Search the ArchivesNavigation Contact InformationThe Citizen Newspapers For Advertising Information Email us your news! For technical difficulties |
Democrats press county for district votingTue, 03/04/2008 - 4:47pm
By: John Thompson
It was a night where seats were at a premium, and the passion in the meeting room was palpable. But now, after 200 passionate residents told the Fayette County Commission their thoughts about district voting, the measure will be decided at the General Assembly. After watching the citizens speak out, Commission Chairman Jack Smith closed the meeting by urging residents to stay involved in the political process. Contacted Tuesday, Smith said the County Commission’s role in the ongoing debate is probably over. “I really don’t know if we’re going to do anything. We have heard the residents and listened to their concerns,” he said. In what has to be described as a first for this decade, the number of Democrats outnumbered the Republicans in the commission chamber, as they voiced their support of the bill authored by Reps. Virgil Fludd, Darryl Jordan and Roberta Abdul-Salaam, all Democrats representing portions of Fayette County. The bill would keep five commission districts and would not go to a district voting method until 2010 for commissioners in districts 4 and 5. The other three districts would go to district voting in 2010. Residents who favored district voting said it was a question of fairness. “It is the essence of democracy for people to elect people that will represent them. We should be able to come to a reasonable compromise,” said Kevin Madden. Democrat Madden was defeated by Republican Matt Ramsey in the December special election to fill the late Rep. Dan Lakly’s seat. Lakly, a Peachtree City Republican, led the effort in the last legislative session to defeat district voting. One of the compromises circulated was by Connie Biemiller, who is opposing Fludd in the Democratic primary. Biemiller supports a plan that would keep two districts at large and three districts would have district voting. That way, Biemiller said, residents would still be voting for a majority of the County Commission. Fludd also addressed the commission and spoke about the objections he had heard about his proposal. “People say it’s always been done this way, but who does it work for? At-large voting allows 51 percent of the people to control 100 percent of the seats,” he said. Wendy Felton said people feel disenfranchised with at-large voting and said “their voices are not being heard.” Peter Lewin, who is co-chair of the county’s Democratic Party, said this was not an issue that just came to light. “We published our platform in The Citizen last November. It’s our number one issue,” he said. While the district voting supporters came armed with signs, many other residents urged the County Commission to stay the course. “I want all the commissioners to represent me,” said long-time Republican leader Marilyn Watts. Former Chamber of Commerce President Mike Hofrichter said the county would be better served if Fludd sponsored a bill that limited the county’s representation in the General Assembly to two representatives and one senator. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” he said. Currently, under a statewide redistricting change pushed by then-Democrat Gov. Roy Barnes, Fayette is represented by two senators and five representatives, all but one representing multiple counties. Although Fayette has voted overwhelmingly in the GOP column for the past decade, the county is represented in the General Assembly by three Republicans and four Democrats. Just one of the seven — Rep. Matt Ramsey (R-Peachtree City) — represents only Fayette residents. The other six have the majority of their constituents outside of Fayette. The other GOP legislators are Sen. Ronnie Chance of Tyrone and Rep. John Yates of Griffin. The district voting bill has not cleared the House and is in the second read status. It must crossover to the Senate by the 30th day of the session. Tuesday marked the 27th working day in the session. login to post comments
|
Copyright 2010 - Fayette Publishing, Inc. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use Policy
Server 4
