I wish the Georgia General Assembly had not drawn Jerica Richardson out of her seat on the Cobb Board of Commissioners during reapportionment in 2022.
It was unfair and unprecedented, as she stated many times during a two-plus-years legal battle over county electoral maps that confused citizens and cost them fruitless taxpayer-funded court challenges.
But it was not illegal.
When Cobb Republican lawmakers sidestepped local courtesy in ignoring county delegation maps and filed their own maps, it smelled of the partisan odor that comes with redistricting.
As it has for decades, and always will.
Richardson, an articulate and intelligent thirty-something Georgia Tech graduate, entered office in December 2020 full of new energy, new ideas and a younger generational vibe, and was stepping in the very big shoes left behind by Bob Ott.
She was conscientious in forming a “community cabinet” of citizen advisors on such topics as education, land use and traffic, and held online “community huddles” to preview meeting agendas.
She brought young people into the fold in myriad ways, including inviting high school students to conduct “capstone” projects on pressing local issues.
Richardson also worked with the local Brazilian community, a sizable contingent of citizens in the East Cobb and Cumberland-Smyrna area in particular.
These were admirable and endearing efforts to invite greater participation in civic life, and they are a positive part of the legacy she leaves behind in her sole term in office.
Halfway through, the District 2 Richardson had been elected to serve no longer included her East Cobb home.
But when Richardson and her two fellow Democratic colleagues conjured up dubious “home rule” claims in adopting those unapproved delegation maps, and using them to conduct county business, those actions were just as wrong.
They were also violations of the Georgia Constitution–as ruled by two judges in Cobb County–which gives sole county reapportionment powers to the legislature.
Richardson’s final appeal to remain in office—her term officially expired Dec. 31, and she didn’t seek re-election—was ignored Tuesday by the Georgia Court of Appeals.
She was trying to hold on until a special election to decide her successor is determined in April.
In recent months, following those emphatic court rulings of unconstitutionality, Richardson chose her most bristling rhetoric of the whole saga.
While she said at times her legal battle wasn’t about her but the rights of communities to draw electoral maps, at the very end Richardson claimed she had been the primary target all along:
“For the last four years, this office has been under attack by the entire state infrastructure because change is scary for so many. Unfortunately, the unknown is exploited so that power can be transferred from the hands of many to the hands of few.”
That three black Democratic women formed the ruling majority on the commission in a Cobb County dominated for decades by white male Republican elected officials is hard to ignore.
For most of her time in office, Richardson didn’t play to those or other cultural issues.
But at the height of the tensions in August, Democratic Commissioner Monique Sheffield referred to the partisan sparring on the all-female board, especially over the maps, as “political Bloods and Crips.”
Richardson’s vague comments this week are a bit much to absorb. “The entire state infrastructure” was out to get her. Really? In a state with 159 counties? And what exactly is the change that is feared?
We are left to guess.
As for the charge of transferring power, it’s very likely Democrats will still hold a 3-2 majority after the special elections.
The new District 2 includes areas along I-75, from Kennesaw and Marietta to Smyrna, which are not very Republican.
What I wish Richardson would have had done as she took her final bows was to offer an apology.
To those residents of East Cobb who for the last two years were uncertain over who their commissioner was supposed to be.
And for what’s estimated to be $1.5 million for the special elections in District 2 and District 4, after the primaries last year were voided because the “home rule” maps were used.
Acknowledging the chaos and turmoil that was caused by this dispute was a missed opportunity for Richardson.
When Republican Commissioner JoAnn Birrell of East Cobb, who’s not one to relish conflict or use profanity, called this episode “two years of hell,” it’s worth noting.
Yes, Richardson had the right to appeal her removal.
And yes, as Cupid once claimed, “a great harm” was done to Cobb by the legislature in bypassing local delegation courtesies during reapportionment.
But Cupid, who also has a law degree, had to have known where this dispute would end.
In decrying norm-breaking, you don’t break other norms. Especially the law.
That will also be a part of Richardson’s legacy, and that’s disappointing.
