Friday, Feb. 18, 2005

What do you think of this story? Click here to send a message to the editor.

Legislators to look at district voting issue next week

By J. FRANK LYNCH
jflynch@theCitizenNews.com

Local legislators will meet next week to decide what, if anything, should be done about changing the way Fayette County elects members to the County Commission and school board members.

The last of three public meetings organized to get input on switching from at-large to single-district representation was held Wednesday night, drawing the smallest crowd yet.

It was clear by the end that little could be said to sway opinion on either side of the debate.

The seven members of the delegation remain just as divided as they were at the start of the General Assembly session in January: Four black Democrats are in favor of the change, three white Republicans are opposed.

Rep. Virgil Fludd, D-Tyrone, chief proponent of the measure and the only one of the four Democrats who actually resides in the county, has said a consensus isn’t required for him to introduce “local legislation” forcing a switch from at-large to district elections — just a majority.

But county GOP leaders say they’ve been assured by state party officials that if a bill calling for the change is introduced, it will never see the light of day in the Republican-controlled House.

Wednesday night’s meeting followed a much more controlled format than the others. Instead of opening the floor to anyone who wanted to speak on the matter, Fludd asked that questions be written out on index cards, which were drawn and read aloud. A Feb. 8 meeting at Peachtree City Hall ended on bad terms after Mayor Steve Brown took the floor and blasted the county commission forfailing to represent the needs of the city.

Commissioner Peter Pfeifer, who lives in the city, declared he’d had enough of the personal attacks and walked out, followed by 12 other local Republicans.

Chairman Greg Dunn and Pfeiffer came to all three sessions, while A.G. VanLandingham was at the second.

School Superintendent John DeCotis, and board members Lee Wright, Janet Smola and Greg Powers accepted an invivation to the second meeting, in Peachtree City. Smola and Marion Key were also at the third meeting.

School board members didn’t attend the first meeting because they weren’t told about it, they said. Letters from Fludd inviting them to come to the second meeting showed up at school board headquarters Feb. 4.

Besides Fludd, the Democrats who represent Fayette in the statehouse, Sen. Valencia Seay, D-Riverdale, attended none of the public meetings; Rep. Roberta Abdul-Salaam, D-Riverdale, was at the first two; Rep. Darryl Jordan, D-Jonesboro, was at the one Wednesday night.

Sen. Ronnie Chance, R-Tyrone, and Rep. Dan Lakly, R-Peachtree City, were in attendance at all three meetings. Rep. John Yates, R-Griffin, who represents a large swath of rural south Fayette, including Brooks and Woolsey, did not appear at the forums, but has stayed abreast of the issue, Chance said.

Lane Watts, chairman of the county GOP, described the effort to change the voting process as a failed, desperate attempt.

“This drive by Mr. Fludd is nothing more than an attempt to gain by back door means what the Democrats can't gain at the ballot box,” he said in a statement to follow party members. “The Democrats cannot win elected office in this county because they do not represent the views and values of this community.”