Russell County commissioner weighs in on referendum added to ballot

RUSSELL COUNTY, Ala.  (WRBL) — A referendum has been added to the Nov. 5 ballot. The referendum will allow for the county commission to enact rules to regulate things such as noise late at night, trash, excessive weeds, and more.

This same referendum was passed in 2016, but the probate office mistakenly placed it on the ballots in the city allowing those in Phenix City to vote on the matter. This caused the referendum to be dropped and has not been added back until this year.

If this referendum is passed the rules would be approved by the elected county commissioners and would only be voted on by the commission following town hall meetings in each district.

Rod Costello, the Chair of Russell County Commission weighed in on the referendum. He says this referendum provides the commission with tools to help citizens maintain their status quo.

“Kind of help them maintain a good neighbor relationship with everybody and it puts it on us rather than the next door neighbor,” says Costello.

If this referendum fails to pass, county departments and the sheriff’s office are left with their hands tied when receiving complaints on issues like these as there are currently no laws against them.

“We’re not coming in and trying to get more power to the government to hurt them in any way. It’s to help them 100% is to help them,” says Costello. “We’re not going to tell people what they can and can’t do.”

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