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Two questions — from which dozens of others spring — present themselves immediately when considering the latest effort to increase the membership of the Jackson County Board of Commissioners.

Is this a good idea, and should it be put to a vote by those the commissioners represent?

The first of those is open to debate.

In presenting its plan — which, according to its website, would require the passing of three distinct ballot measures — the group Jackson County for All of Us cites three major reasons for switching to a five-member, nonpartisan board:

• The population growth of the region since the board was set at three members in the early 1900s;

• the current inability of Jackson County’s large swath of nonaffiliated voters to participate in the primary process; and

• the oft-debated size of salaries paid to current members.

Those, however, are just the surface-level issues involved in reworking the board as proposed by the petitioners. Unstated, but understood by anyone with a passing knowledge of the county’s government, is that political considerations are also in play — particularly for a board that has not had a Democrat as a member for a dozen years.

However, opinions about what drives the petition effort are matters for voters to weigh before casting ballots.

Which brings us to the second of our immediate questions: Should the plan presented by Jackson County for All of Us be put to a vote?

And that is a lot easier to answer — yes, it should.

First and foremost, the Rogue Valley Times Editorial Board wants to make clear that this opinion has nothing to do with the politics or performance of the current Board of Commissioners.

If the tables were turned, and such a plan were introduced while the board was composed of three Democrats, we still would support it coming before the public.

Because, in the end, this proposal represents part of the public’s role in a (small-d) democratic society.

It’s the right and duty of the community to review its governmental system and, should it be found lacking, consider changes to how it operates. As voters, we act on this principle during every election cycle in individual races.

What those advocating change ask us to consider is whether the county’s governmental structure adequately represents its citizenry 120 years or so after it was instituted.

On that matter, the petitioners are on solid theoretical footing. It’s fair to ask whether three commissioners — regardless of the political leanings of those in those positions — are sufficient for a population roughly nine times the size it was when the board was created.

It’s also fair to ask why nonaffiliated voters — which outnumber both Republicans and Democrats in Jackson County — are locked out of whittling the field of candidates for commissioner during primaries.

Other more fundamental matters — such as whether the Board of Commissioners should remain partisan positions, whether their salaries are in line relative to elsewhere in the state, and whether it would be wise to split the county into five areas that each would send a commissioner to the board — are matters for the public to decide at the ballot box.

What’s important, at this stage, is that we be given that chance.