I attended the townhall meeting in Stockbridge to discuss HB 331, the legislation that would create five council districts within the city. You can view the map of the districts here.

HB 331 unanimously cleared the State House on February 12th of this year. It had the full support of the legislative delegation of Stockbridge (Davis, Mosby, Starr and Watson) and has been stalled in the State Senate due to stall tactics by State Senators Emanuel Jones and Gail Davenport.

Jones has refused to sign on to the legislation, which has already been signed by State Senator John Douglas. Davenport is stalling, as many of us witnessed this evening. She put up an act that many of us saw right through...but she played up her support of the "right to vote" and her activism in civil rights.

Jones told the Henry Herald that he didn't believe it was "possible to draw maps that will accurately reflect the minority population." I'm sorry, there was a packet handed out this evening that clearly proved that it has been done and I'll upload the packet tomorrow.

I had a candid conversation with Rep. Howard Mosby after the townhall and he pointed out to me that Senator Jones had no problem attempting to restructure government in DeKalb County, which according to him, had significant opposition.

Davenport was asked whether or not she would support it. She said she hasn't decided. I asked her, "Are you willing to break with Senator Jones if he doesn't support it?" She paused for five seconds and replied, "I have not made that decision."

County Registrar Janet Shellnut spoke and gave the pros and cons of the legislation. Personally, I believe Mrs. Shellnut does a fantastic job. She told us that the county was handling all municipal elections this year due to the SPLOST vote, which will hopefully bring some integrity back into elections in Stockbridge.

NAACP President Dan Edwards spoke in favor of the legislation. He believes, as I do, that it will allow citizens to be properly represented in the city government. Edwards has criticized both Jones and Davenport for their failure to get behind the bill. He also disputes the claim Jones made in the Herald yesterday, simply by pointing out the evidence that was presented this evening.

Bob Phillips, who is running for a seat on the council this year, closed the meeting with this point and question to Senator Davenport, "State Senators are voted on based on district representation. State Representatives are voted on based on state representation and the question I want to leave you with tonight as you leave here is, why do the citizen of Stockbridge not deserve the same opportunity?"

If you interested, I've upload the audio of the townhall meeting, which you can download here (106 minutes/97MB). The audio isn't great but it's the best my Sony digital voice recorder can do.