Commissioners Approve GOP Redistricting Plan

The Monroe County Commissioners voted two to one along party lines to approve the GOP’s new redistricting plans for both the Council and Commissioners districts. The usual group of talking heads from the Democrat Party provided those in attendance with their standard responses to virtually everything including claiming the redistricting process was nothing more than partisan politics, that redistricting would disenfranchise voters and the process was setting a dangerous precedent. These arguments are getting more mileage on them than a slick set of radials. I really do wish they could be a little more creative.

One of a handful of Democrat operatives that took the podium was Chaim Juliam, he offered a petition supposedly containing two hundred signatures in opposition to the redistricting plan. Mr. Juliam was representing yet another innocuously named political action group called Democracy for Monroe County. This group along with others of similar name and culture regularly camp out in the friendly confines of the farmers market with their petitions and liberal propaganda. Another regular at the podium was local activist Scott Wells, as usual he served up a hearty swig of his typical brand of political indignation delivered in his normal loud and threatening tone. Even the staunchest of the Democrat supporters cringe with embarrassment when he gets up to speak. One individual that for some reason feels compelled to make a statement at these meetings is Pedro Roman. I’m not sure of his nationality or for that matter his citizenship but his English is very broken and must be an absolute nightmare for someone to transcribe into the minutes of the meeting. No one seems to know just exactly what he said but since he hangs around with the other overzealous liberals it’s a safe assumption he was against the redistricting plan. The only new face in the political arena was interim Democrat Chairwoman Lee Jones. She provided a preview of the new Democrat Party leadership and I must say she is no Dan Combs and I know Dan Combs.

Redistricting was absolutely necessary and obviously long overdue. Thank goodness our two Commissioners stood their ground and did what is right for the voters of Monroe County. For the first time in many years the citizens of this county will have the opportunity to cast a vote that will actually have some bearing on the outcome of the election. The new districts better comply with the law and have been calculated so tight in population and compactness that it will be virtually impossible for anyone to redraw them anytime soon even if Democrats should regain control of the Commissioners office. The sad part of this is, besides a few political hacks on both sides, no one even really cares about redistricting and it was obvious from the small turn out at the meeting. The overall effect on the political landscape will be substantial because for once the districts were not drawn to accommodate a particular candidate or opponent this was evident in Commissioner Kilmer virtually voting himself out of a district. If there was a down side to this meeting it was provided by our current County Clerk, Jim Fielder. If you closed your eyes while listening to Fielder you would have sworn a Democrat had taken the podium. He obviously has some fundamental differences with the rest of the Republican Party and if so his silence would have been appreciated. Regardless, his comments failed to gain traction with the Commissioners and the process motored right on through similar to what transgender legislation will pass through the City Council in the near future, but that’s another story altogether isn’t it?