Perhaps you are like me? I had never given any thought to just how a County Board of Commissioners comes into being.  Every two years, I check off a person’s name on a ballot, but frequently I know little about these people.  I am embarrassed to say that if I feel totally in the dark, I might not vote in that race at all.  At least, I have reasoned that at the County level the political party is not as important as the person. These jobs require a great deal of work and dedication.  I wouldn’t want to vote for someone who might not have the stamina or public interest necessary for the job; and so I forego the vote.  

But this last year, at least for me, it has been impossible not to realize that local government, just like national, is a result of the attention that we citizens pay to it.  And I have begun to pay that attention.  

Recently I went to yet another Zoom get together.  At this one, a very interesting presentation was given by T.J. Andrews, a local environmental lawyer, with a passion for bipartisan civics education at the local level.  Her presentation covered the upcoming County redistricting that is required by the national census.  This is not the state legislative redistricting to be undertaken by the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission, but rather a reapportionment that takes place every ten years in each county for the purpose of electing County Commissioners.  This process is overseen by a predetermined group of 5 people and has very specific rules that allow for a great deal of variation in number of districts.  That number of districts and how they are designated will control how the county is to be administered for the next 10 years.  So the stakes can be high.  

Our AAUW Traverse City Public Affairs Interest Group has invited Ms. Andrews to speak at our next meeting (Zoom) on May 24th at 2:30 on the topic of County Redistricting.  This is not a political talk, but informative no matter your political persuasion.  We would like to invite the entire GT AAUW to join us for this very interesting and informative talk. — and to invite a friend if you would like.  Hope to see you there!

TJ Andrews is a practicing public interest environmental attorney in Traverse City. In her free time she frequently volunteers with local bipartisan campaigns relevant to good governance, particularly at the very local level. Her current interests include Fair Lines Grand Traverse, which is an informal group that is raising awareness about the 2021 county-level redistricting (reapportionment) of county commission districts. More particularly, Fair Lines seeks to raise understanding about the rules and procedures for county redistricting and is seeking to infuse transparency and accountability to the community into the county redistricting process. More information about Fair Lines GT is here: http://www.fairlinesgt.com