Wednesday, August 29, 2001
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Wednesday, August 29, 2001 |
| Mac Collins
cut out as Fayette is split into 2 congressional districts
By JOHN MUNFORD
Fayette County stands to be split into two U.S. congressional districts under the redistricting map forwarded to the Georgia Senate Tuesday by its Reapportionment Committee. Fayette also will lose its incumbent congressman, Mac Collins. Northeast Fayette would become part of the new 13th District along with parts of Cobb, Fulton, Douglas, Clayton, Henry, Rockdale, Newton and Gwinnett counties. The remainder of Fayette would be included in the 7th District along with portions of Coweta, Troup and Spalding counties. Neither district would have an incumbent congressman as such, because the 13th is a new district and the current 7th District congressman, Rep. Bob Barr, does not live within the proposed district lines. But U.S. representatives are not required to live within the districts they represent. Under the new map, the 3rd District of Rep. Mac Collins would be shifted to the eastern Atlanta area. Collins currently represents at least a part of Coweta, Fayette, Spalding, Muscogee, Talbot, Harris, Meriwether, Pike, Clayton and Henry counties, though he actually lives in Butts County. State Sen. Mitch Seabaugh called the congressional map "a slap in the face to our communities." "In the public hearings we had, people overwhelmingly asked for compact districts that protected communities of interest," Seabaugh said. "This map is just another example of political power that is exercised for self-interests, not the interests of the communities of Georgia and its citizens." Sen. Greg Hecht, a Democrat who represents north Fayette and is a member of the Senate Reapportionment Committee, said it's too early to get excited about the map, because the House will have its own version, and a conference committee will write the final story. But he said splitting counties and communities between districts is "good for any county." Two representatives doubles the number of committees the county would be represented on, he said, in effect doubling its influence. Also, he said, people in different parts of a county often should have different representatives. "I would say there are distinct differences of opinion between north Fayette and south Fayette," he said. Seabaugh, who represents parts of Fayette and Spalding counties along with all of Coweta, criticized the redistricting process as shutting out public opinion. "The citizens of Georgia, the very people who are to be served by the members elected from these districts, have not been given the time to review and comment on these maps, or on the compromise map that will come out of the conference committee," Seabaugh said. Seabaugh said he is eager to discover the reaction of current Georgia congressmen to the proposed redistricting plan. Seabaugh also criticized state leaders for drumming up interest in the video poker machine issue to distract citizens from the redistricting issues. "The governor and lieutenant governor all of a sudden jumped onto this issue and they're trying to divert attention from redistricting and the flag vote," Seabaugh claimed. In other news related to the redistricting, Hecht has made no secret of the fact he hopes to run for Congress in a new district favorable to him. The map being considered by the Senate "looks really good," he said, but many changes are likely to be made." Though he is not formally a candidate for Congress, Hecht has begun fund-raising efforts.
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