Why is this an issue if you live outside Gwinnett County? This power grab as described below breaks all kind of democratic norms regarding discourse and standard procedure in our governing body. The state assembly will be inserting itself into a county where they have not been invited while citizens of the county have not been involved or invited into the process. The democratic process has been subverted. It needs to be stopped. We smell dark money influence. With no disrespect to Sen. Dixon and his abilities, he didn’t come up with this by himself. He had a little outside help.
Yesterday, Senator Clint Dixon (R-Gwinnett) surprised Gwinnettians by introducing two bills (SB-5EX and SB-6EX) that would:
* more than double the size of the Gwinnett County Commission to nine commissioners and a chair
* deprives the Commission chairperson of a vote except in the case of a tie.
* redistrict the school board to favor Republican voters in a county that leans heavily Democratic.
* have the school board run in nonpartisan races.
No one, not even members of the commission and the school board knew what Senator Dixon had in mind until a short notice ran in the newspaper. This last-minute tactic has been used repeatedly in the special session and puts citizens and, in this case, elected officials in the dark. There was a committee hearing today which was a complete farce.
You can watch a video of it here: https://livestream.com/accounts/26021522/events/8743306
**Fast Action Needed**
1. For Gwinnett County Residents:
Call Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan at 404-656-5030 to tell him you are a Gwinnett resident who opposes SB-5EX and SB-6EX and ask that he does whatever he can to prevent both bills from coming to the floor for a vote.1. Telephone or email these members of the Local and State Government Operations committee (SLOGO). Tell them “No” to making these changes in such a hurry. Tell them Gwinnett County needs fair, open, transparent, not-rushed consideration of the school districts and the composition and functioning of the County Commission.
2. You can email all of these committee members with this block of address:
(1) Send the message to yourself and
(2) put these addresses in the “Blind Copy” or “bcc” section.
Then each recipient will receive a separate copy of the message.
chuck.payne@senate.ga.gov, clint.dixon@senate.ga.gov, randy.robertson@senate.ga.gov, gloria.butler@senate.ga.gov, michelle.au@senate.ga.gov, michelle.au@senate.ga.gov, emanuel.jones@senate.ga.gov, lee.anderson@senate.ga.gov
A phone call is also helpful.
**Senate Committee on State and Local Governmental Operations**
Chuck Payne (R)404-463-5402
Clint Dixon (R)404-656-7454
Randy Robertson (R)404-463-3931
Gloria Butler (D) Phone: (404) 656-0075
Michelle Au (D)Phone: (404) 463-1562
Emanuel Jones (D)Phone: (404) 656-0502
Lee Anderson (R)Phone: (404) 656-5114
