Talks on new redistricting map continue in Hub City
JACKSON, Tenn. — The conversation of a new redistricting map continued between a community and city leaders on Tuesday.
Tara Skinner, Jackson City Councilwoman for District 4, invited local residents to meet with Mayor Scott Conger and other department leaders to discuss city services, programs, and to also have a chance to voice their opinions on what they feel needs changing.
“This is not my seat. This is their District 4 and their beloved District 4. The citizens in this community, they have lived here for a long time. Whenever something is very big that’s going to come that’s going to change that, I think all the citizens should be aware of that and to know what the changes are going to be,” Skinner said.
Residents lined up one by one to discuss various concerns of their areas, which included trash in neighborhoods, more affordable housing requests and speeding.
Once that portion of the meeting was complete, leaders showed two versions of the new possible redistricting maps and expressed the differences each one would pose.
“Our District 4 is going to be changing. It’s going to be changing drastically, or it can stay similar to what it is. And so the main point is to see do you want drastic change in District 4 or do you want District 4 to remain sort of like how it is now,” Skinner said.
Skinner says each map poses a different scenarios that brings many concerns.
“The one that the city brought, there’s really not that much change and it leaves all of the constituents where they are and all of the city council people would remain in their districts. The second plan, the districts will be different. The lines will be different and myself, Ernest Brooks and Ross Priddy, we will all be living in the same district. So that’s going to be interesting because we’ll have three of us wanting to get the same set,” Skinner said.
Skinner says at the next city council meeting, members will vote again on the two different maps.
If they cannot come to an agreement they will have to return to the drawing board.
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