McKillip Said He Intervened to Lessen Negative Impact of Redistricting on Oconee County

Oconee County residents unhappy with the partition of the county in house redistricting last month should appreciate that it could have been a lot worse, Rep. Doug McKillip and Rep. Chuck Williams said Thursday night.

The “guys in the map office” wanted to split the county in half, McKillip told those who gathered at the Oconee County Republican meeting at the Civic Center in Watkinsville, but McKillip said he advised against it.

Instead of splitting the county in half, three northern precincts–Athens Academy, Malcom Bridge and Bogart--were split off from Oconee County and given to a new district that will be served by McKillip, should he be reelected in 2012.

The remainder of the county was made a minority part of a new district with Clarke County. That new district, the successor to the current 113th District, will be where Williams will have to complete in 2012, if he decides to seek reelection.

McKillip told the approximately 20 people who attended the meeting that he would have been pleased to have more than the three Oconee County precincts he got in the new 117th.

McKillip also said the new district 117 will be a benefit to the area because it will foster regionalism.

For more details, including a link to a complete video of the meeting, go to Oconee County Observations.