‘No sleight of hand’: Albany City Commission discusses proposed new district map with voters

ALBANY — The decline in Albany’s population will mean some big changes in the drawing of city ward boundaries and, depending on which map is chosen, could mean some residents get a new representative on the City Commission.

The commission has decided on two versions as the finalists for redistricting, and both would mean the biggest changes for Wards I and VI, which suffered the largest population losses between 2010 and the 2020 U.S. Census count.

Large maps showing the current ward configuration and the two new maps under consideration are on display in the lobby at the Government Center at 222 Pine Ave. Online versions are available at https://www.albanyga.gov/Home/Components/News/News/1530/16.

After speaking during a Tuesday public hearing on the issue, Aaron Favors told The Albany Herald that he has some concerns about how the Country Club neighborhood, centered on and around Willie Pitts Jr. Road, could be impacted.

Favors said he has some concern that the neighborhood, now in Ward 4, could become part of Ward VI, which has a different economic makeup.

“A lot of the concerns are about the tax dollars,” Favors, who is president of the Country Club Homeowners Association, said. “Ward VI has a lot of renters. We’re going to be paying property taxes, renters are not.”

While the proposed districts may be new to some, they have been in the works for some time. The commission was presented with six different maps and decided on the two proposed versions during a retreat early in 2022.

Answering Favors’ question put to the commission of “Who wins,” with the new maps, commissioners said the intention was not to pick winners and losers, but merely to draw districts of approximately equal population while keeping traditional neighborhoods together as much as possible.

“I don’t see this as a who wins, who loses, type situation,” Ward II Commissioner Jalen Johnson said. “These maps that you are seeing, we’ve had discussions to narrow down these selections. We all agreed to narrow it down to these. There’s no sleight of hand going on with these maps.”

For Ward IV Commissioner Chad Warbington, two of the big issues are making a decision ahead of 2023 municipal elections as soon as possible, and maintaining the constitutional principle of “one person, one vote,” meaning that residents have an equal voice in electing representatives.

Voters in the new districts, whichever final version is decided upon, will go to the polls in the fall of next year to vote in Wards I, IV and VI.

“I’m all in favor of getting this done as close as we can to the first of the year,” Warbington said. “Really, January, February at the latest, is when we really need to have this done in terms of going into the general election in November.”

Wards I and IV will see some of the biggest changes. Based on the 2020 census results, Ward IV is currently the largest, with more than 12,000 residents, while Ward I has a population of less than 7,000.

According to U.S. Census figures, the city’s population shrank from 77,434 in 2021, to 69,647 in 2020.

A second hearing on the proposed districts is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Dec. 14 in Room 100 of the Government Center.

Ward VI Commissioner Demetrius Young said he appreciated the commission taking the time to listen to input from residents.

“We were on a train to not do this,” he said. “The law says we don’t have to do it. If there’s a sentiment out there that we need to talk about this a little more, then I would encourage my fellow commissioners to take the time.”

At the end of the day, the six commissioners, plus Mayor Bo Dorough, who is also up for re-election next year, will have to make the decision, the mayor said.

“The concerns of the community should be at the table,” he said. “I think we’ve succeeded in maintaining most neighborhoods within the same ward. Ultimately, the lines have to be drawn somewhere, and some voters are going to be in a different ward than their neighbor across the street.”

Staff Photo: Alan MauldinAlanMauldin[email protected]
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