Friday, August 31, 2001
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Friday, August 31, 2001 |
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Proposed U.S. congressional map from Senate: split Coweta into two separate districts By JOHN
MUNFORD And JOHN
THOMPSON
Coweta 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. Nearly all of Coweta would become part of the 7th District along with parts of Fayette, Douglas, Troup and Spalding counties. The remainder of Coweta would be included in the newly created 12th District along with portions of Clayton 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." The map will likely be merged with a proposed map coming from the Georgia House of Representatives, Seabaugh 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. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland denounced the maps as purely partisan and said he plans to politic for maps that he has created. Westmoreland said his maps would still leave Coweta and Fayette counties in the 3rd District, but would also include Collins' home county of Butts in the district. Westmoreland's maps are expected to be discussed early next week by the House.
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