The Columbus City Council is one step closer to submitting its redistricting plan to the Department of Justice after hosting as public hearing Monday night.
The board voted 4-1 to draw up a resolution supporting the plan it approved in May. Ward 2 Councilman Joseph Mickens voted against the resolution and Ward 5 Councilman Kabir Karriem was not present for the vote. The council will next have to adopt an ordinance of the redistricting plan before it can be submitted to the Department of Justice.
A racially-mixed predominantly middle aged crowd packed the Municipal Complex to listen to a presentation by consultant Chris Watson of Bridge and Watson consulting firm of Oxford. A large number of people were also on hand to publicly protest the council’s plan and to support an alternate plan designed by Karriem and Mickens.
“Our primary purpose for this meeting is to discuss the redistricting plan,” Mayor Robert Smith said. “We have a plan passed by the council 4-2 and an alternate plan.”
The Watson plan
Watson said Columbus has four majority black wards (Wards 1, 2, 4 and 5) while Wards 3 and 6 are majority white. Total population and voting age population were factors in the plan.
“We had input from the council on this plan.” Watson said. “Some wards had to pick up some folks and some wards had to drop some folks. Redistricting is a balancing act.”
Under the Watson plan, there is no change in wards 1 and 2. Ward 3 would lose everything south of Hemlock Street and everything west of McCrary Street, as it would be moved into Ward 4. The Ward 6 area south of Waverly Road and a block of Sixth Street North would be taken into Ward 5.
“In Ward 5, we did not want to reduce minority composition of the ward,” Watson said. “Ward 5 would also take in an area from 4th and 3rd avenues North to North 18th Street and two blocks of Seventh Avenue from 18th Street North to 20th Street North.”
The plan would reduce blacks in Ward 3 from 43.3 percent to 41.9 percent and decrease whites in Ward 5 by .4 percent.
Objections to the plan
After Watson concluded his presentation, there was an immediate objection from several black ministers, voting groups and others.
“Ward 2 has never been a majority black ward, Rev. Joseph E. Samuel said. “The problem is that Ward 1 could have lost 10 percent to the other side but it didn’t. We have some fundamental differences with the plan because in the future it will weaken wards 2 and 5 and it threatens their black councilmen on the board.”
Samuel’s assertion that Ward 2 has never been a majority black ward is not supported by the figures, however. According to the 2000 Census figures, the ward was 56.2 percent black. That percentage would be unchanged under the council-approved plan.
The plan was also met with contention from the Lowndes Count League of Voters, Lowndes County Democratic Party and the Lowndes County NAACP.
District 5 Supervisor Lerory Brooks said he, too, opposed the plan and used the hearing as an opportunity to remind the black council members and Smith he used his political clout to help them win their elections.
“”I’ve been in politics for almost 30 years and you get to a point where you recognize there is a better way,” Brooks said. “I’ve known Robert Smith a long time and he has come a long way. When Mayor Smith said he wanted to run for office, he came to me and asked for my help. (Ward 4) Councilman Fred Stewart is the longest serving African-American on this council and he also asked for my help. A few years ago, no one had heard of (Ward 1 Councilman) Gene Taylor. When he asked me for his help, I helped him under the stipulation he would work with Mayor Smith. Councilman Karriem also sought my assistance. Mr. Mickens, you have the dubious honor of being the only African-American I didn’t work with. I’m appealing to you as the elder statesman of elected officials in Lowndes County. I don’t think the plan is fair. I think you can come up with a better plan.”
The Karriem plan
When it came time to present the alternate plan, Karriem rushed through his presentation, stating he had “a prior commitment at 7 p.m.”
“The alternate plan is self-explanatory,” Karriem said. “Chris Watson said the community could present their own plan. I opposed the plan passed by the council. We didn’t set fourth a criteria as to what we were going to do. All the alternate plan does is break up some of the packing and it’s an equitable plan.”
Although Karriem did not discuss the boundaries of the plan’s map, the alternate plan would decrease whites in Ward 2 by almost 10 percent while increasing the black population by almost 10 percent. Karriem left immediately after his brief presentation.
Moving forward
Before the council voted to create a resolution supporting Watson’s plan, Mickens accused Watson of doing what the council told him to do.
“Mr. Watson was only allowed to do what he was told to do,” Mickens said. “Box, Stewart and Taylor told him what to do. My ward has been diluted.”
Mickens also threatened his fellow black councilmen and Smith with political pay back in the 2013 elections.
“I’m a Democrat and this plan was supported b the Democratic party,” said Mickens. “If the Democratic Party doesn’t support this plan, we may have to look at who is on the ticket in the next election and see who supported the plan the party was against.”
Mickens’ statement echoed the statement made by state Democratic party member Ike Brown. Brown told The Dispatch earlier Monday that “the Democratic Party has backed a different plan. If anyone on the council supports the plan the party didn’t support, we may have to look at them come election time. They may need to run as Republicans. There will be no more free lunch.”
Both plans will now be submitted to the Department of Justice in about 45 days, Watson said. The Justice Department will either approve the council’s plan or send it back for revisions. There is no assurance that the alternate plan would ever be considered by the Department of Justice.
Jeff Clark was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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