Metro Atlanta Legislative Delegation Approves New ARC Citizen District Map

ATLANTA – The metro Atlanta legislative delegation today approved the 2010 update of the Atlanta Regional Commission’s (ARC) Citizen District map. The bipartisan delegation approved a map drawn by the June 16th Working Group by a vote of 21 to 13.

“This was a very important meeting and decision, as we selected a map that will serve the Atlanta Region for the next ten years,” said State Representative Steve Davis (R-McDonough), chairman of the June 16th Working Group. “I was honored to be selected to chair this working group and want to thank the other members of the working group that sacrificed their time to put in the detailed work needed to create this map.”

Although approved every ten years and similar to state redistricting, the adoption of the ARC citizen member map has nothing to do with the process that will bring the legislators back into a special session on August 15, 2011.

The metro Atlanta legislative delegation is made up of state representatives and state senators from the 10 counties that make up the ARC, including Clayton, Cobb, Cherokee, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry, and Rockdale counties. The 2010 census showed that this 10 county region has grown to a total population of 4,107,750 people. As a result, all 15 ARC Citizen Districts had to be redrawn so that each district is made up of proportion population sizes, consisting of approximately 273,850 people.

Today’s vote was the legislative delegation’s second attempt to approve a new citizen district map. During the first attempt, made earlier this month, the delegation reviewed three maps that were developed and submitted by the ARC. However, the delegation decided to form a working group to develop an alternative map rather than passing one of the ARC maps. The map that was ultimately provided by the working group and passed by the legislative delegation today is distinct from the ARC maps, because it gives each of the ARC member counties a citizen representative on the commission.

“The map that received final passage today will give all the counties within the region at least one citizen member and will bring a little more fairness to the level of representation on this very important board that oversees critical issues such as water, transportation, and land use,” added Rep. Davis.

The ARC Board is composed of officials of political subdivisions and 15 private citizens representing districts of approximately the same population within the 10-county, 68-city region. The private citizen board members represent one of the 15 multi-jurisdictional districts and are elected by the 23 public officials that serve on the board. As members of the board, these citizen members serve on at least one of ARC’s committees and represent their districts at monthly ARC Board meetings.

The ARC is the federally mandated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) that oversees regional planning and intergovernmental coordination for the 10-county area. For 60 years, the ARC and its predecessor agencies have helped to focus the region’s leadership, attention and resources on key issues of regional consequence.

Representative Steve Davis represents the citizens of District 109, which includes portions of Henry County. He was elected into the House of Representatives in 2004, and currently serves as the Chairman of the Information & Audits Committee and as the Secretary of the State Planning & Community Affairs Committee. He also serves on the Appropriations, Insurance, State Institutions & Property, and Transportation committees.

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