Despite last-minute attempts in both legislative chambers, state lawmakers failed to reach an agreement on redistricting maps for the Cobb County Board of Commission districts before time ran out Thursday night.
Cobb’s map, passed by the House, had languished in the Senate for weeks awaiting a vote. Sen. Steve Thompson, D-Marietta, was unhappy with the map because it split the southwest Cobb district currently held by his brother, Commissioner Woody Thompson.
Sen. Thompson successfully lobbied for a substitute map that passed the Senate late Thursday, and rallied his Senate colleagues again to kill an amended House version of the map.
Rep. Ed Setzler, R-Acworth, Cobb’s delegation chairman and co-sponsor of the House map, said the vote against the local bill was a “sad display of people playing games with commission districts.”
On Friday, Cobb’s county attorney was determining the county’s options and next steps, which could take several weeks, said county spokesman Robert Quigley.
“Generally there is no deadline for redistricting the county districts,” said Jim Grubiak, general counsel for the Association County Commissioners of Georgia. “Someone who is unhappy with the current districts might file a lawsuit, but barring that, there is nothing that forces a change.”
The reapportionment maps, revised each 10 years after the Census release, are typically local bills that receive little attention unless a county’s delegation cannot reach a consensus.
About the Author
