Flagpole. (Athens, Ga.) 1987-current, August 31, 2011, Image 3

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Flagpole., August 31, 2011, Image 3

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Newspaper Page TextKEEP IT SIMPLE April Webb stood up and asked why wouldn't we disturb as few people as possible with local redistricting. Her ques tion came at the first redistricting public hearing at Gaines Elementary School, and it cut right to the heart of the compet ing plans to slice and dice Athens-Clarke County. Her question provided a moment of clarity that made you stop and think: why indeed would we shift all these people around when we don't have to? There's something about redistricting that makes people go crazy. We're required to have voting districts that are equal in population and don't discriminate against racial minorities. But redistricting also seems to be open season for righting every wrong in government or wronging every right. April Webb looked at the redistricting committee's maps and its percentages and totals, and she noticed that Linda Meggers, probably the most experienced redistricting consul tant in the state, has shifted lines to bring districts back into relative population equality as required by law without diluting minority voting strength. Then, April Webb looked at the com mittee's other plan, which equalizes districts while increasing minority strength in some and decreasing it in others. She noticed that this second plan, in order to accomplish changes not much different from the first plan, relies on massive voter displacement into new districts—in some districts half or more of the citizens would be voting in new districts and new precincts. April Webb compared the two plans that accomplish basically the same thing—except that one relies on massive voter disloca tion—and asked "Why?" Why indeed cause 43,000 people (twice that if you include superdistrict reas signments) to have to vote in new polling places, instead of only 4300 under consultant Linda Meggers' plan? People have enough trouble remembering where to vote now. A massive dis- location on the scale of 43,000 voters is a needless disruption of voting patterns—which of course hits hardest on those who are working two jobs and taking care of a house full of kids and have trouble keeping up with where their voting booth will be this year. Such a plan disenfranchises the very minority vot- : ers it aims to enhance. Meanwhile, speaking of minority voters, our newly minted Republican representative Doug McKillip has been lurking on the fringes of the redistricting debate, promising to produce his own plan that will enhance Republican voting in our non partisan local elections. [See City Dope, p. 4.] McKillip showed up at the Gaines Elementary hearing and cross-examined Linda r Meggers like a trial lawyer, trying every trick to get her to say that she had been instructed to protect incumbent commis sioners in her redistricting plan. But that's not all. Word came at that redistricting hear ing that local lawyer Ken Dious has produced his own plan to enhance minority voting by eliminating our superdistricts and creating 10 smaller commission districts. Before the local redistricting committee could even sit down to examine the Dious plan, Rep. McKillip expressed so much admiration for it that you would think he wrote it himself. McKillip is even sub mitting the Dious plan to the district designers in Atlanta as the starting point for his own still awaited plan to redo ACC. So now, as our local redistricting committee is winding up its business with public hearings, we've got a last-minute plan that would re-write the structure of our local government, and McKillip is sending it to Atlanta with his blessing. There are many good arguments to be made for and against superdistricts, but behind closed doors in Atlanta is not the place for those arguments about Athens. April Webb nailed it. Redistricting Athens-Clarke County can easily be effected with minimal disruption of voting patterns, and that's the way we should do it. All the rest is politics, which should be debated in the proper forums and addressed by our citizens, with changes made to our government as they see fit, not foisted upon us by clandestine interests purporting to be fair and balanced. Pete McCommons editor@flagpole com Why indeed cause 43,000 people (twice that if you include superdistrict reassignments) to have to vote in new polling places...? THIS WEEK’S ISSUE: NEWS <§2 FEATURES City Dope 5 Athens News and Views Students protested the Board of Regents' ban on undocumented students at the Arch last week. Google That Sh!t 8 Search: Haiti minimum wage Don't expect the standard of living to rise here as long as the U S is enabling wage slavery in Haiti. Art Notes 9 Surprise the Sky Trace Gallery s current exhibit features three artists who explore transformative processes Reality Check 23 Matters of the Heart and Loins Yes. you should try online dating IM1US0© Threats & Promises 11 Music News and Gossip Donations collected for musician Tim White! New music from Vespolma, Gripe and Ken Will Morton 1 And more... FLT RSK 13 This Is the RMX! Local electronic wonders celebrate the release of their remix album featuring some of Athens' best DJs LETTERS 4 CITY DOPE 5 CITY PAGES 5 CAPITOL IMPACT 6 ATHENS RISING 7 GOOGLE THAT SH!T 8 ART NOTES 9 MOVIE DOPE 10 THREATS & PROMISES 11 RECORD REVIEWS 12 FLT RSK 13 VIEUX FARKA T0URE 14 THE CALENDAR! 15 BULLETIN BOARD 20 ART AROUND TOWN 21 COMICS 22 REALITY CHECK 23 CLASSIFIEDS 24 EVERYDAY PEOPLE 27 EDITOR & PUBLISHER Pete McCommons ADVERTISING DIRECTOR & PUBLISHER Alicia Nickles PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Larry Tenner MANAGING EDITOR Christina Cotter ADVERTISING SALES Anita Aubrey. Melinda Edwards. Jessica Pritchard MUSIC EDITOR Michelle Gilzenrat CITY EDITOR Dave Marr CLASSIFIEDS. DISTRIBUTION & OFFICE MANAGER Nico Cashm AD DESIGNERS Kelly Ruberto. Cindy Jerrell CARTOONISTS Cameron Bogue Missy Kulik. Jeremy Long. David Mack. Clint McElroy. Zac k Wood ADOPT ME Special Agent Cindy Jerrell CONTRIBUTORS Caroline Barratt. John Barrett. Kevin Craig. Tom Crawford. David Eduardo. David Fit/gerald. Adam Klein. Gordon Lamb. Emily Patrick. Matthew Pulver. Sydney Slotkin. Jett Tobias. Drew Wheeler. Kevan Williams CIRCULATION Charles Greenleaf. Nash Hogan. Jesse Mangum. Matt Shirley WEB DESIGNER Kelly Ruherto ADVERTISING & EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Jessica Smith ADVERTISING INTERNS Rebecca McGee. Morgan Guritj MUSIC INTERNS Chris Miller. Brian Walter COVER DESIGN by Kelly Ruberto featuring a painting by Margaret Morrison on display at Lamar Dodd School of Art STREET ADDRESS: 112 Foundry St.. Athens. GA 30601 MAILING ADDRESS: P.O. Box 1027. Athens. GA 30603 EDITORIAL: (706) 549-9523 ADVERTISING: (706) 549-0301 FAX: (706) 54 8-8981 ADVERTISING ads@flagpole.com CALENDAR: calendar@flagpole.com COMICS: comics@flagpole.com EDITORIAL: editor@flagpole.com LETTERS: letters@flagpole.com MUSIC: music@flagpole.com NEWS: news@flagpole.com WEBSITE: web@flagpole.com Flagpote. Inc publishes Flagpole Magazine weekly and distributes 17.000 copies free at over 275 locations around Athens. Georgia. Subscriptions cost $55 a year, $35 (or six months © 2011 Flagpole. Inc All rights reserved VOLUME 25 ISSUE NUMBER 34 ® 0 0 CIRC t I \ 1 1()\IB VERIFICATION | t O UNCI I. speakeasy now showing paintings by Patricia Short patriciashort.net tapas wine martinis catering available 269 e. broad • upstairs • downtown • 706-546-5556 speakeasyathens.com 706-548-1115 > 1037 Baxter Street, Suite A Open Monday through Saturday the flagpole office will be closed g monday, September y 2011 | AUGUST31.2011-FLAGPOLE.COM 3