Lowndes County supervisors had their first redistricting meeting Monday, and one board member already is threatening litigation.
In response to new census information, Lowndes County has to redraw its district lines so there is no more than a 10-percent population deviation between the most-populated district (District 1) and the least-populated district (District 5).
Since the last redistricting in 2000, Lowndes County has lost more than 1,000 people, and its deviation is 23.6 percent, Chris Watson of Oxford-based Bridge and Watson told supervisors at their regular meeting Monday.
A “rough-cut” Bridge and Watson”s plan moves part of the Sale voting precinct, north of Highway 182, out of District 3 and into District 1 and part of the Trinity voting precinct, south of 182 and east of the Luxapalila Creek, out of District 1 and into District 5. Districts 2 and 4 are unaffected in the plan presented Monday,
“With the changes that we”ve made … District 5 experiences a small decline in its minority composition,” Watson noted.
District 5 would go from its current 63.5-percent black voting-age population to 61.3 percent, a change Supervisor Leroy Brooks made clear was unacceptable. Brooks is supervisor for District 5, which includes Artesia, University, Hunt, Union and Propst Park polling precincts and is one of two majority-black districts.
“There”s an important component here. The Justice Department says you should not dilute black voting strength,” Brooks said. “This plan does indeed dilute the black voting strength.”
Brooks also noted District 4, which includes Crawford, Plum Grove and the Fairgrounds polling precincts, has too much of a black population (79.4 percent).
“We”ve packed District 4,” he said. “District 4 does not need to be an 80-percent black district.”
He also contended the majority-white districts should have more “minority impact.”
“Black folks have no influence in the three white districts and significant influence in District 5,” Brooks said, citing the voting trends in Lowndes County. In Lowndes County, historically, white voters tend to vote for conservative white candidates, he said.
“I”m not for that plan. If that”s what you guys want to push forward with, then let”s get ready to fight,” Brooks said.
Brooks said he would hire an attorney to fight a plan where his district had less than a 65-percent black voting population, an unrealistic number, according to Board President and District 1 Supervisor Harry Sanders.
“There”s not enough black (people) in Lowndes County to do what he wants to do without diluting someone else”s district,” Sanders said.
To increase the black population in Brooks” district, black people would have to be shifted from District 4 to District 5, he said.
“You want to dilute Jeff”s district?” Sanders asked Brooks, later deferring the issue to Jeff Smith, District 4 supervisor, asking if he would be OK with sacrificing black voters to meet Brooks” requirement.
“This isn”t gonna be Jeff versus the board or Jeff versus Leroy or whatever else you”re gonna create,” Smith said, noting it is the responsibility of the entire board to approve an acceptable redistricting plan.
Brooks accused Sanders of trying to micromanage District 5 and attempting to get Brooks voted off the board, both of which Sanders denied. Brooks also told Sanders repeatedly not to concern himself with District 5.
Smith suggested requesting alternate plans from Bridge and Watson. Brooks echoed the suggestion.
Watson will bring alternate plans to the board on Friday, at 8:30 a.m. The supervisors boardroom will be closed Friday due to renovations. The meeting will be held at the county”s administrative building at 1121 Main St.
More than a dozen lawsuits already have been filed across the state by local branches of the NAACP, seeking to extend qualifying deadlines until redistricting is complete. March 1 was the deadline to qualify for county offices in the 2011 election.
In other matters, the board:
- Announced for applications to fill the Justice Court Judge District 2 seat left vacant by the resignation of Mike Arledge, who stepped down to run for sheriff. Lowndes County Sheriff Butch Howard is not seeking re-election. Arledge faces retired game warden Bo Harris, retired businessman Sherman Vaughn, Columbus Police Department Lt. Selvain McQueen, Lowndes County Sheriff”s Office investigator Joey Brackin, Juvenile Detention Center Director Anthony C. Nelson, CPD Lt. John Pevey and CPD patrolman Barry Goode.
Applications will be taken for the next 15 days by Ralph Billingsley at the county administrative building at 1121 Main St.
- Agreed to issue a resolution recognizing the 17th annual State Conference of Full Gospel Churches in Columbus and Lowndes County. The conference is March 16-18, at the James M. Trotter Convention Center. The conference had more than 1,000 people in attendance each day last year.
“It highlights our town, as a town that is able to host events and it helps the tax base,” said Smith, citing the more than 100 hotel rooms booked for the conference last year. Visitors to the Friendly City also eat at local restaurant and purchase fuel at local pumps, Smith noted.
More than 1,000 attended the conference each day.
- Discussed a letter of support for the next-generation youth farm on Bell Avenue, developed by Brooks. Sanders disagreed with language in the letter, which indicated the Board of Supervisors supported fundraising efforts. That paragraph was struck from the letter.
Brooks is applying for grants to support the mini-farm, a project to help young people learn practical skills like farming and economics while developing their character.
“It”s to promote the personal development of youth, teach them about leadership skills, work ethic,” Brooks said.
About 16 students participated in the program in the fall; Brooks plans to expand the program for the spring.
- Decided to advertise for purchase proposals on the old health department on Military Road. Lowndes County opened a new health department on the corner of Lehmberg and Warpath Roads in East Columbus, last year.
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