The members of the Richmond County Ad Hoc Redistricting Committee sat down at Diamond Lakes Elementary School on Oct. 20 to hear what residents want new voting districts to look like. The committee is made up of members of the Augusta Commission, Richmond County School Board and local legislative delegation.
Committee Chairman and District 7 Commissioner Sean Frantom opened the meeting by explaining there have been population shifts in the county.
“The bottom line is that we have to have equal size and comply with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 so that every district, your representation is the same across every district,” Frantom explained.
MORE: Redistricting Public Meetings Underway in Richmond County
The 2020 census shows Richmond County population grew by just 3% to 206,607 residents. Divided by the eight districts in the county means the ideal number for a balanced district is 25,825 people.
Elections Director Lynn Bailey, who is assisting the committee, said the redistricting process is required by the U.S. Constitution and is required every 10 years after the census is completed.
“This has to do only with your elected districts,” she said. “It doesn’t have to do with other things like taxation or where your children go to school. One thing has nothing to do with the other.”
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Just two residents spoke to committee members.
John Baynard from the Quail Hollow Subdivision said he just learned there are currently two commissioners representing District 4 and that it’s combined with District 5.
“I feel it should be one commissioner per district,” he said. “Unless protocol calls for someone to do extra duty or a slot is open or whatever the case may be. I feel it would be a conflict of interest.”
In addition to the eight individual districts, Richmond County also has two so-called Super Districts. Those districts each cover half of the individual districts, so every resident of Richmond County is represented by two commissioners.
MORE: Opinion: An Independent Redistricting Commission Would Benefit All Georgians
The next to address the committee was James Williams, who lives in District 5 and is president of an organization called HOPE, Helping Our People to Excel.
“There is a concern that all of us will have, that you indicate as a committee that you’re going to be fair in your decision in terms of the redistricting,” he said. “You’ll keep like communities together, communities of interest together. That’s my main concern.”
The committee will hold two more meetings. The next is Oct. 25 at Richmond Academy on Russell Street. The final public meeting will be at Wheeless Road Elementary on Oct. 27. All the meetings begin at 6 p.m. The meetings are livestreamed here.
There is a website for citizens to get additional information on the process and view meeting videos.
There is also a link to a citizen submission form for anyone who cannot attend one of the public meetings.
There is now also an interactive map.
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Following the series of public meetings, the ad hoc committee will hold its next meeting on Nov. 10. That meeting, which will begin at 6 p.m., will be held at the Board of Education Office on Broad Street.
While Richmond County continues to meet with citizens before making any changes in a draft map supplied by the redistricting map in Atlanta, Columbia County Commissioners have finalized a proposed map.
Commissioners voted unanimously on Oct. 19 to send the map to the Georgia’s Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment Office for review.
Ultimately, the Georgia Legislature has the final decision on how local maps are draw. Legislators are expected to vote on local maps during the 2022 legislative session that begins in January.
Dana Lynn McIntyre is a Staff Reporter with The Augusta Press. You can reach her at dana@theaugustapress.com
