By Karen and Bruce Menke
Great news! But we still need your help!
Athenians demanded a stop to the redistricting proposed by state Representatives Marcus Wiedower and Houston Gaines and state Senators Frank Ginn and Bill Cowsert and which would have changed the commission districts of 2/3 of voters in Athens, prevented three commissioners from serving in their own districts and divided the Historic African American community in East Athens. Their voices have been heard loud and clear.
State Representative Spencer Frye has helpfully prepared revised district maps which contain the needed changes to achieve uniform voter numbers in the districts but do not make massive changes in districts, prevent serving commissioners from representing their districts or divide the historic African American community in East Athens. The maps have additional important features. Please see the link below for Spencer Frye's press release and the revised maps.
Mayor Girtz has convened a special session of the commissioners to vote to approve the new maps today at 4:30 pm;
Once the commissioners have approved the maps, the maps will be presented for approval by the full ACC legislative delegation (Representatives Frye, Wiedower and Gaines and Senators Ginn and Cowsert).
We need your help one more time to bring this process to a successful conclusion!
Please contact Representatives Marcus Wiedower and Houston Gaines and Senators Frank Ginn and Bill Cowsert to urge them to vote “yes” on the revised commission district maps prepared by Representative Spencer Frye.
Your voice makes all the difference!
Interested persons can find information on the specially called meeting at:
The meeting can also be attended virtually.
Marcus Wiedower: Marcus.Wiedower@house.ga.gov (404) 656-0325
Houston Gaines: Houston.Gaines@house.ga.gov (404) 656--0298
Frank Ginn: Frank.Ginn@senate.ga.gov (706) 680-4466
Bill Cowsert: Bill.Cowsert@senate.ga.gov (706) 543-7700
Representative Spencer Frye Press Release and Revised Commission District Maps:
So, this is really about enshrining three commissioners to forever be reelected. The current commission and Mayor are a cabal of radicals who do not believe in the rule of law, who are anti-police, and poor stewards of taxpayer $...but they love to pave trails and greenways rather than fix potholes, really fix and pave deteriorating roadways, give contracts to firms that are not qualified to do the work, and I could go on. Even many traditional Democrats in Athens do not stomach what is going on with the Mayor and Commission. The City of Five Points will be in place sooner than you think and many would like to see ACC go back in time to Athens and Clark…
Finally! Representative Spencer Frye presents a reasoned voice to counter the abysmal and downright undemocratic behavior of four of ACC's 5 representatives. This type of collective activity by our elected Commissioners is where the rubber hits the road in a democracy. Shame on any elected official thinking he/she can ignore peoples' votes and do what they darn well please to throw monkey wrenches into our democracy. That said, we are clearly in for some bad times ahead as real patriots defend our democracy from unseemly incursion.