List 3 jobs of a county commissioner. 1.
2.
3.
Who governs a city or town? Common or City Councils
Who is considered the legislative branch?
Who is considered the executive branch?
What are city ordinances? YOUR COUNTY BASICS: Click on the name of your county to answer the below questions.
Name of your county
Population of your county
What is the name of your county seat? Is that where you live?
SIZE AND POPULATION
Some counties are small. Other counties are huge! You can measure a county by its size and population. No matter the size, counties are made up of people. The people in a county are usually the ones who work in a county government. Many county officials get their jobs by being elected by voters.
Use the same factsheet that you used above to answer the below questions.
Do the math to see how many people have moved into your county since 1980. (Hint: Start with the most recent population figure, then subtract the 1980 population figure from that number.)
What authority does your county use? (listed on the right, under ‘County Structure’)
COUNTIES MEAN BUSINESS
County governments have a lot of work to do. Different states assign counties different kinds of responsibilities, so counties in some states oversee more things than counties in other states. But almost all counties have certain things in common. For example, counties are almost always in charge of holding elections. That’s right – even when people vote to elect the next president, in most places the county handles the details of the election. The county sets up the voting sites, prints the ballots, and even provides information so voters can understand the candidates and issues.
Use this website to access your own county website: Go to: https://ce.naco.org/
From the same factsheet used in the steps above, click the link to your county’s website. Use the website to answer the questions below.
List three things that your county’s government oversees. (Elections don’t count. Find three new things!) 1)
2)
3)
Find one more thing your county’s government oversees that directly affects you. How does it affect you?
In looking at the list of departments in your county, list at least one issue that you would like to see improved in your county.
For example, when I see ‘Waste Management,’ I think about our limited recycling program. I’d like to see it expanded.