2011 Local Redistricting Cycle

In 2011, a 17-member redistricting commission, half appointed by Mayor Teresa Tomlinson and half by Council and chaired by Probate Judge Julia Lumpkin, was tasked with redrawing the combined city council/school board district map and sending the proposed map to both city council and school board for approval within 6 months of the publication of the most recent U.S. census.

Rules and background

Under the charter, a grand jury nominates 4 members per district to the commission, with the mayor and council each tasked to appoint 1 from each district, resulting in 16 regular members of the commission. The Probate Judge of Muscogee County serves as an ex-officio member. No nominee shall be employed by the city or hold elected office.

Under the charter, “Each district shall be formed of contiguous, and to the extent reasonably possible, compact territory, and its boundary lines shall be the center lines of streets or other well-defined boundaries[…]Each district shall contain as nearly as is reasonable the same population.” The maps are also required to comply with the Voting Rights Act of 1965’s prohibition on significantly reducing minority residents’ demographic strength within a district. This was the last map to be required to be sent to the U.S. Department of Justice for preclearance prior to the gutting of this requirement in the 2013 U.S. Supreme Court case Shelby v. Holder.

The report which contains the map is then presented to both the city council and school board, with the aim of using the same borders on both maps. However, neither body is legally bound to accept the proposed map, and may redraw their own maps separately, as was done in 2001, resulting in non-matching district between both bodies for the next decade.

Timeline

  • January 2011: A grand jury nominates a shortlist of residents to serve on the redistricting commission, but the list includes included city workers and residents serving on the Charter Review Commission, which was tasked with amending the city’s charter. City Attorney Clifton Fay recuses himself from the shortlist.
  • May 31, 2011: Another grand jury nominates a new shortlist which excludes city workers and residents serving on the Charter Review Commission.
    • Nominees (appointed in bold): District 1 — Jeffery Butler, Gloria Graham (Council appointee), James Adams, Cedric Ashe (Mayor appointee); District 2 — Margarita Callahan, Kristiane Jarrell, Trish Mercer and Dr. William Roundtree (Mayor) (later one of the Grand Jury nominees was replaced by Jerry Luquire (Council), who had initially been removed from the shortlist, due to residency issues from one of the nominees); District 3 — William Wright (Council), Betty Jackson (Mayor), Annie Hart, Calvin Perry; District 4 — John Wilder (Mayor), Tommie Chambers, Carl McKinney, Abdur Hassan (Council); District 5 — Jack Brinkley, Kathleen Broda (Council), Lenton Pruitt, John Studstill (Mayor); District 6 — Travis Chambers (Mayor), Jean Flowers (Council), Charles Alexander, Sherry Goodrum; District 7 — Eufrocina Rivera, Tracey Belt (Council), Owen Ditchfield, Richard Hagler (Mayor); District 8 — Betty Griffin (Council), Nancy Burgin (Mayor), John Hester, Charles J. Rutland
    • Grand jury: Robert Offer, Nancy Collier, Lane G. Taylor Jr., Lenton Pruitt Jr., Thomas Malone, Margarita Callahan, Nekeshia Bennett, Teresa Roundtree, Trisele Polk, Brenda Bass, Mary Anne Brocato, Rosalind Dupass, Kenneth Daniel, Bernardino Arroyo Jr., Richard Garland, Juanita Patrick, Kristiane Jarrell, Eufrocina Aguas-Rivera, Samuel French, Brian Faniel, Michelle Thompson, Cathy Harper, Carl McKinney
  • June 28, 2011: Council appoints members from Districts 1, 2, 4 and 6 to the redistricting commission from the grand jury’s shortlist.
  • July 6, 2011: Muscogee County School Board met in work session to discuss population changes between the districts as per the 2010 Census.
  • July 26, 2011: Mayor appoints members for all 8 districts, and Council appoints members for Districts 3 and 7.
  • September 28, 2011: The redistricting commission adopts the proposed map for both city council and school board, sends the map to both bodies for approval. (Plan with map in PDF)
  • October 6, 2011: Muscogee County School Board reviews two proposed maps, and edits one of the maps around districts 1 (Gloria Buckner), 4 (Pat Hugley-Green) and 6 (Mark Cantrell). Buckner and Hugley-Green trades neighborhoods and schools, while Cantrell advocates for each district to contain a high school. In the end, a vote on the edited map is not taken up.
  • November 8, 2011: Columbus City Council reviews the proposed map, suggests no changes, approves on 1st reading.
  • November 14, 2011: Muscogee County School Board meets in monthly work session and directs its legal counsel to submit the District maps revised by the Board of Education to the Columbus City Council for their consideration to see if the two governmental entities could agree to draw identical districts
  • November 22, 2011: Council considers the MCSB-revised map, but unanimously approves the commission’s proposed map by ordinance in 2nd and final reading, sends the map to the U.S. Justice Department for preclearance.
  • December 6, 2011: City Council issues a proclamation commending the 2011 Redistricting Commission upon completion of their work.
  • December 12, 2011: School Board considers between its own map, the Council-approved map, and a third map which affects only Districts 1, 2 and 4.
  • July 31, 2012: The first elections for council and school board under the new map takes place, rescheduled by the General Assembly from November to the date of the primary.