The 12 members of the Richmond County Ad Hoc Redistricting Committee met Nov. 10 to create a plan they hope citizens and the state legislature will support. The committee is made up of four each from the Augusta Commission, Richmond County School Board and local legislative delegation.
Committee Chairman, District 7 Commissioner Sean Frantom, began the meeting acknowledging one thing they heard during the four public meetings was that residents do not like the draft map they’ve seen.
MORE: Richmond County Wraps Up Redistricting Public Meetings
That map was drawn by the Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment Office in Atlanta without local input.
Frantom said he had been contacted by a Sen. Harold Jones (D-District 22), a member of the committee, offering to have the Atlanta office take another stab at drawing a map.
School Board member Jimmy Atkins quickly shot down the idea, reminding the committee what happened in the 2011 redistricting. That committee had drawn a map they believed most residents would accept.
“Then, at the time Senator Hardie Davis presented something in the 11th hour. That threw everything out of whack and that’s why they kept going to the courts,” he said. “I think the mistake that this committee has made, myself included, is that the maps that had been made public for the last few weeks were drawn in Atlanta, by a person who has no knowledge of Augusta.”
The committee members agreed and voted unanimously to reject the offer from Sen. Jones.
[adrotate banner=”15″]
The meeting moved on to tackle a situation unique to Richmond County: the presence of a major portion of Fort Gordon and the thousands living on post or in nearby neighborhoods. Those numbers are included in the census numbers and are in large part responsible for the nearly 25% growth in District 3. However, the majority vote by mail in their home state, not Richmond County elections.
District 4 Commissioner Alvin Mason cautioned fellow committee members to keep in mind that although they may not vote in local elections, those connected with Fort Gordon have a major impact on the local economy.
“I want to make sure that we’re very, very clear when we start talking about Fort Gordon and the impact that they have in this community. By no means do they or should they feel left out in this process, whether they vote or whether they don’t. This can’t just be about the votes,” said Mason.
MORE: Opinion: An Independent Redistricting Commission Would Benefit All Georgians
The 2020 census shows Richmond County population grew by just 3% to 206,607 residents. Divided by the eight districts in the county, it means the ideal number for a balanced district is 25,825 people.
However, District 3, represented by Commissioner Catherine Smith-McKnight, now has 31,316 residents. It includes parts of the Summerville and Forest Hills neighborhoods.
Those residents spoke at several of the public meetings, imploring the committee to keep them in District 3 and reunite sections that were moved to other districts in past redistricting.
The committee also heard from residents of several other neighborhoods that are currently divided, including Sand Hills, Quail Hollow, Quail Ridge and Pepperidge, all of which had residents wanting to be made whole.
The committee voted to have the Augusta IT Department draw the first locally-produced map, trying to balance out the population in each district while reuniting as many of the split neighborhoods as possible.
The committee has a self-imposed deadline of Dec. 15 to create a locally-accepted map that must then be approved by the Georgia General Assembly. To meet that deadline, the committee may begin meeting twice a week.
The ad hoc committee will meet again Nov. 17. The meeting will begin at 5 p.m. in commission chambers in the Municipal Building.
Dana Lynn McIntyreis a Staff Reporter with The Augusta Press. You can reach her at dana@theaugustapress.com
