Members of the Richmond County Ad Hoc Redistricting Committee got their first look at three new maps for a possible redistricting plan. Unlike an earlier map, these maps were created by the city of Augusta’s IT Department.
The committee, made up of four members each of the Augusta Commission, Richmond County Board of Education and local legislative delegation, heard from multiple citizens during a series of public meetings. Many were displeased with a draft map drawn up by the Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment Office in Atlanta without local input.
Elections Director Lynn Bailey walked committee members step-by-step through each of the plans showing how lines could be drawn to achieve districts with an equal number of residents.
The three drafted maps, courtesy of Richmond County Ad Hoc Redistricting Committee:
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.
Bailey acknowledged it may appear changes in each of the three plans move people arbitrarily.
“When we went through the process the goal was to put those neighborhoods back together where we could,” she said. “Once you start moving it around one thing affects another, affects another. Cumulatively, these changes provided us with the balance.”
MORE: Creating a Final Redistricting Map for Richmond County
A particular concern is District 3, represented by Commissioner Catherine Smith McKnight. It grew by about 25% and now has 31,316 residents. That’s more than 5,000 residents over the ideal size.
It includes parts of the Summerville and Forest Hills neighborhoods.
Residents from those communities 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 shake-ups.
The committee also heard from residents of several other neighborhoods that are currently divided, including Sand Hills, Quail Hollow, Quail Ridge and Pepperidge, which also wanted to be made whole.
None of the three plans will reunite all of the currently split neighborhoods.
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Committee members will take the next five days to look over each of the proposed maps. They will meet again on Monday, Nov. 22.
“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 Sean Frantom.
The meeting on Monday will be in the commission chambers at the Municipal Building. It will begin at 5 p.m.
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.
Dana Lynn McIntyre is a Staff Reporter with The Augusta Press. You can reach her at dana@theaugustapress.com
