Oconee has grown in political clout. We need to let the Governor, Republican Party Officials, State and regional representatives know OCONEE DOES NOT WANT THIS GERRYMANDERED MCKILLIP MESS!

AVOC

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August 14, 2011

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Oconee being divided to benefit Doug McKillip is outrageous and needs opposition

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By Wendell Dawson, Editor, AVOC, Inc

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Athens can keep Doug McKillip!   Oconee doesn’t need him!   The man is untrustworthy!

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If Speaker Ralston did make a deal to protect McKillip, then my confidence in and defense of Ralston is over….

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Doug McKillip of Athens, Georgia

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The proposed house districts maps demonstrate how Oconee has been badly served this year with no State Representative during the redistricting process.    It is obvious that Greene’s Rep. Mickey Channel (has Oglethorpe) and Morgan’s Doug Holt of Social Circle have served those counties well by taking them out of the old 113^th with Oconee.  

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Proposed new House District 117 for Oconee County

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Part of Oconee is split off to help Doug McKillip in a new District 117!   Chuck Williams will represent the 119^th which is made up of much of Oconee and a significant portion of southeastern Athens-Clarke County. This is not welcome news for Oconee.

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The new districts will probably split voting precincts in Oconee County.   I received the following information from Representative Chuck Williams:

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In a nutshell, the proposed maps show Oconee with 3 current precincts (Bogart, Athens Academy, Malcom Bridge), that go the the new 117th District. It is my understanding that the new 117th includes Doug McKillip's residence address. The remainder of Oconee becomes part of the new 119th, along with portions of Clarke (no Oglethorpe or Morgan).  The new 119th includes my residence address.

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It is my understanding that Oconee County will be looking at current precinct boundaries in coming weeks, leading to the possibility of split precincts (between House districts) for the 2012 election cycle if precinct boundaries do change....”

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McKillip may still lose because he is not trusted in Athens-Clarke and Oconee, Barrow and Jackson may not like their new representative being shoved on them.  Even if he loses, we may be electing residents of Athens-Clarke to serve part of Oconee in the House for the next several years.   It is not good for Oconee County! 

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This type of ‘rigging’ is a ‘throwback’ to the “Old days” when Oconee was only used to fill the numbers in other districts.   In the 70’s, we were in a three person district with Hart, Elbert et al and also in a district with Barrow – the northern portion of Oconee County.   We had four representatives but had to rely on Senator Paul Broun of Athens (who represented all of Oconee) to get anything done.   As City Attorney for Watkinsville and County Attorney for Oconee, I worked with Senator Broun to make sure Oconee and Watkinsville kept at-large districts numbered by posts.    In my opinion, that has saved Oconee from much of the ‘Turf Battles” plagued by other counties over the last 30 years.

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Since those days, Oconee has grown in political clout.   We need to let the Governor, Republican Party Officials, State and regional representatives know OCONEE DOES NOT WANT THIS GERRYMANDERED MCKILLIP MESS!

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Google has about 189,000 results for Doug McKillip – much unfavorable.

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http://www.google.com/search?q=Rep+Doug+McKillip+of+Athens%2C+GA&sourceid=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&ie=&oe=

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Some Google Links on McKillip:

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