City Council Votes Against Redistricting

In a 5-2 vote at their regular Monday meeting, the Douglasville City Council rejected the newly created map that would redefine election district boundaries within the city. The new map would have changed which council members represent which wards. New census data means the City of Douglasville must change current ward boundaries for municipal elections. See Douglasville Patch story here.

During a committee meeting after Thursday's work session meeting, council members had a heated debate about the new boundaries for municipal elections. See video here.

Mayor Mickey Thompson, Councilman Roy Mims and Councilman John Schildroth contended because of time limits and stipulations imposed by the Department of Justice (DOJ), the new map and charter amendments would have to be approved as is.

Councilman Larry Yockey and Councilman Terry Miller questioned whether it would be possible to make modifications to the new map.

Before a vote was taken on the matter, Gary Warner addressed the mayor and the city council as he had done in last Thursday's work session meeting.  (Video of his comments are included with this story.) Warner has announced that he will campaign for a city council seat, representing Ward 5.

Ward 5 is currently represented by Roy Mims and Terry Miller who have chosen to vacate their seats in order to run for mayor. Under the new map, Warner would live in Ward 1, despite living just three houses down and across the street from Mims. If Warner's home were re-designated to be within Ward 1, he would not be eligible to run for city council until the 2013 election.

"In researching what the criteria is for redistricting, I discovered a webinar that taught what was required to meet the requirements handed down from (the DOJ)," Warner said in his comments. "This class was taught by Linda Meggers, the former director of the Georgia Reapportionment Special Unit."

Warner went on to point out that Chief Assistant City Attorney Susan Littlefield had attended the very class shown in the webinar on April 25 to learn about Douglasville's necessary reapportionment.

"I believe all of the options that the council has been given, in regards to reapportionment, has not been fully explored, in order for you to make an informed decision," Warner said.

"I hope the council and staff would take its time to do the research and make the effort to get it right, not rush through a sloppy job, just to meet a deadline. All of you on this council cannot be chastised for doing your due diligence before a vote," he said.

Warner then outlined a time-line, stating there was "lost time" in the process.

He said Douglasville City Attorney Joel Dodson made the announcement of DOJ requirements on March 31. Littlefield took the class to learn how to draw the map on April 25. The mayor presented the map for council approval on May 27, the Friday before a holiday weekend when two city council members were out of town.

"It seems to me that time was lost somewhere in this equation," he said.

Warner then asked for a delay in taking the vote so that council members could view the webinar and do further research.

"Don't let your legacy as mayor be remembered by throwing your hands up in the air and saying there's nothing we can do about it," Warner said.

When Ordinances and Intergovernmental Committee Chairman Samuel Davis did not call for a vote, Councilman Roy Mims did. Councilman Dennis McLain seconded the motion and a vote was held.

Mims and McLain were the only two votes in favor of the new map and Council Members Larry Yockey, Terry Miller, LaShun Burr-Danley and Davis voted against the new map.

While rejection of the new map may provide hope for Warner, it is a setback for Richard Segal. Segal announced Sunday his intentions to run for the open council seat in Ward 5, where the proposed redistricting would have landed him. See Douglasville Patch story here. If the current district boundaries remain in place for this November's election, Segal will have to wait until 2013 to run for the Ward 2 seat.