One of the state’s fastest-growing cities finalized its new council districts, tweaking who will be eligible to run for local office.
Chamblee, which saw its population effectively triple from 2010 to 2020, approved a new four-district council map at a Tuesday meeting. The north DeKalb County city had to redraw its district lines since the population increase, which was mostly due to two annexations, was not evenly spread among the city’s previous council districts.
After a lengthy redrawing process, the city of 30,000 residents will maintain four council districts, albeit it with slightly shifting borders.
District 1, the northernmost district, was almost untouched; District 3 absorbed some new parcels north of Chamblee Tucker Road, which were in District 2; and the recently formed District 4 expanded to include more of Buford Highway. There is only a 1% population difference between the most and least populous districts.
Chamblee is a rarity in metro Atlanta, where the council districts only limit who can run for city office — not who votes. Residents vote for all council seats regardless of which district they call home. The five-member council consists of one representative from each district plus an at-large representative, who can live anywhere in the city.
Redrawing council districts after a Census update is not uncommon. DeKalb County and several of its cities, including Brookhaven and Doraville, had to redraw their district lines due to uneven population shifts.
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