Special Delegation Meeting to be held December 7
BY JENNIFER CABRERA
An Alachua County Special Legislative Delegation Meeting will be held at 10:00 a.m. on December 7 at the NW Campus Fine Arts Hall at Santa Fe College, 3000 NW 83rd Street. The meeting will address consideration of single member districts for the Alachua County Commission.
State Senator Keith Perry was elected chair of the delegation at their September 27 meeting. At that meeting, Perry raised the idea of a potential local bill for single-member districts for Alachua County, in which people voting for a commissioner from a district would have to live in that district. Currently, Alachua County Commissioners must maintain an address in the district they represent, but all County voters are able to vote for all five commissioners.
State Representative Chuck Clemons said at the meeting that there are two ways to get a proposal on the ballot: one is to collect signatures from 20% of the registered voters and present them to the legislature; the second way is for the legislative delegation to hold a public hearing with public notice given two weeks in advance. They would receive input from the public and place the proposal on the ballot by a vote of the delegation. The proposal would then require a simple majority of the Alachua County electorate to pass, possibly in November 2022. Clemons said that if the single-member district bill passed, the county commission would be expanded from five members to seven, with five members elected from their districts and two at-large commissioners.
At the September meeting, State Representative Yvonne Hinson said that could lead to a “divisive commission, similar to what we’ve got going on right now with the City, where people have their own interests for their own district and not working together. I don’t see that happening on the county commission right now because they’re elected from the general population, making them more accountable to everyone. I just don’t think you ought to mess with that.”
For those wishing to speak at the delegation meeting, appearance forms will be available on-site.
Huh? — Hey Hinson, what did you do for the east side
Of Gainesville again? Absolutely nothing & we got loads of black on black crime there. They’re always crying they get
Nothing over there…and if what you say is true, why are
Both commissions loaded with liberal dems? I got
No representation on the city commission right now
And the county commission is the same. The “stay home
Be a superhero” quarantines & face masks destroyed
Our local economy and the school board tortured kids
With face masks..hmmm, maybe more social justice
Murals will fix things? You should have to live in the
District you represent and the people who live in that
District should vote for you…not like that woman on
The school board who lied about where she lived,
Got elected, & then wouldn’t leave when we found out
About the fraud. No more election fraud like the lady
That recently got booted from ACSB! We need representation on the commissions that will let the citizens speak & address too. Citizens need need to be
Able to address their government.
Please enlighten us. When does the county commission not allow you to speak? There is 3 minutes allowed on each motion and a free citizen comment period on any subject at almost every meeting. When was the last time you spoke at a BOCC meeting?
Your whine is getting old. In the vein of “there is a war on Christmas” and “they are trying to silence the conservative message” this is crap. Just because you cannot elect three commissioners to vote the Trumpian Rethuglican way is not “not hearing you.” You live in a Blue County. Accept it, or move, or present a message and candidate to the voters explaining why YOUR way is better for all. The fact that educated voters will not buy the Rethuglican bull $h!t “message” is just too too too bad. You just love to whine. Nice that you have a hobby.
Are they still wearing the masks in live meetings at the city & county?
Let’s start with that…
Can you tell me about this Springs County? It sounds
Like a utopia.
from today’s Chronicle
“During public comment on the motion, Nathan Skop said, “The problem is not the citizens; there is no need for new rules to impose draconian restrictions on citizens to limit public participation. The county commission doesn’t do that; the county commission doesn’t have the problems the city commission does because they treat people with respect, they listen to people, they don’t lecture people… they don’t require sign-in cards.”
What? THEY LISTEN TO PEOPLE? But above Bulltinkle said the BOCC does not let the citizens speak. is telling a lie.
Let’s start with: 1. Are city commissioners still wearing the face mask at public meeting?
&
2. Are county commissioners still wearing face masks at public meeting?
After you answer that, then I can elaborate.
Thanks.
Hey, who fibbed…Did the county want to UF to make
Fans wear masks at UF football games? How’d that
Work out? UF said no to the county, right? Is that a lie?
We need to let Chuck Clemmons and Keith Perry know that we want single member districts for the Alachua County Commission, ASAP. I am calling their offices now.
Left a message on the voicemail at Clemons’ office. Left a message with a very pleasant and enthusiastic staffer at Perry’s office. She said it would help greatly to hear from people who support this…
Thanks! JC & KB, I sent an email to both Clemmons & Perry in support of this.
Alachua County Single Member Districts—By The Numbers
By: The Real Research Team
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There is much discussion about creating single member districts (SMD) in Alachua County through a voter approved Charter Amendment in the November election. Debate on whether SMDs create more or better representation is not the issue here. Assuming the voters approved such an amendment, how would it be implemented?
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We must look at the numbers, and for the words “equal in proportion to population as possible.”
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Background
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Currently Alachua County has five County Commission districts. All voters in the County vote for all of the Commissioners. The current five county commission districts are roughly pie shapes, each having a piece of the Gainesville urban core at its tip, and a large portion of the rural “pine tree, wetlands, and pasture” rural lands. The majority of the voters in each district reside in Gainesville, due to the sparse population density in the true rural areas.
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Current County Commission Districts
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Florida Statutes 124.01
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“Division of counties into districts; county commissioners.—
(1)There shall be five county commissioners’ districts in each county, which shall be numbered one to five, inclusive, and shall be as nearly equal in proportion to population as possible.
(2)There shall be one county commissioner for each of such county commissioners’ districts, who shall be elected by the qualified electors of the county, as provided by s. 1(e), Art. VIII of the State Constitution.
(3)The board of county commissioners shall from time to time, fix the boundaries of the above districts so as to keep them as nearly equal in proportion to population as possible; provided, that changes made in the boundaries of county commissioner districts pursuant to this section shall be made only in odd-numbered years.”
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After the results of the 2020 Census are final, perhaps in 2022, State Law requires the district boundaries to be adjusted to provide equal populations in each district. The County Commission draws the districts.
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What is urban, what is rural?
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A city, by definition, is urban. A good definition of rural is in the charter of the county’s Rural Concerns Advisory Committee: “The responsibilities of the Committee are to establish the importance of our rural, unincorporated agricultural and historic settlements.”
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Urban Areas: For sure the Gainesville developed area. Virtually all of the land within the city limits of Gainesville is developed. The Gainesville urban area is from Newnan’s Lake in the east to Jonesville in the west, and from Payne’s Prairie in the south to the Highway Patrol Station in the north.
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Of the other municipalities, three have annexed enough land to become mini counties. Alachua, High Springs, and Newberry have annexed thousands of acres for development control and presumably development intentions. While today they may have half the land in their city zoned Agriculture, they want to develop it, showing they want to become urban, and not retain the rural nature of the land. For example, Alachua already has thousands of acres zoned Industrial, and thousands of housing units already approved, if not developed. Alachua wants to be an urban city like Gainesville. Gainesville, Alachua, High Springs, and Newberry are all non-rural urban areas, thus their land area and residents cannot be claimed to be future rural areas, regardless of how many five acre ranchettes are in these cities.
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Some claim the County government is dominated politically by Gainesville voters. They claim the rural dwellers are not “represented” on the current commission. Nice 10th grade Civics rhetoric, but these people give no hard facts of how the rural folks are not represented now, how a rural rep would improve the county, and what legislation the new rural rep would propose that is not being currently considered. Just a blanket claim of “We need more rural representation” with no backup.
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One reason for misunderstanding is that some claim “40% of the population in the county live in the unincorporated area.” While true, this does not mean they are all rural. Gainesville city limits stop at the Oaks Mall. The developed area from I-75 to Jonesville, the Millhopper suburbs, and places on Tower Road like Haile Plantation are part of the Gainesville Urban area. Student apartments on Archer Road and Tower Road are not rural like a cow pasture near Waldo. A huge percentage of unincorporated county residents live in the Greater Gainesville urban area. They do not have “unmet rural needs” or need a special Rural Rep.
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Every land annexation into a pro-growth city results in less rural land in the unincorporated County. According to AC Growth Management figures, between 2000 and 2020 the nine municipalities grew 31% through annexation.
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To counter the influence of the urban population, it would be necessary to redistrict the entire county to create a rural-only district. A true rural district would not include any urban voters, or voters in areas who want to convert rural areas to urban areas.
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What would that district look like?
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Note: Alachua County (2010 Census) has a population of 247,336. In 2020 the Supervisor of Elections lists 182,693 voters. State law requires districts to have equal populations. Voters are roughly proportional to population, although some neighborhoods might have more families and non-voting children, some areas like UF student areas have almost 100% voting age populations, and prisoners and slackers do not vote. The following numbers are based on the voters in current precincts, as these numbers are available on the Alachua County Supervisor of Elections website..
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A rural district would not include any of the city of Gainesville or its spillover development westward from I-75 to Jonesville. It cannot include any of the three cities whose intent is to annex and convert rural fields to urban as fast as possible, Alachua, High Springs and Newberry. It could include the municipalities still somewhat rural in nature, Waldo, Lacrosse, Hawthorne, Micanopy and Archer.
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This district would need to be adjusted, but it is roughly the areas covered by existing voting precincts 1, 2, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 34, 35, 38, and 53. These precincts currently have 23,221 voters. Only 13% of the county voters live in rural areas. Repeat: Alachua County is 13% rural.
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The Only Possible True Rural District — The Chomping Gator
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What unmet needs can a single rep do for this district? Does a person on the Santa Fe River north of High Springs, a person in the swamps near Hawthorne, and someone in the in woods west of Waldo have the same unmet “rural needs” that demands a single member district?
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Alachua County drew the same map:
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The Chomping Gator is not a legal district.
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It cannot be created.
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With 182,693 voters, each commission distinct, by state law, must have roughly 36,538 voters. The true rural areas of the county only have 63% of the population necessary (23,221) to make a legal district. The “rural’ single member district must include an additional 13,316 voters from one of the four developed, non-rural urban areas who will vote for their interests, not the interests of the true rural dwellers. Just like today, “city voters*” will elect all five County Commissioners. Gerrymandering a mostly rural single member district will not guarantee that “city voters” will not elect all five County Commissioners, just like today.
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*Off topic political opinion: It is suspected by some that “city voters” is a buzzword referring to urban, more liberal voters, possibly a majority Democrats. The proponents of a “rural” district seem to be trying to gerrymander a rural conservative district with a slight chance of electing a Republican commissioner. “More representation for the rural residents” is just an excuse in an apparent power grab by a bitter minority party, the Republicans.
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To make a legal district with one fifth of the county population, in addition to the 12 precincts listed above, the district would need to include the next mostly rural districts, precincts 4, 6, 20 and 60, which is all of Newberry and High Springs. This would make a legal district with one fifth of the County population. It includes all the perimeter lands of the County. The other four districts would be carved out of of the cities of Gainesville and Alachua.
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No district can be created containing all the area outside the Gainesville urban area, as including Alachua would include too many people for one district. To split the rural area into two districts would mean thousands of Gainesville residents would have to be added to each district to reach 20% of the population in each district, similar to what exists today. Even if all of Alachua was in one district, more than half of that district would be Gainesville residents, so Gainesville voters would dominate in all four of the other single member districts. The city of Alachua has less than half the population needed to make a legal district.
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The Donut District
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Containing roughly 20% of Alachua County registered voters, roughly proportional to population as required by F.S. 124.01. The Gainesville-Alachua urban core would be split into four single member districts. No matter how they are drawn, Gainesville voters will be the majority in all four districts.
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If the rural single member district did elect a person to “look out for the rural interests”, since the other four County Commissioners would only be elected by the urban core voters more so than today, how will that rural representative get anything for “their” special interest district? Answer: They will not. They will be outvoted 4 to 1 by the “county” commissioners voted for only by urban dwellers in their single member districts..
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The County Commissioners are supposed to look out for the best interests of ALL the citizens of the County.
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The rural single member district would look out for the interests of true rural residents. Proponents seem to think the “rural rep” would really be a mini Alachua County League of Cities rep, representing the interests of the small municipalities to “fight against” the big bad urban liberal Gainesville people. A true “rural rep” cannot represent the interests of the pro growth “pave over the wild spaces” urban development municipalities of Alachua, High Springs, and Newberry. Their residents are not rural. They want to be non rural as fast as possible. Dislike for the majority population of Gainesville does not make an area rural.
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Is Seven Commissioners Better?
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The County could go to a seven member Commission.
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F.S. 124.011 says if a county goes to single member districts, it can go from five to seven commissioners:
“(b)The board of county commissioners shall be increased from five commissioners to seven commissioners, with five of the seven commissioners residing one in each of five county commission districts, the districts together covering the entire county and as nearly equal in population as practicable, and each commissioner being nominated and elected only by the qualified electors who reside in the same county commission district as the commissioner, and with two of the seven commissioners being nominated and elected at large.”
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Two Commissioners would be elected county-wide at large, just like all five commissioners currently are. The other five districts would be carved out of the entire county, exactly like the five current districts. As previously shown, a true rural district cannot be made that includes one fifth of the population, no matter what its configuration is.
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Currently all voters vote for all five county commissioners. Under a seven member board, each voter only votes for three commissioners. How does taking away voting power from every voter in the county give more representation to anyone?
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However, if a Rural district was made, the same big problem exists. The urbanized areas elect Six Commissioners, two at large plus four districts. The Rural Rep will be on the losing end of many 6 to 1 votes. The residents in the rural areas are still dominated by the residents in the Gainesville urban core. Having a Rural Rep accomplishes nothing except a little Feel Good for country dwellers.
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Conclusion
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It is all about the numbers. Population distributions make it impossible to create a legal truly rural single member district in rural unincorporated Alachua County. The urban population of Gainesville and the rapidly urbanizing small municipalities have an overwhelming population majority no matter how the district boundaries are drawn. Proponents of SMDs have not given any evidence of how SMDs will benefit the county. Change for change’s sake is not a good reason for any charter amendment.
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Footnote 1: Some local podcast claim that since “25%” of all amendment submissions to the 2020 CRC concern single member districts, this is PROOF of overwhelming public support for this issue. Nonsense. Of the first 58 2020 CRC submissions, 11 relate to SMDs in some way = 19%. Of these 11, three were submitted by one person. Online amendment submissions to the CRC are anonymous and online. Anyone in the world with a computer can submit a proposal. A fifth grader in Tokyo can submit ten proposals to the CRC. This is NOT proof of “overwhelming support” by Alachua County citizens. People have developed a mentality where everything is equal to the number of Facebook likes someone receives. This is not reality.
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Footnote 2: CRC proposal #39 calls for Diversity in future CRCs, by requiring 25% of future CRC members be from the smaller municipalities outside of Gainesville. The current 12 member CRC has two members from Alachua, and one from High Springs. It already meets the 25% Diversity standard. A problem that does not need to be solved.
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Footnote 3: Sarasota recently went to single member districts. As with any change in government, there are often unforeseen consequences that only show up after the change is adopted. Excellent eye opening reading:
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https://www.srqmagazine.com/srq-daily/2018-06-02/8479_Single-Member-Districts-Will-Diminish-Representation–Grow-Government
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Footnote 4: Alachua County BOCC will discuss Rural Areas at their March 3, 2020 meeting. Agenda and backup materials, with maps:
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https://alachuachronicle.com/county-commission-to-talk-about-pocket-parks-board-initiated-charter-amendments/
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https://meetingdocs.alachuacounty.us/documents/bocc/agendas/ADACompliant/2020-03-03-Special-Meeting-Agenda.pdf
That post was too long. Are city commissioners , county commissioners
And ACSB still wearing the mask? Yes or no. The school board had their ass handed to them about strapping
Face masks on the kids…the city & county wanted
To mandate Vax on their workers…how did that work
Out. For 2 years the citizens were silenced with your
Covid totalitarian tyranny…the propaganda like “
Stay at home & be a superhero” was great Goebellian
Big lie propaganda…zoom meetings, face masks, no
Church, curfews…I triggered me a liberal…probably
The county spokesperson….
“That post was too long.”
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Well today we learned that Bulltinkles have short attention spans.
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And enough of the mask fetish. It has nothing to do with political districts.