A bill to reduce the number of Blackshear Council seats from six to five was introduced in the Georgia General Assembly last week.
State Representative Steven Meeks (R-Screven) introduced HB 788 last week and the bill passed the House 162-13 with five not voting.
The Assembly must act on the bill before the legislature adjourns later this week for the changes to become law.
HB 788 will have to be approved by the Senate and signed by the Governor.
The plan to reduce the number of seats on the council first came up in October, 2022.
If approved, the city’s existing council districts will have to be re-drawn to ensure each one has a roughly equal number of residents.
Mayor Keith Brooks explained that Blackshear is one of only a few cities in the Southeast Georgia area who still have a six-seat council.
“We knew we would have to redistrict after the 2020 census, (and) before the next election. After doing some research into surrounding councils and commissions, we saw that almost all of them were smaller in the number of members,” said Brooks.
“We first tried drawing six districts, but—with the method required— using census blocks simply didn’t work. Using five districts made each district more symmetrical and easier to meet the population requirements of equality.”
Offerman and Patterson reduced the number of seats on their respective councils from six seats to five seats more than a decade ago.
A five district set up would also allow Blackshear’s districts to be more symmetrical. Currently, the districts have to be drawn in zig-zag and jutting patterns to ensure the populations are roughly equal.
Effects from the bill would first be seen in qualifying for open council seats later this year.
Previously, Districts 1, 5 and 6 would be up for election.
Under the new charter, District 5 (currently represented by Sharon Komanecky) will be absorbed by other districts to bring each district’s population to roughly 700 citizens.
As a result, Districts 1 (the Jenkins Street area) and 2 (encompassing the Carter Avenue and Grady Street areas) will be voted on in the November municipal elections.
District 6 will not be voted on.
According to Blackshear Police Chief Chris Wright, Council Member Komanecky has chosen not to pursue re-election due to her increased involvement in coaching activities.
Elected representatives for Districts 1 and 2 will take office January 2024.
Chief Wright also reported that some technical changes to the bill had been made by the General Assembly to make it consistent with state law.
Notable alterations include a clause requiring candidates for city council seats to have resided in their district at least six-12 months. Previously candidates could move to a district and immediately run to represent it.
Council members will only be allowed to abstain from voting if they have a conflict of interest, which they must announce. Previously, council members could abstain from voting for any reason other than not wishing to appear on the record.
Another significant change includes if a council seat vacancy occurs within 12 months of the end of that seat’s term, the council can appoint a new member without calling a special election. In the past, appointments could only be made if the vacancy occured within six months of end-of-term.
Chief Wright said that no opposition was voiced from citizens at two public hearings held on the topic of redistricting or city council work and general meetings where the topic was discussed.
No council members expressed opposition when the matter was voted on March 9 at a called meeting.
Council Members Chuck Ward (Dist. 3) and Komanecky (Dist. 5) were not present to vote on the matter March 9. However, it was reported both Ward and Komanecky provided letters to State Rep. Meeks expressing support for the bill.
