Dobbs 'disappointed' at changes

State Rep. Elly Dobbs (D-Atlanta) expressed dissatisfaction with how her 53rd District was redrawn on the proposed state reapportionment map.

"I am very disappointed by how my new district was drawn," Dobbs said in an e-mail to Buckhead Patch before the special legislative session to consider reapportionment began Monday.

"I hope to continue to serve the communities in my present district as I have enjoyed working with the leaders of the NPUs, the neighborhoods and the citizens in District 53."

Dobbs under the proposed reapportionment plan submitted by the House Republican leadership will have to run against another Democratic incumbent, Sheila Jones of the 44th District. That is one of 10 "pairings" of incumbents, including four of GOP members, that the GOP said was made necessary by population shifts and the Voting Rights Act.

"In summary, it is my hope that after the reapportionment process is completed all new districts will be fair and equitable for Buckhead and for all the citizens of Georgia," Dobbs said in her e-mail.

Buckhead Rep. Edward Lindsey, the Republican House majority whip, said in news release from the GOP leadership, “Each of these pairings is necessitated by the Voting Rights Act and population shifts. The areas represented by these members lost population in relation to the growth in the rest of the state. For instance, of the 10 smallest districts by population, eight are inside the Perimeter in metro Atlanta. South Georgia has similarly lost population.”

Lindsey, in a phone interview with Buckhead Patch, saw pluses and minues in his district's being redrawn to include more of the city of Atlanta. "I like the part of Atlanta that I'm getting," Lindsey said, but "I regret losing Sandy Springs." He looked back on leading the effort to make Sandy Springs a separate city.

In the redrawing, Lindsey will pick up the Pine Hills area on the east side and down to the Collier Hills area on the south side.

Lindsey noted that the "significant changes in the Senate" will be the placing of 75 percent of Buckhead in District 6, served by incumbent Doug Stoner. The district includes portions of Smyrna and Sandy Springs.