In what’s likely to be one of the liveliest and most passionate debates in years, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners is officially beginning its discussions on redistricting Guilford County.
Commissioners from both parties are expected to have a lot to say about the next district maps.
The same types of heated debates over redistricting are already taking place all over the state and the country.
The Board of Commissioners has scheduled a special meeting for Wednesday, Sept. 8 at 4 p.m. to be held in the Blue Room on the first floor of the Old Guilford County Court House in downtown Greensboro. The purpose of the special meeting is “to review and consider adoption of redistricting guidelines for county commissioner districts and to conduct any other necessary business.”
The meeting is closed to the public due to COVID-19 worries, but it can be viewed on Zoom with a computer, tablet or smartphone at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87864709723. (If required, enter meeting ID 878 6470 9723 at the prompt.)
The meeting will also be live-streamed on Guilford County’s Facebook page.
Every ten years the county reshapes its districts to maintain voter equity based on new population numbers from the federal census. Recently, the county got updated numbers and county leaders are now ready to draw the new lines.
Last month, Chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Skip Alston said the process will be fair and also pointed out that any new district maps proposed by the Democratic-majority Board of Commissioners will need to be approved by the state legislature where Republicans hold the majority.
Alston said at a work session on Thursday, Sept. 2 that he was establishing a committee of county commissioners to delve into the matter. He said that commissioners interested in being on the committee should let him know in the near future. When it suddenly became apparent that every commissioner in the room was interested in being on the committee, Alston said they may very well end up with a redistricting committee that included all nine board members.
While committees formed by the chair are usually a subgroup of the board, Alston said there was nothing in the rules to prevent all the commissioners from serving on a committee.
I have the logical solution here:
How about none of the current commissioners serve on the committee, and none of the members of the committee answer to nor get chosen by current commissioners. Guilford County is always wanting to pay outside firms to report on things like diversity and MWBE participation. Seems only fair to have an outside firm not from Guilford County with no vested interest in the outcome to be the ones re-draw the lines fairly.
It’s absurd that this is part of the process at all. Just make them all at-large and elected by popular vote. This whole districting mess is racist to the core anyhow. If you need any proof, all we have to do is look at how well it has worked out for local schools. Mount Tabor & East Forsyth in Forsyth County, Southern Guilford, Eastern Guilford & Southern Guilford just to name a few. Ever notice how when a certain group raises hell and gets everything turned upside down to suit them that whatever they then become a part of turns to poop in rapid fashion? If you answer “no” then you have been living under a rock for the past 50 years!
It would be best to cut the county based on the number of seats on the commission, not gerrymandered based on where their constituents live. Think of it as window panes, some smaller than others due to higher number of population, and some larger due to lower number of population, but all of them in proportional number of citizens. Of course, that won’t happen, but the map provided is an insult to those who want open government, not what a few commissioners want for themselves.
Well SOMEONE voted this current crop of commissioners in to office.
Talking to a lot of people it’s really hard to find anyone who will admit to it