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Commission to hold public hearings on redistricting
Published 12:25pm Wednesday, July 18, 2012County redistricting will be the hot topic at upcoming public hearings in Dadeville and Alexander City.
“You have to have the public hearing in case anybody wants to object to it or speak on it,” said Commission Chairman Frank Tapley. “It’s just anybody that wants to speak on it can speak.”
The first public hearing will be Monday at 9 a.m. at the courthouse in Dadeville. The second will be Tuesday at 9 a.m. at the courthouse in Alexander City.
Concerned citizens throughout the county can attend either of these hearing to ask questions or voice opposition or support for the new redistricting plan, which was passed 3–2 May 29.
County administrator Blake Beck said the hearing would function under the normal rules of procedure for county commission meetings, which may include a three-minute time limit for citizens to speak.
“The level that that’s enforced would obviously be dependent upon the number of people (who attend),” Beck said.
Tapley said he didn’t expect a large turnout, but he said the opinions expressed by the people who do come could make a difference in the final decision.
“If you’ve got enough that doesn’t like it, that might sway the vote,” Tapley said.
Tapley and Commissioner Dwaine Holt voted against the plan May 29, while Charles Shaw, Emma Jean Thweatt and T.C. Coley voted in favor of it.
After the hearings, the proposed redistricting will likely go to a commission vote, Beck and Tapley said, at the next regularly scheduled commission meeting Aug. 13.
