Members of the Georgia House and Senate Reapportionment Committees held the second of 11 scheduled public hearings on Monday, June 28.
The session, which was in the Georgia Capitol building, was the first in-person town hall-style meeting. The first meeting on June 15 was a virtual gathering.
Nearly 50 people spoke to the committee on Monday. The demographic breakdown of the speakers was 28 women and 15 men. The racial balance was nearly equal with 25 Caucasian and 24 people of color, including Black and Hispanic.
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Speakers ranged from Andrew Young’s daughter to a former Georgia representative, a currently-sitting mayor and groups representing Asian-Americans and Latinos, the League of Women Voters, the Southern Poverty Law Center and county Republican parties.
Several themes from the first session were repeated. Citizens called for transparency, asked communities and neighborhoods not be split and for those that are to be reunited and no gerrymandering.
A new concern came to light at the latest meeting: Numerous speakers pointed out the first two sessions were announced only in English, with no interpreters for non-English speaking citizens. One woman drove home the point by beginning her remarks in Spanish, before switching to English. There has also not been anyone providing sign language for the hearing-impaired.
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The third meeting is at the South Forsythe High School cafeteria in Cumming on June 29.
That will be followed the next day, June 30, in Gignilliat Hall at Dalton State College in Dalton.
Athens and Augusta will also have meetings. The Athens event will be on Tuesday, July 6 at building F at Athens Technical College. In Augusta, the July 7 meeting will be at Savannah Rapids Pavilion in Martinez.
All the town hall meetings will be from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Members of the public may choose to speak in person and can sign up starting at 4:30 p.m. outside the meeting location. Speakers are asked to keep their comments to between two and five minutes.
Citizens can also submit written comments here: https://www.legis.ga.gov/news/house/submit-written-testimony-to-house-and-senate-redistricting-committees
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All the hearings will be live streamed at https://www.legis.ga.gov/ and videos of each hearing will be available there, as well.
Additional hearings are planned for Brunswick on July 26, Albany on July 27, Columbus on July 28 and Macon on July 29. Locations for those have not yet been released.
The final hearing will be virtual participation only. It is scheduled for July 30.
Dana Lynn McIntyre is a Staff Reporter with The Augusta Press. You can reach her at dana@theaugustapress.com.
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