GOP legislators are closer to ramming through two senate bills that would dramatically alter the structure of two Gwinnett government boards without any say-so from their Democratic colleagues or current county officials.
State Sens. Clint Dixon (R-Gwinnett) and Lee Anderson (R-Grovetown) introduced legislation this week to nearly double the number of seats on the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners. The bill would also take away the commission chairperson’s voting powers except to break ties.
A separate bill would make members of the Board of Education run in nonpartisan elections in new districts. The freshman legislator wants to stop politics from influencing children’s education, he said.
Dixon blindsided his Democratic colleagues and the members of the boards that would be affected, bringing forward the legislation without discussing it with them.
The GOP push comes after Democrats took control of the county — including every seat on the Board of Commissioners — last year for the first time in nearly three decades.
The commission bill passed out of the State and Local Governmental Operations Committee on Thursday 4-3 along partisan lines, despite the demands of Democratic members to have more time to discuss it. The bill affecting the Board of Education passed out of the committee on Wednesday.
The bills will likely come up for a vote in the Senate by next week, Dixon told the AJC. Senators may cast their votes on the education bill as early as Monday, he said, with the commission bill trailing behind by a day later.
“I feel fairly confident on both of the bills,” said Dixon, adding that he has garnered support from other Republican members of the Gwinnett Delegation. Democratic legislators on Wednesday said Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan or House Speaker David Ralston, both Republicans, may be the only ones who could stop the bills.
Nicole Love Hendrickson, Gwinnett County’s first Black commission chairwoman, said the move would disenfranchise the voices of Gwinnett residents, cause inefficiencies in local government and place a financial burden on taxpayers.
“Republicans are losing control in Gwinnett County, and I believe that this is an attempt to gain some traction and gain a little bit more power in controlling Gwinnett,” Hendrickson told the AJC on Thursday.
Voters would elect one chairperson and nine county commissioners — as opposed to the current one chairperson and four commissioners — if the bill becomes law. Dixon said the move would give Gwinnett residents better representation by allowing members to drill down on more local issues.
“It’s just common sense to increase the size of the commission,” said state Rep. Chuck Efstration, R-Dacula, on Thursday. “And any argument that’s now made that this is for some illegal or improper purpose is just disingenuous.”
Hendrickson, who testified during the Thursday hearing, said Gwinnett runs successfully as is. She said she will focus on reaching out to senators before it appears in front of the full body for a vote.
Gwinnett County issued an official statement Thursday afternoon urging legislators to “deny the proposed legislation altogether and give the board a chance to do what taxpayers voted them in office to do — get the job done — and draw their own district lines in a fair process.”
Gwinnett, the most diverse county in the state, is now represented by four Black members and one Asian member on the Board of Commissioners.
Dixon told the AJC that “it’s not a racial issue,” though state Sen. Emanuel Jones, D-Decatur, questioned him and Efstration during the Thursday meeting over the racial makeup of the proposed districts.
Democratic legislators, county officials and advocacy groups worry that the changes will harm representation of the majority-minority community in Gwinnett and disrupt the function of the county government.
“Black people running the Board of Education and Board of Commissioners does not constitute an emergency just because certain people don’t like it,” said state Rep. Jasmine Clark, D-Lilburn, on Wednesday.
Credit: Eli H. Spencer Heyman
Credit: Eli H. Spencer Heyman
Credit: Eli H. Spencer Heyman
Credit: Eli H. Spencer Heyman
