The kids are alright
James Garland, a candidate for the District One seat for the Athens-Clarke County Commission, has been kind enough to participate in some of this blog's discussions about issues facing today. He appears to be a sincere, honest fella even if I do share some ideological disagreements with him.
One of those disagreements, though it's not ideological, can be found in this story from The Red & Black yesterday. Garland said he would be in favor of redrawing the existing commission districts to create a student district.
In theory, I'll admit it's a good notion to get the students involved in the political process and to give them a viable shot at representation on the Athens-Clarke County Commission. Too often, the students do get the shaft, more or less, and finding a way to make their voices heard is important.
However, I don't know if that theory and this proposal align properly. What this would do is disproportionally hurt an area of permanent residents (ones who just happen to be some of the most politically active, on both sides of the spectrum, in the community) in favor of transient ones. Though I don't necessarily subscribe to Tom Chasteen's politics, his concerns are mine ... being that permanent residents around the University community would see their strength wrongly diluted.
Now, let me be clear, I don't think that Garland's doing this as some partisan effort to get more Republican voters to the polls. I think he has a legitimate concern about student representation. But I think there are more appropriate ways to get their message out.
For instance, perhaps a student advisory committee ... comprised of, say, the SGA president, two Greek representatives, a Black Student Affairs Council representative, a few at-large representatives, etc. and etc. This committee could have monthly meetings and have its head meet on a regular basis with the commission over a working lunch or something.
Maybe a student liason could be set up by the Athens-Clarke County government.
Plus, Jeff Emmanuel's concern that students have no shot of winning that seat appears to be unfounded. Blake Tillery ran a heckuva race against a well-known and well-supported resident Athenian in Alice Kinman and lost by a mere 121 votes.
My point is that before we decide to go messing around with our commission seats so we can get a student up there, let's make sure we consider how this impacts the influence of all citizens.
One of those disagreements, though it's not ideological, can be found in this story from The Red & Black yesterday. Garland said he would be in favor of redrawing the existing commission districts to create a student district.
In theory, I'll admit it's a good notion to get the students involved in the political process and to give them a viable shot at representation on the Athens-Clarke County Commission. Too often, the students do get the shaft, more or less, and finding a way to make their voices heard is important.
However, I don't know if that theory and this proposal align properly. What this would do is disproportionally hurt an area of permanent residents (ones who just happen to be some of the most politically active, on both sides of the spectrum, in the community) in favor of transient ones. Though I don't necessarily subscribe to Tom Chasteen's politics, his concerns are mine ... being that permanent residents around the University community would see their strength wrongly diluted.
Now, let me be clear, I don't think that Garland's doing this as some partisan effort to get more Republican voters to the polls. I think he has a legitimate concern about student representation. But I think there are more appropriate ways to get their message out.
For instance, perhaps a student advisory committee ... comprised of, say, the SGA president, two Greek representatives, a Black Student Affairs Council representative, a few at-large representatives, etc. and etc. This committee could have monthly meetings and have its head meet on a regular basis with the commission over a working lunch or something.
Maybe a student liason could be set up by the Athens-Clarke County government.
Plus, Jeff Emmanuel's concern that students have no shot of winning that seat appears to be unfounded. Blake Tillery ran a heckuva race against a well-known and well-supported resident Athenian in Alice Kinman and lost by a mere 121 votes.
My point is that before we decide to go messing around with our commission seats so we can get a student up there, let's make sure we consider how this impacts the influence of all citizens.
posted by Jmac at 7:14 AM
4 Comments:
On my campaign web site, readers will notice that I plainly indicate that any such redistricting would "probably not be addressed until after the 2010 census," which means that the first election to be held under any revised districts would be in 2012. That hardly sounds like a proposal designed to pander to current students, who do not reside in District 1 in large numbers anyway.
While it is certainly true that individual students come and go, I also believe it is true that students' interests remain relatively constant. And yes, I fully believe that the Commission takes some of the actions that it does with the expectation that it will pay no political price for them. Nonetheless, JMac's concerns
are well taken; even if nothing comes of this proposal, it has stimulated a much-needed discussion on town-gown relations.
For the record, below is the clarification I submitted to the R&B:
While I appreciate your recent article and editorial support concerning my campaign proposal to create a student-centered district on the Athens-Clarke County Commission, I would like to clarify one point. The idea originated in the 2004 contest between Blake Tillery and Alice Kinman in District 4; I noted to your reporter that Mr. Tillery mobilized student support to a degree not seen in previous Commission races. My proposal is to concentrate students’ voting power within one district rather than diluting it among several, not to redraw the specific district represented by Ms. Kinman. While she and I frequently hold differing views, I have the utmost respect for and have maintained a cordial relationship with her. I apologize to your reporter for not making my views clear. Nonetheless, I think that the proposal deserves serious consideration.
Thanks for your comments James. I know I've said 100 times before, even though we don't necessarily see eye-to-eye, I always appreciate the respectful dialogue you engage in here.
And let me be clear in saying that I didn't want to express that student interests are something to be ignored. I think at times, throughout its history, elements of the local government have taken actions which have negative impacts on the student population ... and this is true of a variety of agencies and versions of the commission. I also don't think those actions were intentionally designed to ramrod the students, but that sometimes the consequences weren't always thought out.
I'm just not ready to embrace this redistricting notion yet, even if it is years down the road (and thanks for the clarification on that as well), and would rather see some alternatives explored first.
I do believe that a student can win in Athens-Clarke County, however, and I think the hard work of Blake Tillery is testament to that.
What about making one of the commission seats an at-large seat that covers the whole county but for which only students could run?
So if the "permanent residents" only have nine votes out of the ten member commission, they are being "diluted"? Run that by me again.
PS - The at large "student seat" idea would likely be unconstitutional.
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