Members of the Richmond County Ad Hoc Redistricting Committee will try to turn three possible maps into one.
The committee, made up of four members each of the Augusta Commission, Richmond County Board of Education and local legislative delegation, got a first look at the draft maps on Nov. 17. Unlike an earlier draft map drawn up by the Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment Office in Atlanta without local input, the latest maps were created by the Augusta IT Department.
During a series of public meetings, the committee heard from multiple citizens who were displeased with the map produced by the Atlanta office.
MORE: Three Drafted Redistricting Maps for Richmond County Revealed
The 2020 census shows Richmond County population grew by just 3% to 206,607 residents. Divided by the eight districts in the county, that means the ideal number for a balanced district is 25,825 people.
A particular concern is District 3, represented by Commissioner Catherine Smith McKnight. It grew by about 25% and now has 31,316 residents. That is more than 5,000 residents over the ideal size.
It includes parts of the Summerville and Forest Hills neighborhoods.
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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, who also wanted to be made whole.
None of the three plans will reunite all the currently split neighborhoods.
Committee members have spent five days looking over each of the proposed maps in advance of the Nov. 22 meeting
MORE: Creating a Final Redistricting Map for Richmond County
“Monday, we’ll discuss whether one of these three plans is a starting point to make it the way we feel like we can live with,” said committee chairman, District 7 Commissioner Sean Frantom.
The meeting will be in the commission chambers at the Municipal Building. It will begin at 5 p.m. It will also be live streamed on the city website.
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.
All three plans can be reviewed here.
Videos of all the committee meetings and public hearing are also available.
Dana Lynn McIntyre is a Staff Reporter with The Augusta Press. You can reach her at dana@theaugustapress.com
