NASHVILLE – State Rep. Yusuf Hakeem, D-Chattanooga, and some fellow Black Democrats are calling for more transparency from the Republican-led Hamilton County Commission as officials begin work on the once-a-decade redrawing of political boundaries for commission and school board districts to reflect population changes.
“I wouldn’t want us to take what happened at the county [Wednesday] as what’s happening behind the scenes. They already know what they’re going to do and how they’re going to do it,” Hakeem cautioned activists last week during a virtual meeting that surveyed the redistricting landscape from local offices on up to the state legislature and Congress.
He warned that “if you’re not going to be fair and open you can look forward to a legal process.”
Political boundaries for congressional, state legislative and local elected government districts are redrawn every 10 years based on the latest U.S. Census figures to reflect population changes and provide roughly equal representation.
Democrats are at a distinct disadvantage not only when it comes to redistricting in Hamilton County but on congressional and legislative redistricting fronts. The party faces GOP supermajorities so large in the state House and Senate that Republicans can conduct business without a single Democrat present. During 2012 redistricting, Republicans didn’t have to do a great deal because the 2010 elections did most of it.