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NEIGHBORHOOD ALERT!
VIEW MAP
From Larry Foster, NBCA Board Member
RE: DeKalb Board of Commissioners redistricting
WHAT: DeKalb County has proposed a redistricting plan that would remove both the Hawthorne and Briarlake precincts from their long-standing location in District 2, the area in which Lakeside, Oak Grove, and most of the Central DeKalb precincts are located, and the neighborhoods with which which we have our closest civic ties. Instead, the Hawthorne and Briarlake precincts would be transferred into District 1, which includes the rest off north and northeast DeKalb County.
WHY: If you are concerned about this proposed redistricting that could well impact our lives for the next decade, please let your voice be heard to your representatives NOW.
WHEN: This proposed redistricting map for DeKalb County was only released on Tuesday, January 31; however, if you want your comments to be taken into account by your state representatives, you will need to email them (details about where and how are provided below) no later than this Friday, February 3 (or at very latest, over the weekend).
HOW: Write emails to your State Representatives--individually, since emails to multiple addresses are less effective and usually will be rejected as spam. Include the following:
1. Identify who you are and where you live
2. State the nature of your concerns and why you have them
3. Ask them to draft a map that addresses your concerns as much as possible.
4. Send to the addresses below:
Commission Subcommittee Members
Chair, Rep. Simone Bell
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Rep. Mike Jacobs
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Rep. Karla Drenner
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Rep. Billy Mitchell
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To view the proposed redistricting map, double-click here: new map Note that redistricting is mandated by law every ten years after each new census has been taken, in order that all legislative districts will represent approximately equal populations. The point in question with regard to this particular redistricting map, however, is whether it will best represent the interests of those of us who live in the Hawthorne and Briarlake precincts.
On Monday, February 6--based in part on the public input they have received--the DeKalb County delegation is charged with determining the final version of the redistricting map that they will support for Dekalb County's County Commission districts for the next ten years. Since local legislation is usually treated with "courtesy" by state legislators from outside the "local" area, whatever the DeKalb delegation decides is likely to be adopted by the legislature as a whole.
Please note well--as an important point of clarification--that this redistricting map relates only to the DeKalb County Commission. The map does not show the areas that will be included in the new DeKalb County School Board districts. The boundaries of those districts still remain to be determined.
Why should you be concerned about moving Hawthorne and Briarlake precincts out of District 2 and into District 1? A primary concern many of us have about moving the Hawthorne and Briarlake precincts into a different one is that our closest and longest-standing neighborhood ties have been developed with Lakeside, Oak Grove, and other precincts in central DeKalb County. Many of us feel that we would potentially be marginalized and submerged if we were moved into a different Commission district that primarily represents the interests of powerful, long-established political entities to the north of us. We also want to continue our close cooperation with the active civic groups in the central DeKalb neighborhoods.
Note that there are other ways in which these Commission districts could be redistricted. For example, District 2 Commissioner Jeff Rader, who was not consulted in drafting the January 31 map, has proposed as a "point of departure" a map that "re captures Briarlake and Hawthorne east of Ptree Ck, picks up Silverlake and sheds N Decatur, Shamrock and Rehoboth to Dist 4. I hate to lose them, but I have to shed, and this would (in my thinking) best reflect public interests. It's a point of departure, and the Committee will take it from there."
To view the proposed redistricting map, double-click here: new map Note that redistricting is mandated by law every ten years after each new census has been taken, in order that all legislative districts will represent approximately equal populations. The point in question with regard to this particular redistricting map, however, is whether it will best represent the interests of those of us who live in the Hawthorne and Briarlake precincts.
On Monday, February 6--based in part on the public input they have received--the DeKalb County delegation is charged with determining the final version of the redistricting map that they will support for Dekalb County's County Commission districts for the next ten years. Since local legislation is usually treated with "courtesy" by state legislators from outside the "local" area, whatever the DeKalb delegation decides is likely to be adopted by the legislature as a whole.
Please note well--as an important point of clarification--that this redistricting map relates only to the DeKalb County Commission. The map does not show the areas that will be included in the new DeKalb County School Board districts. The boundaries of those districts still remain to be determined.
Why should you be concerned about moving Hawthorne and Briarlake precincts out of District 2 and into District 1? A primary concern many of us have about moving the Hawthorne and Briarlake precincts into a different one is that our closest and longest-standing neighborhood ties have been developed with Lakeside, Oak Grove, and other precincts in central DeKalb County. Many of us feel that we would potentially be marginalized and submerged if we were moved into a different Commission district that primarily represents the interests of powerful, long-established political entities to the north of us. We also want to continue our close cooperation with the active civic groups in the central DeKalb neighborhoods.
Note that there are other ways in which these Commission districts could be redistricted. For example, District 2 Commissioner Jeff Rader, who was not consulted in drafting the January 31 map, has proposed as a "point of departure" a map that "re captures Briarlake and Hawthorne east of Ptree Ck, picks up Silverlake and sheds N Decatur, Shamrock and Rehoboth to Dist 4. I hate to lose them, but I have to shed, and this would (in my thinking) best reflect public interests. It's a point of departure, and the Committee will take it from there." |
