Alachua County headed toward vote on single-district districts

A bill that would give voters in November the option to redraw how Alachua county commissioners are elected passed a final legislative committee in Tallahassee on Monday.

House Bill 1493 was approved by the State Affairs Committee — the final committee stop — after legislators heard from Alachua County officials and residents who had traveled to Tallahassee to oppose it.

The next stop is the full house.

Both Clemons and the bill’s detractors, which include the Alachua County legislative delegation, say they believe it is inevitable that the bill will now pass.

The move follows efforts by some in rural western Alachua County, supported by Clemons, to break off and form a separate Springs County — a movement that has fizzled. While much of Alachua County, especially Gainesville, tends to vote Democratic, Republicans dominate the west, and some feel their votes are diluted in at-large voting.

Historically, however, thre Alachua County Commission — while not elected in partisan races — has included members who are Republicans. It also has been racially diverse.

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Common sense or legislative overreach?

Monday’s vote was 15-7, a stark change from the two previous House hearings where the vote for Clemons’ bill was unanimous.

“This is a clear cut bill,” Clemons said. “It’s not taking any power away from the people of Alachua County. It is empowering people of Alachua County to vote whether they want to maintain the current system or not.”

Clemons said having the question posed to voters through a local bill is the most effective to get it on the ballot.

His bill would allow residents in November to vote whether they support a change in the county charter so that the five county commissioners are elected by single-member districts instead of the current at-large system in which everybody votes for them.

Alachua County officials argued that Clemons’ bill is a challenge to the county’s home rule charter, which outlines three ways such a ballot question could be placed before voters:

• The Alachua County Commission could approve of the ballot question;
• The Alachua Charter Review Commission could approve it; or
• at least 10% of registered voters could sign a petition calling for the ballot question.

The Charter Review Commission has rejected similar proposals twice in the past.

Newberry City commissioner Tim Marden, who supports the vote, said there should be no reason the legislators should not pass Clemons’ bill. He said the legislature is not deciding whether single-member districts are good or bad for Alachua County.

Video showcases views of local Black leaders

He criticized the county’s lobbying against the bill, which includes press releases and a recent YouTube video of Black elected officials who expressed their opposition to the bill.

“That doesn’t sound like education; it sounds like advocacy,” he said.

State law does not allow counties to spend tax money or staff time advocating for or against a referendum question, but that law only kicks in when the issue is a ballot question, and it is not quite there yet.

Evelyn Foxx, the president of NAACP’s local chapter, said she opposes the bill.

“Everything works fine now in Alachua County,” she said. “When there is a problem, I don’t go to one commissioner. I go to all five of them.”

She said single-member districts “would be very divisive.”

County Commissioner Ken Cornell told the panel he’s heard a lot of people say they don’t see why county officials are afraid of the vote and to just let the voters decide.

“The answer to that question is: ‘The voters have decided. The voters voted on the Alachua county charter,” he said.

Cornell said “it shouldn’t be easy to change a local constitution.”

State Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Winter Park, said he usually votes in favor of local bills, but something did not seem right about doing that this time with so many people from Alachua County in opposition to it.

“What is happening here is really peculiar,” he said.

Rep. Rick Roth, R-West Palm, said Alachua County voters should be able decide what election system they want for county commissioners. “It is an opportunity for people to decide for themselves,” he said.

Supporters of the bill are critical of Alachua County for campaigning against the single-member district proposal.

Clemons said in a text message on Sunday that Alachua County “is gearing up their propaganda machine and has commenced a full-frontal battle attack on Democracy.”

Clemons said Monday that it appears that county officials are getting desperate in putting out the YouTube video of African-Americans opposed to his bill that can be accessed on the county’s website.

“None of the other arguments seem to be holding water, so they are becoming desperate and pulling the race card,” Clemons said Monday.

Clemons also pointed out that African-American House members on the first two committees that have approved of his bill — including Geraldine Thompson and the former chairwoman of the Florida Democratic Party, Allison Tant — have supported his bill and noted that single-member districts have helped to ensure various county commissions.

But Alachua County Commissioner Charles Chestnut said in Alachua County the population of minorities is spread out all over the county, which would make it more difficult for them to win seats on the County Commission with single-member districts..

“You don’t have a large concentration of African-Americans living in one portion of the county,” he said.

The post Alachua County headed toward vote on single-district districts first appeared on Daily Florida Press.