Just in case...

Just in case you want to watch some of the video from the first redistricting committee meeting, we've posted them at www.youtube.com/gafrontpage There are seven videos, each under ten minutes. I might suggest that you watch the first one for a bit, then maybe skip to the last three, which are questions and answers. If you're a die-hard and want to know all the ins and outs, each one is under ten minutes so you're looking at a total of just over an hour of time to watch them all. You don't have to actually sit at your computer and watch them if you have things to do... just notch up the volume and listen while you play solitaire (or, for the more industrious, while you clean your office). You can also view them and keep up with the latest by going to our School Redistricting section on the Fayette Front Page: http://www.fayettefrontpage.com/education/elementary_redistricting.htm

Fayette County Elementary School Redistricting Thoughts

I'm posting the opinion column I have on the Fayette Front Page (FFP) below regarding Elementary School redistricting. Before I give you a little background (for those who don't visit the FFP or pay much attention to other newspapers), I'd like to send mega-kudos out to all the parents who volunteered to tackle this difficult task. These brave folks are taking quite a bit of time from their already busy schedules to attempt to redraw elementary school districts. They know that someone is going to be unhappy with them when they finish.... but they care enough about their children and Fayette County to brave the darts that will come.

Here's a little background. The BOE gets lambasted every time they redistrict. Unfortunately, it's necessary to periodically redraw the lines as population grows and shrinks, and as new schools come on line. It's understandable that parents would be upset. Some bought houses in a specific area just so their children could go to certain schools. Sometimes best friends the kids went to school with through elementary get redistricted to a different middle or high school. I don't need to cover all the negatives, you can come up with those on your own I'm sure!

The BOE decided to hire a consultant to make the process as "scientific" as possible. Along with the consultant they've put together a group of parents, one from each school elementary through high, to work with the consulting group to redraw the lines. Makes a world of sense. You have a specialized guide and parents who know the county. Plus, there are members of the board of education helping. I thought about it and couldn't come up with a better way to do it, although there may be.

The newspapers jumped in the BOE's case about the cost of the consultant. They reported incorrect inflated numbers which had a lot of people screaming. I raised an eyebrow at the real numbers, but in thinking about it, I want the best for Fayette County. We are the best of the best and our kids deserve the best. The costs are not outrageous and the BOE is doing all they can to keep the costs down from what I've seen. Chances are if they had tried it a different way they'd be slammed by some anyway.

This background info is getting longer and longer, isn't it? I'll try to move quickly here...

Based on experience, the consultant wanted the nuts and bolts meetings to be private, no press. There's going to be a lot of changing data presented, plus there's going to be a lot of back and forth. One of the local newspapers pitched a fit and now we're all having to sit through hours of discussion that aren't newsworthy. We could read the published minutes after their meetings and then pick up the phone after the meeting, or stop by the BOE, ask questions and write a meaningful report of what's happening.

After it's all over we, the press, would get every bit of data they used. The group isn't even the final decision-maker in the process. They're going to give a minimum of three maps to the School Board. The Board will choose one, and may even tweak the one they choose.

OK, hope that's enough of an overview! Probably too much of an overview, right? Ah well... can't please everyone, and sometimes can't please anyone! Here's the opinion column from the FFP:

I happen to agree with the Consultant (but possibly for different reasons) that the committee should be allowed to meet in private during the nuts and bolts portion of the redistricting process.

If you watch the videos of the meeting, you'll see that there's nothing sneaky or clandestine in their rational for preferring to keep the process behind closed doors while they're parsing data, making changes, moving lines, discussing options.

Coming in the side door of the building is just as public as the front door. When coming in the side door was mentioned, it was simply for convenience, not to hide the committee. After all, the first meeting was open and most of the committee of parents were there to be filmed.
Here's why I think the next part of the process shouldn't include the press or members of the public.

One, they're going to keep minutes and will be sharing them with the respective schools and they'll also be posted on the School Board's website for the world to see.

Two, it's already a difficult process. The parent representatives are going to be under a tremendous amount of pressure from their friends and peers without having them sitting there staring at them while they try to make decisions that hopefully will be the best for the vast majority. Someone is going to be unhappy when the lines are redrawn no matter how the do it or where the lines end up.

Three, we've already seen that things get blown way out of proportion when incomplete information is reported. The press tain't perfect, neither... mistakes are printed as facts then retracted a week later in small print on an inside page. The damage is done, tempers flare, parents get protective...

Four, they're going to have to make their final suggestions (which the Board will have to approve) completely public at the end. We'll get to see everything.
I could list a few other reasons, but those will work for now.

All that said, now that one of the local newspapers threatened to sue and the Board of Education chose to open the process rather than litigate (although they certainly had the legal right to keep the process behind closed doors... it's a citizen committee with paid employees working together... no elected officials) we will be there along with the other local media. We'll film, you can watch and make your own decisions. Not sure how this will go as they're breaking up into four groups... but we'll certainly do our darnedest!

Sneaky-Pete’s

I heard the term “sneaky-Pete” for the first time recently while talking to a former County Chairman circa early 1990’s. He was referring to the current Commission’s practice of voting on issues without any public notice. He said the commission was “pulling a sneaky-Pete.” What a great phrase!

Your County Commission is pulling one sneaky-Pete after another. Unfortunately, aside from 2 or 3 faithful citizens, a couple of reporters and the county staff who’re required to be at the meetings, tain’t nobody at the meetings to see what’s going on. Also unfortunately, it seems not very many people pay attention to the local newspapers when they report on the votes. However, even if the articles are being read, the newspapers only give passing notice (if any at all) to the fact that the issue wasn’t on the agenda.

I’m not going to rehash all the votes that appear to have been decided in private before the meeting, then brought up in a seemingly orchestrated manner during “Board Reports” at the end of the meetings. (I’ll add one of my old opinion columns from the beginning of the year titled “Forget the Agenda” later for anyone who wants a tiny bit of background.)

Today’s blog is focusing on one thing that a certain few on the Commission tried to sneak through that seems to be getting ready to blow up in their proverbial face (another idiom… I’m just full of ‘em today!).

The issue of the day is redistricting.

At the Commission’s recent retreat (the rather expensive retreat held so far away during working hours making it virtually impossible for any citizen attendance) Commissioner Herb Frady presented everyone with his version of a map moving voting lines in the county around. Let me back up just a tiny bit and say that at the beginning of the day’s meeting the facilitator made it clear to all that this was not an official meeting.

The Commissioner’s discussed it. It was fairly obvious who’d been in the loop on Frady’s travels and who was left out. It was presented pretty much as a done deal, just needed everyone’s rubber stamp support and it was off to the Legislature and the Department of Justice.

Commissioner Peter Pfeifer suggested they might want to look at other ways to re-draw the map drawing the ire and sarcasm of a few of the Commissioners. Chairman Jack Smith tepidly tried to smooth things over as he often does, but as always these days, he sided with the crew. No vote, not that kind of meeting. But four of them agreed to pursue it as drawn by Frady with one minor modification done by the state.

Remember, no public, no public input requested.

Moving forward, we’re at the next official Thursday night Commission meeting. The redistricting map isn’t on the agenda. No word of it until… ta da… Board Reports. It’s brought up for a vote. Yep, a vote. No public input. No public notification at all. Commissioner Pfeifer calls attention to the fact and forces the crew to put it on an agenda for public discussion and involvement.

Soooo, how does the group handle this monkey wrench that Pfeifer tossed into their smoothly running operation? They put it on the agenda for a special called meeting on a Monday morning during the regular working day for the vast majority of Fayette citizens. No separate notice to anyone that they’re going to discuss an issue of this magnitude.

The agenda for the business day special called meeting is published three business days before the actual meeting. No way it’s getting in any newspapers.

A few years back the County Commission considered redistricting. There were public meetings across the county asking for citizen input. There was also a lot of controversy, which I’ll save for another blog ‘cause it’s not germane to the focus of this column.

This one is in the process of becoming public despite the best efforts of the Board. Commissioner Pfeifer is speaking out and taking heat as his words are ignored and / or attacked by his fellow board members. What is really going to bring this issue to the forefront of voters across the county is the move by a rather large group of citizens who are organizing to push for district voting.

My biggest beef (another colloquialism) with the redistricting map is the secrecy involved in pushing it through.

I don’t understand the rush, either. When redistricting, the numbers used by law, are those from the last census. They are using numbers from the 2000 census for Frady's map.

The 2010 census is already in preparation. We’re less than 3 years from getting new numbers. Chances are that the new numbers will throw the current Frady proposal out of kilter completely and we’ll be looking at yet another redistricting. According to official census estimates the county population increased by close to 17% from 2000 to 2006. Where did these 15,000 plus folks move? To the north end of the county? Peachtree City? Brooks? Is the current map already obsolete?

Isn’t it logical to get on a cycle of reviewing districting maps in conjunction with new census data every ten years?

Here’s another thought… We’re coming up on a difficult Presidential election cycle. There’s an early Presidential primary being held separately from our normal primary, which means the election office is already going to have extra things on their plates (just full of those oft-used phrases today, aren’t I?). Why add to their burden now? Why not wait a year, two years?

Which begs another question, why wasn’t the county election’s office involved in drawing the map? Why wasn’t the election board involved in the process? I was told they were asked what the number and contact information was for the state reapportionment office… that’s it. Not, “can I get your input on re-drawing a map?”

This is Commissioner Herb Frady’s project and whatever may come, it’s on his doorstep.

Jack Smith, Chairman
40 Argyll Drive Peachtree City, GA 30269
Home Phone: 770.487.4644
Office: 770.460.5730
Ext. 5101E-Mail: JackSmith@fayettecountyga.gov

Herb Frady, Vice Chairman
100 Old Magnolia Lane Fayetteville, GA 30214
Home Phone: 770.487.9203
Office: 770.460.5730 Ext. 5101
E-Mail: mailto:herbf@admin.co.fayette.ga.us

Robert Horgan
210 Wesley Forest Drive Fayetteville, GA 30214
Home Phone: 770.461.0250
Office: 770.460.5730 Ext. 5101
E-Mail: rhorgan@fayettecountyga.gov

Eric Maxwell
225 South Glynn Street Fayetteville, GA 30214
Office: 770.460.5730 Ext. 5101
E-mail: EMaxwell@fayettecountyga.gov

Peter Pfeifer
220 Copperplate Lane Peachtree City, GA 30269
Home Phone: 770.487.2654
Office: 770.460.5730 Ext. 5101
E-Mail: ppfeifer@fayettecountyga.gov

County Commission Mailing Address:
140 Stonewall Avenue West
Suite 100
Fayetteville, Georgia 30214
Phone: 770.460.5730 extension 5400
Fax: 770.460.9412
e-mail: cchandler@fayettecountyga.gov

Georgia Reapportionment Services Office
18 Capitol Square, Room 407
Atlanta GA 30334
phone: 404-656-5063
FAX: 404-463-4103

I’ll add the info for your local legislators and the Department of Justice later.

(Side note: I didn’t point out all the descriptive phrases I used above that have, through time, become part of our everyday language. I once read a book on the history of English (a companion to a PBS series. The background of our ever-changing language is fascinating! And yes, I know I regularly drop a fair amount of well-worn phrases into my writing.)

County Redistricting 101

We’ve learned that one of our county Commissioners is following the steps in the little known top-secret manual, “Simple Ways to Take Care of Political Opponents” as he stealthily works to eliminate potential political opponents for he and his buds on the Board… Shhhh, don’t tell anyone that we found a copy of the manual… Here are a few pointers from the first chapter, “Redistricting 101”:

First, find out where all your potential opponents live.

Second, draw a map putting all of your potential opponents in someone else’s district.
Note: If you’d like to curry favors and goodwill from your political allies, try to take care of their potential opponents, too! Remember, you need to keep your allies happy! It’s in YOUR best interest also as you definitely don’t want to have any of your potential opponents win any seat… your goal is to attempt to shut them down completely! To do it right, be sure to put your potential opponents in the district of someone you don’t like and /or put them in the district of someone none of them would want to run against.

Third, try to find a way to make it look like it’s something you’re doing for the “good of the people.” If you can’t figure out a way to do that, then make it look like you’re being pushed by outside forces to do the redistricting. You already have a devious nature or you wouldn’t be reading this manual, thus it’s not necessary for us to provide numerous ideas for cloaking your true intentions.

Fourth, if at all possible, do a sneaky-pete and try to slip it through without a public hearing. If caught, pull a “huh-duh, didn’t know that we had to”. Then, instead of doing the public hearing at a time when the public can actually have some input, stick it in a meeting during a weekday when everyone is working.

Unfortunately, he must have stopped reading before he read the last chapter, “Avoiding Pitfalls”. There are too many pitfalls in the chapter to begin to cover in this short blog, but we’ll touch on two that pertain directly to the issue at hand.

Before you can redistrict those potential opponents out of your life, you have to be absolutely sure they aren’t planning to move any time in the near future. No one, but no one, will believe you if you try to change the map a second time.

Second, the manual states over and over, chapter after chapter (but it’s emphasized in Avoiding Pitfalls) that you cannot ever, ever tell anyone what you’re doing. Anyone. You’d be surprised at how people like to share secrets, even when you’re just doing something to try and help them out.