NEWS

Augusta residents learn to map communities' invisible boundaries for legislative redistricting process

Abraham Kenmore
Augusta Chronicle
Georgia on Representable, showing some communities of interest across the state.

Traci George, Augusta-area coordinator for The People's Agenda, has been making maps of her community – what is there, and what is not. One of her daughters loves to read, but there is no library near the Augusta Mall, where she lives. Her son enjoys playing tennis, but there are no tennis courts, her younger daughter likes digging in the dirt, but nearby greenspace is hard to find. 

"We have a little doggie, and I drew a map for him," George said – outside of her immediate neighborhood there are no sidewalks, so she said she walks him in circles.

George and her family joined more than 30 other Augusta residents to learn how to draw these maps Thursday night at the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus Redistricting Town Hall at Augusta Technical College. The maps of everything from school districts to dog walking paths show communities that are obvious to residents, but invisible to legislatures. They will be sent to the Georgia State Legislature as it prepares to redraw local, state and federal political lines in a special session this fall based on 2020 census data.

More:Census reveals 25% growth in Augusta's District 3, others shrink as redistricting begins

Communities of interest can be any number of groups of people – they might share a workplace, neighborhood, grocery store, school, house of worship or something else entirely.. With unified representation, advocates say, it is easier for these residents to push for changes they might want to see – such as more libraries or greenspace – rather than approaching multiple different legislators for the same local issue. 

To make those communal maps, representatives from Fair Count joined members of the Black Caucus and League of Women Voters of the CSRA to show people like George how to use the online tool Representable.

The maps created in the Fair Count file on Representable will be submitted to state legislators, giving people another way to make themselves heard. While the maps are anonymous, people can leave notes about what makes their community of interest a community and some of the concerns residents might want to unify to address.

In addition to learning what communities of interest are, attendees also heard more about how the redistricting process works and were able to ask questions about how the process impacts everything from federal government funding to schools.

"For some people this is their first time ever being introduced to redistricting, because it's never been brought to them, they've never been engaged because no one ever asked," said State Senator Tonya Anderson, who chairs the GLBC and has been holding these town halls across the state. "I think what they take away is that their voice matters, that being engaged is a must moving forward."

More:Residents speak out on redistricting in last state hearing in Martinez

The State and House committees on redistricting held public hearings already , but they were held before the census data was released, which limited what the public could respond to. Legislatures normally get the data in the spring, but the releases was delayed by COVID, creating a much shorter timeline for redistricting. 

Anderson said she wanted to hold the GLBC town halls after the data was released, so people were more informed.

"I'm glad to see a great turnout, it will allow this community to grow and as I said earlier, grow educationally," Anderson said. "It will allow them to lead, we said tonight we want them to listen, learn and lead, and this process will allow them to do that."

To make a map:

You can visit www.representable.org to make a map of your own community of interest. If you want it included in the Fair Count submissions, go to www.representable.org/drive/faircount/