Letter to the City Council

I sent the following letter to the members of the Greensboro City Council regarding the recent adoption of "Plan Q." Let's hope I get a posititve response!

March 2, 2008

Mayor Yvonne Johnson
Members of the Greensboro City Council
PO Box 3136
Greensboro, NC 27402-3136

Dear Mayor and Councilmembers;

I am writing to express my displeasure at the recent adoption of a City Council redistricting plan that the public had not had an opportunity to review and submit comments. This last-minute surprise certainly did not uphold the theme of “openness and transparency” that most of you stressed during your 2007 election campaigns. The many citizens who are directly affected by this significant redrawing and dismantling of the former Greensboro City Council District 5 should have been notified and given a chance to voice their opinions. I certainly did not learn of “Plan Q” until the morning after the vote had already been taken, and many other District 5 residents with whom I have spoken were not aware of it either.

There are a number of reasons I believe the redistricting is not in the best interests of the citizens of current District 5.

• While the other four council districts encompass an identifiable, relatively compact section of the city (southeast Greensboro, northeast Greensboro, north Greensboro, etc.), the “new” District 5 sprawls from the extreme southern section of the city all the way past the airport into northwestern Greensboro. Neighborhoods with their needs and issues in the northwest section differ significantly from those in the southernmost section, leaving little commonality between them.
  
• Southwest Greensboro struggled for many years after the creation of the district system – as did the southeast and northeast – to gain the political power to receive equal treatment and services perceived to be disproportionately enjoyed by more affluent northern sections of the city at the time. That carefully nurtured progress is now likely lost with northwestern precincts of the city composing a large portion of District 5. Will the voice of southwest Greensboro will be lost again?
  
• An unnecessarily large number of voters will be represented by a different person on the city council than the one they had the opportunity to help select. While this circumstance is unavoidable when redistricting becomes necessary, more citizens are being forced to change than many of the other plans would have otherwise required. I view this as unfair to those citizens, myself included.
  
  Based on the reasons stated above, I respectfully request that the Greensboro City Council reconsider the City Council redistricting plan adopted on February 19, 2008.
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  Sandy Carmany
  Greensboro City Council, 1991-2007

[UPDATE: As of March 15, only two councilmembers (Robbie Perkins and Dianne Bellamy-Small) have even acknowledged receipt of this letter. So much for good communication with citizens!]