An unprecedented legal ploy by Cobb County to invoke home rule provisions for reapportioning commission district lines will be considered for a vote Tuesday.
The Cobb Board of Commissioners will be asked to pass a resolution to redraw the four commission districts according to a map drawn earlier this year by State Rep. Erick Allen, the Cobb legislative delegation chairman, that would preserve the District 2 seat for commissioner Jerica Richardson.
But Cobb Republican lawmakers ignored Allen’s map and pushed through the GOP-dominated Georgia legislature that took most of East Cobb, where Richardson lives, out of District 2.
Under state law, Richardson, a first-term Democrat who was elected 2020, would have to move out of her home off Johnson Ferry Road and into the new District 2 if she wants to remain in office.
Last month, she announced she would be challenging the legislatively adopted maps, after saying in March that “I will not step down.”
She has claimed it’s the first time in state history a sitting elected official has been drawn out of a district, and that the legislature ignored longstanding courtesy by not accepting the local delegation map.
The resolution is on the commission’s regular agenda (agenda item here), and will be followed by a second consideration and vote on Oct. 25.
You can read the proposed resolution by clicking here; and more background information can be found by clicking here.
The Cobb challenge will have no bearing on the upcoming Nov. 8 general election. Voters in East Cobb will have the District 3 commission race on their ballot (in yellow on the maps above).
That seat is currently held by Republican JoAnn Birrell, who is seeking a fourth term and is being challenged by Democrat Christine Triebsch.
Cobb’s resolution, should it pass, is likely to be challenged in court by the state. Birrell has previously said that she didn’t think it was fair for Richrdson to be drawn out of her seat.
But she is against changing the maps approved by the legislature, saying it’s confusing to voters and “isn’t even legal.”
The full agenda for Tuesday’s meeting can be found by clicking here. It will take place starting at 9 a.m. in the second floor board room of the Cobb Government Building, 100 Cherokee St., in downtown Marietta.
You also can watch on the county’s website, Facebook Live and YouTube channels and on Cobb TV 23 on Comcast Cable.
Related:
- East Cobb bottle shop opponents appeal liquor license approval
- Contested Post 4 seat on Cobb school board heats up
- Cobb 2022 general election sample ballot available
- Cobb to propose ordinance to redraw commission districts
- Cobb school board chairman trailing in campaign fundraising
- Cobb to add Sunday voting in 2022 general election
- East Cobb News Politics & Elections page
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