One of the biggest laughs I've gotten this election season is hearing Republican leaders argue that reducing the size of the county board might lead to more centralization of power, as was the case in the Illinois legislature. Centralization of power in the Illinois General Assembly has far more to do with the fact that campaign funds are centrally controlled by the four legislative leaders rather than the number of representatives in office. Candidates have a difficult time raising money on their own and are usually forced to seek support from the legislative leader of their party.
We have a similar situation on the Sangamon county board. Many Republican board members were appointed to office before they ran for election and they rarely have their own campaign committees on file at the board of elections. Campaigns are funded through the joint Republican County Board Election Committee that has a history of producing identical (insert name here) fliers for every candidate.
County Board Chairman Andy Van Meter has put tens of thousands of dollars of his own money into this fund and other Republican elected officials are major donors in every election cycle. How independent can we expect a county board member to be if they're hand picked by Republican leaders who then fund their campaign and provide cookie-cutter literature for mailings? I'd encourage everyone to see if the Republican county board candidate in their area was appointed to office and look up how much of their campaign is funded by the joint Republican County Board fund.
Power on the county board won't be decentralized until campaign finance laws change the way campaigns are funded and/or we have completely new leadership. Reducing the size of the county board couldn't hurt either.