Some Forsyth County residents are charging the County Commission with backroom politics, complaining the public had little say in how a new redistricting map was drawn and that 21 other versions were considered before a proposal was unveiled Aug. 5.
“Whether the county is required to or not, it’s good practice to get public input on the process,” resident Jim Harrell said.
Public participation has become more vital in recent years, Harrell said, because commissioners are no longer elected countywide but by district.
Forsyth officials said the county’s Geographical Information Services Department redrew the districts to comply with federal laws governing new census data released this spring. The current districts had to be adjusted so all five districts had roughly the same population.
Commissioners postponed formal approval of the map until after a public forum Aug. 8 that local political parties organized. That forum drew close to 100 people, including four of the five county commissioners.
Several residents spoke out against the newly drawn districts.
The next day, the Board of Commissioners unanimously adopted the map as originally presented without comment.
Four days later, an open records request revealed the map had gone through 21 iterations before it was presented to the public.
“I was just about ill after the [County Commission] passed their map 5-0 without discussion, but with this new revelation, I feel as though we have been food poisoned,” county Democratic Party chairwoman Sharon Gunter said. “They just lied to us.”
Speakers at the forum raised several questions about the proposed map, including why a section along Freedom Parkway, which included two houses, was moved from District 5 to District 1. The new map also would incorporate the entire city of Cumming into District 1.
Not all residents spoke against the map, and some complimented the county for its effort to keep the districts balanced.
But District 5 Commissioner Jim Boff expressed frustration after the forum, saying his district has been shoved so far east toward Lake Lanier that he will have to teach fish how to vote. Nevertheless, he voted for the map because it fulfilled all the statutory requirements.
County Attorney Ken Jarrard said there is no legal requirement for public input on county redistricting. The process only requires that each district be roughly equivalent in population. It will be up to the Legislature to give final approval to the map, he said.
Commissioner Patrick Bell, who led the effort to delay the vote until after the forum, said he never saw the map until about a week before it was released. He said he thinks staff considered a number of factors, including population balance and cost savings by eliminating several precincts. As that process progressed, the maps were adjusted until they met all federal and state guidelines, he said.
“You can’t show something to the public and ask them whether they like it or not if it doesn’t comply with the law,” he said.
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