Columbus will likely move ahead on redistricting instead of waiting for annexation to run its course.
Consultant Chris Watson, of city planning firm Bridge and Watson, told the council during its Thursday work session that annexation almost certainly will not be complete by the next round of municipal elections. The qualifying period for candidates begins Jan. 1.
Watson told the council it needs to provide the circuit clerk’s office with proposed new district lines by Aug. 1.
“The short answer to the (redistricting) deadline comes from the circuit clerk’s office,” Watson said. “They have to make updates to the (statewide) voter registration system to put people in their new ward, and they need that completed by Jan. 1.”
Watson said he doesn’t think the city’s annexation case will run its course by then.
Since 2022, the city has been discussing annexation of two areas on the east side of the city. The first borders Ward 2 and Ward 3, and is bounded by Highway 82 in the north, Armstrong Road to the east, Lehmberg Road to the west and Deerfield Drive to the south.
The second is adjacent to Ward 1 and Ward 2. It is bounded by South Lehmberg Road on the east, the area adjacent to Scott Drive to the south, Hargrove Road to the west and Vernon Branch Creek to the north.
The council approved the annexation ordinance on March 5, only to have it vetoed by Mayor Keith Gaskin a few days later. The council then overrode his veto at a March 12 special-call meeting.
Since then the plot has thickened, with the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors voting on April 1 to put up $50,000 to cover legal fees to fight annexation on behalf of residents in the affected areas.
“I don’t see this case being completed in time for the people in the annexation area to vote,” Watson said.
A hearing is set for July 15 in Lowndes County Chancery Court, Watson said.
“Nothing is going to happen other than the judge calling the case up and getting the names of the objectors and telling the parties to get together and work out a schedule for litigation,” Watson said.
“Virtually nothing” will happen during August, September and October, Watson said, because practically all of the attorneys and experts are already committed to other annexation cases during that time.
“You’re looking at the spring, probably, before this case is heard,” Watson said. “Your primaries are held in April, so I will be very, very surprised if this case went fast enough for those in the annexation area to participate in municipal elections.”
Watson said the bulk of the preliminary redistricting work has been done. Preliminary work started back in 2022 but was put on the shelf while the council weighed the annexation question.
The city has spent about $6,800 on redistricting work to date.
“It’s a pretty efficient process from here on out,” Watson said. “(Making adjustments) isn’t too big of a deal.”
Gaskin asked how the redistricting would affect people’s ability to run for office inside the new ward lines.
“If someone lives in Ward 4 now and gets moved into Ward 5, how long do they have to live in Ward 5 before they can qualify for office (in the new ward)?” Gaskin asked.
City Attorney Jeff Turnage said he thought new ward lines wouldn’t be a problem.
“If I live in Ward 4 and get moved into Ward 5 I believe that I would be grandfathered,” Turnage said. “But I would still have had to live within the city limits for two years before I can qualify for office.”
Watson said the two year requirement “goes out the window” when it comes to people who live in the annexed areas.
“Given where we are, I don’t think annexation will be complete (by the next election cycle),” Watson said. “If we just move forward, then all these questions become moot.”
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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