A petition that could result in a five-member Otoe County Board of Commissioners has been met with a very enthusiastic response, said circulator Duane Smith of Nebraska City.

The petition would place a question on the November ballot asking voters if they want five county commissioners or three. Election Commissioner Janene Bennett said 564 valid signatures are needed.

“It has been encouraging,” Smith said. “In fact, people are asking to sign the petition. Sometimes, I don’t have to say anything.”

Smith said 10 people have already volunteered to circulate petitions, including residents from Unadilla, Syracuse, Talmage and Nebraska City.

Smith said there is some concern about the added cost of adding two county commissioners, but he said good management will pay for itself.

Not only will five commissioners provide better representation to the citizens, he said, but it will help county government function if one commissioner becomes unable to attend meetings for an extended period of time.

He said placing responsibility on just two commissioners requires unanimous agreement all of the time and could affect things from repairing a road grader to whether a bridge will be built.

“When there’s only two, you can have a tough time of governing,” he said.

County commissioners earn a yearly salary of $19,000 this year and the salary schedule has been set until 2010.

In addition, 100 percent of the health insurance is paid for at a cost to the county of about $500 a month. Commissioners may also receive life insurance and dental insurance benefits totaling about $30 a month.

Contributions to the commissioners’ retirement fund are 7.65 percent of the salary, which would total $1,282 a year. Social Security contributions are $1,453 a month and commissioners are reimbursed for mileage. Total benefits would total about $9,095 a year for each new commissioner.

Henry Stratker, former Otoe County commissioner and one of the first to sign the petition, said looking back at the last six months, when one commissioner was able to attend only two meetings, provides reason enough to expand the board.

“If something had happened to either of the two remaining commissioners, it would have closed the county down,” he said. “If we had five and two got sick, you could still get a quorum.”

Stratker, who circulated petitions in 2002 to increase the size of the board, said a larger board will benefit Otoe County. “You’ll have five minds working together instead of three,” he said.