2021-08 Why it is so difficult for legislators to hear you - Mary L

Split Cities

Do you wonder why it is so difficult to have your Georgia senator or house representative pay attention to your needs if you are living in a small to medium size city? During the last redistricting over 23 cities were divided which meant they no longer had to speak to one Georgia House Representative but possibly two and in some instances three. That can mean less concern for your city’s needs.

One example is the city of Gainesville which is represented by House District 29 and 30. Each House district needs to have about 65,00 to 70,000 people in their district. Gainesville’s population is 37,906 so they could easily be represented in one district. Another example is Athens which went from being represented as one congressional district to being split into two in 2011.

Now is the time to look at your district boundaries and talk to your representatives about how they can best represent your interests.

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a version edited by Suzanne S:

Do you wonder why it is so difficult to have your Georgia state senator or house representative pay attention to your needs if you are living in a small to medium-size city?  During the last redistricting, over 23 cities were divided, which meant that their citizens no longer had one Georgia legislator in each house of the General Assembly to speak to to represent their community’s interests but possibly two and, in some instances, three. The same problem of cities being broken up exists on the federal level in the House of Representatives. That means that these representatives are less beholden to you and have less concern for your city’s needs.

One example on the federal level is Athens, which was split from one congressional district into two in 2011.  Another example is the city of Gainesville, which is represented by State House Districts 29 and 30. Each state district needs to have about 65,000 to 70,000 people.  Gainesville’s population is 37,906, so they could easily be represented in one district.

Now is the time to look at your district boundaries and talk to your representatives about how they can best represent your interests.

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I suggest you use the data on https://fairdistrictsga.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/FPH/pages/458424331  and choose cities close to you or to the areas you are targeting.

Mary