The Madison Board of Supervisors met yesterday to discuss redistricting. All the media coverage, all the people who showed up to oppose their plans, all the criticism, all of it didn't matter one bit. The Gang of Five made it quite clear they were going to approve a plan that drastically redraws the districts in Madison County so they can perpetuate their machine, which is exactly what they are: a machine dedicated to gouging the taxpayers of Madison County.
It is crucial to remember the Board appointed two members to a committee that approved the new maps. Appointing only two members allowed them to circumvent the open meetings law so these vipers could do their work in secret. The election commissioners were not allowed to sit on the committee. Even the Hinds County supes allowed the election commissioners to participate. Not this board. Everyone was frozen out of the process while the Gang of Five had the committee do its dirty work. The obvious goal for Tim, Karl, John Bell, and Paul was to redraw the lines after the qualifying deadline of March 1 so they could eliminate all opposition.
Two of the Districts needed little or no alterations. District two currently has the target population. It needs no changes. Period. District 1 only needs five hundred voters to be within the goal. Shave off a few precincts from District 3 and voila, that is done. The problem is District 5 is short by 3,500 voters or so. District 5 is entirely adjacent to District 4. If Karl has to give up votes to Paul, that means his district gets whiter. Keep in mind the goal of this redistricting exercise is to protect Karl Banks. This is why Karl spouted off yesterday about wanting nothing but black voters in his district. The map rids John Bell of one opponent and places the favorite to replace Tim Johnson in a district to face incumbent D.I. Smith and Ridgeland Alderman at-large Gerald Steen. District 3 is redrawn to include more Ridgeland districts which will undoubtedly favor Mr. Steen. By the way, has anyone noticed how quiet Mr. Steen has been lately? Meanwhile Karl gets a much blacker district and only Paul has to worry about a real opponent. Gotta love it.
Here is the current map:
and here is the proposed map:
17 comments:
Well put, Kingfish. We still have an opportunity on April 1 to try to get the playing field as level as possible when Judge Barbour rules on the lawsuit the county filed to try and extend the filing deadline. If, however, that fails and we find ourselves up against a corrupt group of supervisors and their political cronies, that doesn't mean that we don't have an opportunity to replace them. Good candidates running good campaigns can still win, even in unfairly drawn districts. The bottom line is that the people of Madison County need to stand up and be counted, and we can undo this attempt at a small group controlling our tax dollars simply by becoming engaged and educated and showing up at the polls in August and November. Bill Billingsley
How does this differ from all the other 82 counties that allow the current BOS to draw the distict lines they will run in.The people here may the the problem here but the process is the same state wide.You may not like the way this power is used but is same all over the State.
In case you haven't noticed, people are raising hell about it in Hinds County as well. Rankin hasn't produced their maps. They are going to run under the old lines.
KF, the CL states the CMPC drew the lines. Technically speaking, is that correct?
I thought it was interesting that yesterday...Tim, Karl and Paul all liked plan 3, and oddly enough, CMPC did too.
Over 80% of the people there were in support of them holding off the drawing until after the elections. Several candidates stood and spoke out, but not Gerald.
But we know how Wednesday will go, yet I'll be there to speak out....once again! BTW, I apologize to everyone for having voted to Tim.
9:27, that is technically correct, but the process was completely controlled by the supervisors who were giving CMPDD their input at the time. CMPDD owns the software. My understanding is that it's not intuitive enough for an untrained person to operate, so the supervisors took turns telling the CMPDD technician where to put the lines. He clicked the mouse and the software produced the new districts. I may have oversimplified the process, but I can't use personal experience because they wouldn't allow me access to the software or the technician. Banks and Griffin supposedly collaborated on Plan 1, Plan 2 was originally proposed by Crosby but was modified by Smith, and Plan 3 was created by Johnson and Hamer. I'd be happy for anyone who was actually involved in the process to come forth and clarify anything I've gotten wrong. Bill Billingsley
Gerald Steen has made it clear that he's running for Supervisor. What's everyone's opinion on him and if he's the kind of Sup. we need?
LeBeau0605, don't feel guilty about voting for Tim Johnson. All of you were just following your mayor's advice. (Remember ALL those she has endorsed in the past--some extremely poor choices, imho.) Of course, their integrity was not the reason she pushed them into office.
Our county needs to be cleansed completely of her influence. Nothing will change until the voters in the city of Madison wake up and figure out what's really going on with your mayor.
11:17, if you like what you have now, Gerald Steen is the kind you need to vote for. If you want to replace the Tim/Rudy show and get Madison County moving in a positive direction for everybody, not just those in the power positions, you need to vote for someone else.
10-4 on a non vote for Steen!
I can see why Karl Banks like plan three because it takes the white voters out and gives Karl majority African American voters. Also, I also notice the Little Dixie Landfill is in Karl's District too on plan 3. This will give him more of an advantage to bring in another landfill. We all know these garbage companies are run by the mafia.
You do not want to vote for Gerald Steen. He is another Tim Johnson. As you see, Tim, Karl and Paul did his dirty work for him, and as you noticed, he has been noticeably quite. No need to say any thing, his work is done behind closed doors for him. Folks, we do not need any one to cooperate with Karl and Paul, we need the 3-2 vote for the tax payers, not to continue the way it has been.
Sure hope the next BOS goes after the puppy mills. Lord knows how badly roadside animal sales is holding Mississippi back.
PLEASE, for the love of All Things HOLY, do NOT Vote for Gerald Steen. He and Tim 'Elvis' Johnson are tight as ticks and cut from the same mold! They attend cook-outs together at Rudy Warnock's place in Madison County and the Tim/Rudy machine helps with funding his campaigns. Not convinced, go back and look his (or others that they have supported) campaign finance reports. Gerald, and these others, had multiple Digital/Electronic Billboards during their campaigns (these things cost thousands per month), but never a mention of these expenses on their campaign finance reports! Wait a minute! What is this, Tim Johnson was a lobbyist for Outdoor Advertising Association of Mississippi?! Surely this has nothing to do with it, right?
D.I. Smith has shown that he can stand up to the machine and isn't afraid to tell it like it is. District 3 and Madison county need him back on the BOS. As stated above, Steen is not only pure politics, but Madison county politics and we don't need him as supe!!
D I Smith is nothing more than a Mary Hawkins Butler puppet!g
You're dead wrong, 8:31!!! That would be J B Crosby, at least before his vote for this re-districting plan. Smith is probably just the only one that can have a civil conversation with the mayor.
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