3 replies to this topic

[andremurra]

This is probably one of the first times that anyone has read anything negative I have to say about my hometown, Statesboro.  However, with all cities, Statesboro also has some major issues.  As with any city over 200 years old, there are certain prejudices between different groups of people living in that city.  You may have heard some buzz about the political happenings in Statesboro, more so since October 2005, and particularly since August 2007.  In a nutshell – although it is far more complicated than I can realistically communicate on this forum – the powers that be in the city of Statesboro are “against” the students and others who are associated with the university.  Not all the residents of Statesboro feel the way that the powers that be feel, but many do.  For years, they have denied this, until yesterday.  Four residents, under the influence and motivation of powerful colleagues, have formed a group called Statesboro Citizens for Good Government.  They are challenging the residency of 840 new voter registrations, primarily of students, because they feel that students are not “true” residents of Statesboro.  Their arguments are based in six stipulations they have conjured up, but are very weak arguments.  For the most part, they are highly unlikely going to be able to prove that the 840 newly registered residents are not indeed residents.  However, just by making the challenges, some feel that students are going to be deterred from voting for the confusion it is causing.  According to their quotes, they have shown that they hold a belief that students residing in a city where a college is located for the purpose of attending that college are not “really” residents of that city for the 4-10 years that they reside in the city while furthering their education.  They also threw the adjective “young” in there as well.

My question is, if the powers that be in a city is oppressing a large proportion of residents in that city, say 1/6 of the residents or 1/3 of the residents, then can those citizens come together to “secede” from the city and create their own new city?  Many people would probably argue that regardless of if this is possible, the oppressed residents should band together to elect their own representatives and take over the political process.  In this case, I would like to argue that the powers that be have made it virtually impossible for the oppressed to take such action.  First, they passed an ordinance requiring that to be eligible for a seat on city council, one must be age 25 or older.  To be eligible to run for Mayor, one must be age 30 or older.  In addition to all the ridiculous ordinances the city has passed in the past two years that basically attack students, they have refused to place a polling booth on campus (a location where 100% of the oppressed population have easy access to).  After once agreeing to do so for the 2004 Presidential Election, they designated the polling booth to be located across a major 5-lane highway from campus with high traffic counts – in a church.  All the polling booths are in locations that are ridiculously far from the campus in the three gerrymandered voting districts that split the university population making students a minority in each district.  If it doesn’t get any worse, a group has been formed to challenge whether 840 of the new 2,500 voter registrations are valid.  The new registrations have taken place due to student effort to become politically involved and have a voice.  We’re fed up.  My question is: Is secession possible… ...in theory? Any “Milton County” or Sandy Springs residents want to comment?

I am not saying that this is realistic or likely to happen, nor am I saying that I support secession. However, it is a thought that has crossed many peoples minds this past year. Recently, it seems that some crap has hit the fan, and the truth is starting to come out concerning what the city really feels about the university. Students and Alumni are tired of funding all of the cities projects thru the local sales tax, and being treated like unwelcomed outsiders for the several years they are here in addition to being ignored when they have issues. It would be great if we could move forward as a community, but if we cant... we need options.

[Spartan]

Thats a question for those familiar with Georgia state law. I don't know Georgia law, however I do know that county creation is a different process than city creation. Assuming its possible, you'd probably have to get the whole city to vote in favor of it.

[andremurra]

Yeah, unfortunately, we cant just move the billion dollars worth of Georgia Southern infrustructure somewhere else. Im a local and a student, and Im just really getting sick of this hateful relationship the city has towards the college and its students. Its very one-sided, and yet there is hate towards the community because of the way locals treat students.

http://www.statesboroherald.com/news/article/6322/

You can also check out this video:

http://www.wsav.com/...10-26-0028.html

Edited by andremurra, 27 October 2007 - 10:24 PM.

[andremurra]

Here are some more articles from recent news on this voting Issue:

WSAV - Savannah News

http://www.wsav.com/...11-01-0032.html

Heres an interesting part of the artcle:

"Clear Case of Voter Intimidation in Statesboro, Georgia
Student voters face police questioning at polls, challenges to residency, provisional ballots and a misinformation campaign to discourage voting

Statesboro, GA – Georgia Southern University students report intimidation by police officers when they tried to vote at Statesboro City Hall.  Advance voting began Monday for City Council elections in Statesboro, Georgia.

On Monday, uniformed police officers stationed at City Hall were questioning students and attempting to prevent them from exercising their right to vote. **
(**pictures of police at polling place attached to e-mail)

According to Charles Lester who is representing several Georgia Southern students on behalf of Georgia Election Protection and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, “The mere presence of police officers at the polling place can often have an intimidating effect. The Statesboro police have gone beyond that and have actively interfered with the election process.”
Lester notes accounts from students attempting to vote on Monday:
•         One police officer told a student if he did not update his ID to reflect his residency in Bulloch County, the police officer would give him a ticket the next time he pulled him over.
•         Another police officer demanded that a student show him where she lived on a map of the district and attempted to prevent her from voting.
•          Another student asked a police officer to have a candidate stand over 150 feet from the polling place, as the candidate was legally required to do, but the police officer refused to act upon this reasonable request.
Another form of intimidation comes from residency challenges to 909 Georgia Southern University students. 39 students who voted Monday were on the list of challenged voters. These students had to vote on paper ballots.  It is unclear how the.Bulloch County registrar will determine which votes should be counted. One poll worker told a group of students their ballots would most likely be discarded!
In addition, before the election, one of the incumbent council members said that students’ financial aid would be taken away and their parents’ tax returns would be questioned if the students voted in the Statesboro municipal election. This is not true, but a misinformation campaign of rumors to the contrary made its way through the campus of Georgia Southern University.
Georgia Election Protection  has issued a letter to the Statesboro City Attorney asking for the intimidation to stop and reminding the city and county that voter intimidation is a felony and violates both Georgia and federal law.
Georgia Election Protection has also requested that the election supervisor be advised that it is illegal to have police officers at the polls without justification. If there is some legitimate reason for their presence, the police officers must refrain from speaking with people who are attempting to vote."


The AJC should be publishing a story soon as well - they were on campus interviewing people yesterday - but I havent been able to find it yet. Here is a Statesboro Herald opinion article:

http://www.statesbor...s/article/6416/



Ill keep you all updated.