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Outrage over redistricting of Gwinnett County
A state committee held a meeting on two bills which would change school board elections non-partisan and create new county commission districts in Gwinnett County
GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. - In a raucous committee meeting Wednesday afternoon, Democrats, Republicans and members of the public clashed over not just a pair of controversial Gwinnett County bills, but also parliamentary procedure.
State Sen. Clint Dixon, R-Buford, filed the legislation. Sen. Dixon presented both bills to the Senate State and Local Government Operations Committee Wednesday afternoon.
One bill would change Gwinnett County Board of Education elections to non-partisan and redraw the board members' districts.
"Making it non-partisan would take politics out of the school board," explained Sen. Dixon. "There's no business for any kind of politics in our schools, dealing with [Critical Race Theory] and all the other issues we're dealing with in Gwinnett. We've got to take all that out and this would accomplish that."
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Currently, the Gwinnett County School Board is made up of three Democrats and two Republicans. Board Chairman Everton Blair, Jr. said Sen. Dixon did not notify any of them about his proposed legislation.
"Frankly, I think that it's tantamount to inefficient government and the lack of transparency and accountability for our elected representatives to not even build the relationships with the necessary conversation before doing something like this," Blair told committee members.
Blair also questioned whether the new districts established in the bill would comply with the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Sen. Dixon's other bill would expand the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners from five members to nine.
"I think most voters are tired of the dirty politics, of the secret backroom deals and yet again, here we are trying to push back against another insidious effort by Georgia Republicans to completely alter Gwinnett County for the next decade," said State Rep. Sam Park, D-Lawrenceville, who is chair of the Gwinnett delegation.
Rep. Park said Sen. Dixon did not follow proper procedure in filing the legislation, which should have been vetted by the delegation first.
Sen. Dixon, however, said he thinks the bills fall within the governor's call for the special session because the school board election will be in May and waiting until the regular session in January would have been too late.
"If we don't vote on that now, if you get into January, it just you know, timing-wise would not work out. Same thing with the Board of Commissioners," Sen. Dixon explained.
Committee members approved the school board bill along party lines. They are scheduled to meet again Thursday and could vote on the commission bill.
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