

She pointed out that the committee that recommends the county budget each year already has nine members from various Cumberland County communities. Working with seven commissioners would make 16 people grappling with the budget. “That’s an awful lot of people,” Clenott said. Feeney said governance would improve. “I think we’d get a budget passed. … There would be a lot more input,” he said.

If voters support the question at the polls and then the Legislature approves the plan, the additional commissioners would be elected in a staggered fashion beginning next fall, Feeney said.

Residents have been supportive of Question 3 in informal public hearings, he said.

There are two hearings today. One will be at 1:30 p.m. at the Standish Town Hall. The final meeting will be held at 4:30 p.m. in Freeport’s Town Hall on Main Street.

Question 1 on the county ballot is a $1.7 million bond request to upgrade data transmission and radio communications for public safety and emergency responders. The second question asks voters to approve a $1.1 million expansion to the county jail inmate medical center.

Staff Writer Tess Nacelewicz can be contacted at 791-6367 or at: tnacelewicz@pressherald.com