Cale Ledford
Search to fill vacant seat in Athens-Clarke County Commission comes under scrutiny at session meeting
By Cale Ledford
Above, protestors gather outside City Hall before the Athens-Clarke County Mayor and Commission Regular Session Meeting on Oct. 4, 2022.
(Photo/ Cale Ledford)
ATHENS, Ga. – Tuesday night at the Athens-Clarke County Mayor and Commission Regular Session Meeting, Athens citizens who reside in the District Two area of east Athens came ready and prepared to voice their concerns about not having a say in the selection of their new representative.
The debate over who will fill the now vacant seat comes after the former District Two Representative, Mariah Parker, resigned from her position in early September. Parker’s resignation has sent concerns throughout the District Two Community as the search for an appropriate election time has also become an ongoing source of debate.
Initially, a special election was proposed for Nov. 8, 2022, but the election has now been pushed back to March 23, 2023 after a 3-2 vote to move the special election date by the board. A desire for a special election has caused members of the organization, Inner East Athens Neighbors Incorporated, to file a lawsuit with the ACC government for the disenfranchisement of citizens of district two. The legal action was presented to ACC Mayor Kelly Girtz and the nine Commission members by the President of Inner East Athens Neighbors Incorporated, Dr. Cshanyse Allen.
“We will not live being unrepresented,” said Dr. Allen. “District two deserves the right to be represented and we can not allow the board of elections or the county commission to work together to disenfranchise us.”
Above, a protester holds a sign reading, “The 2300 deserve a special election,” during the Oct. 4 ACC Mayor and Commission Regular Session Meeting.
(Photo/ Cale Ledford)
Several other residents of the district two community gave passionate remarks about how they feel about the denial of a special election. One of those residents of east Athens, Dr. Diane Dunston, asked the ACC Mayor and Board of Commissioners to not delay voting for the district two seat.
“We need representation,” said Dr. Dunston. “We need people who will speak for us.”
According to the ACC Government website, there are nearly 127,000 residents of the city of Athens, Georgia. About 52 percent of citizens of ACC are white, with the other 42 percent being from other various racial backgrounds such as African American with almost 25 percent and Hispanic/Latino with more than 11 percent of the ACC population.
The desire for a representative in district two, a heavily African American populated area of Athens, is one that is centered around a human need to be seen. Dr. Allen and Dr. Dunston both called on the ACC Mayor and Commission to give them the opportunity to have someone “represent” them.
A lawsuit has already been filed against the ACC Government for disenfranchisement. If the board of elections does not pass the resolution for a Nov. 8, 2022 special election, Dr. Allen is willing to lead her group, the Inner East Athens Neighborhood Association, to the Georgia Governor’s Mansion where Allen will ask for the Governor to “appoint a district two commissioner.”
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Why I wrote this story
Throughout my entire life, I have always loved politics. While almost always paying more attention to national and state politics, I was not well versed in the in inner workings of local government. Ultimately, attending something like the ACC Mayor and Commission Meeting, gave me the chance to really understand what it means to be involved in local politics. This event helped me to learn the importance of paying close attention and always anticipating the unexpected.