North Georgia residents speak up on congressional redistricting process

Kelli Persons, the program manager for the League of Women Voters of Georgia, speaks to Sen. Charlie Bethel, R-Dalton, left, and Rep. Roger Lane, right, during the meeting Monday at the Whitfield County Courthouse.

DALTON, Ga. – Keep it fair. Keep it simple. Let the public have input on the redrawn maps before the final decision.

And if you don’t mind, give us a congressional district that doesn’t stretch across most of northern Georgia.

That was the gist of what people told members of the House and Senate Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment Committees at the Georgia Congressional Redistricting Meeting on Monday evening in Dalton. Fewer than 100 people showed up for the two-hour meeting held at the Whitfield County Courthouse, and about a dozen signed up to speak.

State Sen. Charlie Bethel, R-Dalton, who led the meeting, said the crowd was similar to turnout across the state. The meeting was the 10th of 12 meetings held across the state and was attended by several state senators and congressmen who are not on the redistricting committees. Members of the committees did not respond to questions, but noted that the meeting was simply to allow the public to voice their opinions.