Census could change number of supervisors
 
By JIM SECKLER
Mohave Daily News
 
KINGMAN — Mohave County could know in three months if there will be five supervisors elected in November 2012.

The elections office expects to have U.S. 2010 census results of county or state elections by March or early April 2011. Depending on the county’s population, the supervisor districts will likely change from three to five districts. Other district boundaries that also could change are the Mohave Community College and the justice of the peace districts, both which already have five districts, elections director Allen Tempert said.

Once the census numbers are released, the board of supervisors likely will meet by the end of 2011 to divide the county into five supervisory districts. The board will define the boundaries and make the districts equal to each other, with no district having a 10 percent difference in population, Tempert said.

The 2009 census estimates that Bullhead City has 40,747 people. Kingman’s population was estimated at 27,521 and Lake Havasu City’s population was 55,657. The fourth incorporated city in the county is Colorado City with an estimated population of 4,668 in 2009.

Preliminary figures released Tuesday for the 2010 census showed Arizona’s population rose 24.6 percent, the second fastest in the country behind Nevada, which had a 35.1 percent increase. California’s population rose 10 percent and Utah’s population rose 23.8 percent. Arizona now has almost 6.6 million and the nation has 308.7 million people.

A state law requires counties with a population of more than 175,000 to have five supervisors instead of three. Mohave County’s population was estimated at 194,825 in 2009, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The 2012 supervisor election could see two more openings for county supervisors. All three current board supervisors are up for re-election in 2012.

Currently the county supervisors are, District 1 Sup. Gary Watson, of Kingman, District 2 Sup. Tom Sockwell, of Bullhead City, and District 3 Sup. Buster Johnson, of Lake Havasu City. Watson represents Kingman, Dolan Springs, Peach Springs and the Arizona Strip. Sockwell represents the Bullhead City, Fort Mohave, Mohave Valley and Golden Valley areas, and Johnson represents Lake Havasu City, Oatman and the Golden Shores area.

The three supervisors now cannot speak to each other outside of board meetings without violating open meeting laws. With five supervisors, two supervisors could talk to each other without violating open meeting laws.

The county has the fifth largest population in the state following Maricopa, Pima, Pinal and Yavapai counties. Maricopa, Pima, Yuma, Coconino and Navajo counties each have five supervisors. Ten other counties including Mohave County have three supervisors.
 
MohaveDailyNews.com
Originally published Friday, December 24, 2010
 
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