Efforts to redraw political lines for both the DeKalb County Commission and county school board districts are on a fast track, despite limited chances for the public to see just how the county will be carved up.
The county’s House delegation must vote on new redistricting maps -- which set the boundaries for county commissioners and school board members -- by next week. The districts will serve for those offices for the next 10 years.
The county offered a map that immediately drew fire from residents in a public hearing Tuesday. And the school district has yet to agree on how it wants to redraw its lines.
“We did not want to draw our maps until we heard from the public and everyone involved, but we can no longer wait,” said the chairwoman of the redistricting committee, state Rep. Simone Bell, D-Atlanta.
Complicating the traditional redrawing of political lines to account for population changes is a new state law that calls for reducing the number of DeKalb's school board districts from nine to seven.
Although it is not endorsed by the entire board, one member submitted a proposed map Tuesday that meets that goal. Paul Womack’s plan calls for eliminating two superdistricts for the school board and forcing four board members to battle in two established districts. He is among those who would need to fight another incumbent.
“All I’m saying is, let’s do it right -- not for the school board members but for the children,” Womack said. “If it screws up, you’re messing with the lives of children.”
That proposal may be tweaked to match up with a bill from state Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, D-Decatur, and member of the redistricting committee.
Oliver’s bill (House Bill 671) lays out the steps for cutting the size of the school board, starting with eliminating two spots by Jan. 1, 2013.
Far easier is the County Commission’s map that calls for minor changes in the north and central parts of the county. Still, even that handful of changes is likely to be altered yet again before a final vote.
That’s because several central DeKalb residents have argued that they don’t support the proposal to move the Brookhaven and Briarcliff areas into the traditional north DeKalb district that stretches between Dunwoody and Stone Mountain.
“There is a sort of natural community that needs to stay together,” Beth Nelson, a past president of the North Briarcliff Civic Association, said of the preference to keep her neighborhood in the commission’s 2nd District, which runs between Chamblee and Decatur.
Bell said the redistricting committee will review all proposals, whether from the government boards, community groups such as the NAACP or from interested citizens.
The work will be done fast, though. Original plans called for the committee to make recommendations to the full delegation on Monday.
Those recommendations will be delayed a few days but are expected sometime next week. The maps must pass out of the full Legislature by Feb. 14 so they can be reviewed by the U.S. Justice Department for final approval later this year.
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