Commission Agrees to Accept BOE Map

The Jasper County Commission voted 3-1 to approve the same map as the school board to govern elections for the next 10 years. Commissioner Alan Cox cast the dissenting vote and Commissioner Jack Bernard was absent from the meeting.

“I am out of town and will be unavailable. No one contacted me beforehand about setting up this meeting, as is our normal practice. I find this end run to be unacceptable now or in the future. I ask that this meeting be rescheduled for a time when all BOC members can attend,” said Mr. Bernard’s e-mail to the county manager. (This copy was obtained through the Open Records Act.)

The action came at a called meeting last Wednesday, Nov. 9, after the county commission and school board had met with State Rep. Susan Holmes on Monday.

At Wednesday’s meeting, Commissioner Mary Patrick read a prepared statement, which said, in part, “The main issue between the two maps [BOC and BOE] is Turtle Cove all being in one district. It appears it is not possible to keep Turtle Cove together as one voting unit because of the population concentration there….The BOE members I have spoken to all have indicated that they would not change their map. I personally would rather accept a map our own elected officials have worked on and agreed to than allow a map to be produced and presented to the legislature without us seeing it or knowing where our districts are until the map is a done deal.

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“I want everyone here to notice that there are four commissioners here. None of us can make a binding decision by ourselves—one vote is just one vote, and not a majority.

“Last night I received an e-mail from a fellow BOC member threatening me if I didn’t call off this meeting, as if I was the only one that could.”

Upon a request through the Open Records Act, Commissioner Patrick produced the e-mail she had received from Commissioner Bernard.

It said, “Mary, I am asking you one last time to stop the meeting scheduled for tomorrow. If it proceeds, you will have to live with the consequences. And it will not be pleasant.”

Commissioner Patrick went on to say, “Our chairman has also received an e-mail indicating consequences if we proceed with this meeting.

That e-mail was also obtained through an Open Records Request. It was from Commissioner Bernard to Commission Chairman Charles Hill, and the subject line said, “map, between us only.”

The e-mail said, “Hi, Charles. I feel very strongly about the map issue. As our leader, I hope you will not just give in on this very important matter. The BOC will look like a bunch of weak fools. It is much better to go down fighting than to simply surrender before a shot is fired. We would be much better off having Holmes make that call.

You know me; I want to be 100% honest with you. It will be impossible for me to support you as Chair next year if we just give up, collapse and accept the poorly designed BOE map. PS- I will never vote for any other map unless there is a compromise by the BOE..”

Commissioner Patrick went on to say, “It is truly sad that threats and intimidation are used by members of this board to try to get their way. How can we do what we each think is best for Jasper County when we are threatened by our own board members? …Commissioners, I am tired of being bullied and threatened, what about the rest of you?”

Commissioner Carl Pennamon said, “I have not been threatened; I don’t take threats lightly.” He went on to say that he concurs with Commissioner Patrick, and he is “tired of being bullied and threatened for my decisions for the people I represent.”

Commissioner Cox said, “We should not be here tonight. I asked that this meeting be postponed at least 24 hours.”

We’ve asked the BOE to make a modification.

Chairman Hill said he talked to Mrs. [Phyllis] Norwood, BOE chairman, and she said they would not take action during their work session Thursday, that no action would be taken until next Tuesday. She also said there is no plan to make an adjustment to the map.

Commissioner Patrick said this board went to Atlanta; Ms. [Linda] Meggars came here. There were trips to Athens. One area of the county wants to be together and it’s not possible. I’m not against anybody or anything, she said. “We’ve got to do what’s best for the county.”

Chairman Hill said he agreed, “We all have to compromise.”

Commissioner Cox said, “Where did the BOE compromise?”

Commissioner Pennamon said “we were selfish for looking at our district lines only.”

Commissioner Cox said, “The BOE wants one thing so we’re going to cave?”

After that Commissioner Pennamon made the motion to adopt the same map as the BOE. It was seconded by Commissioner Patrick, and Chairman Hill joined them in voting for the map.

At the Monday meeting, Commissioner Bernard made the presentation on why the Board of Commissioners (BOC) had selected the map it selected. He said that it met the legal guidelines of one man, one vote, and included a majority minority district. In addition, he said it put like communities together.

He said the map the school board selected was just a slight variation of the current gerrymandered map that was “unsound for future redistricting.” He explained that in his district, he can see Butts County from his back door. The school board member from District 3, Dr. Shannon Barton, lives close to the Putnam County line, he said. He said the people in those different areas of the county have different needs.

He said that the map the Board of Education (BOE) chose splits Turtle Cove in half. It is the largest community in the county, he said, and splitting it does not serve the community well. He said there has never been a BOE member from Turtle Cove. He ended his remarks saying that four of the BOC members have indicated in private that they would rather have two maps than a gerrymandered one like they have now.

Dr. Mike Newton, school superintendent, made the presentation for the BOE. He said the proposed BOC map moves three of the BOE members from their district to another one. He said the law says that any shortening of the term of a seated BOE member is illegal.

He said, in fairness both sides should be looked at. Dr. Newton gave a powerpoint presentation about what the process had been to come to the point where they were. He said it would be easier to work together if each entity had its own approved map, but the county commissioners never really agreed on one map. They did submit one to the BOE, but that is the one that moved the majority of the BOE members from their district. Dr. Newton said, it looks like you drew the lines with no regard to anyone else’s needs, then made a squiggle to pull in a school board member.

The floor was then opened for each member of each board to comment. Commissioner Patrick asked Rep. Holmes, “Is it totally out of the question to have two separate maps? She went on to say the commission and school board fact different issues.

Rep. Holmes said she had talked with a wide, diverse group of people who agreed that one map is the way to go.

Commissioner Cox said it doesn’t matter a lot to him. District 5 looks basically the same on each map. However, he said he’d like to see Turtle Cove kept whole.

Commissioner Pennamon talked about going back and starting over from the current map.

Rep. Holmes said there is not time for that; a decision must be made by next week, she said. She asked if there was one map all commissioners agreed on, and they said the vote was 4-1 on map 8 and 3-2 on the other county option.

BOE Chair Norwood said there is no perfect map. This map represents a great deal of compromise, she said.

Rep. Holmes told those gathered she was very disappointed in the local officials for not being able to agree on a map. She said she had no intention of getting involved, and that local decisions need to be made on the local level. But, she said, it’s reached a point where she doesn’t have any choice.

She talked about the compromises that were necessary in drawing the new maps for the state legislature. She stressed that everyone has to be willing to compromise.

They closed the meeting with the understanding that Rep. Holmes and State Sen. Johnny Grant would draw the map if the county and school did not have a consensus by the fifteenth of the month.

That plan is apparently what prompted the BOC to go ahead and accept the school board’s map last Wednesday, rather than leaving it up to the state officials to draw the lines.