A Lincoln County redistricting plan approved by supervisorsMonday brings district populations totals within variance limitsand leaves a majority black District 1 virtually unchanged, countyofficials said.

“You have a good plan,” Board Attorney Bob Allen toldsupervisors in recommending adoption. “In my opinion, it meets allthe Sect. 5 (Voting Rights Act) requirements and one-man, one-voteprovisions.”

The county plan sets an overall 65.94 percent majority blackDistrict 1, with a voting age black majority of 62.68 percent. Thatrepresents a slight increase from the current 65.84 percent and62.58 percent respective majorities.

At a recent public hearing, some black residents protested thecounty’s plan as an example of “stacking, packing and cracking.”They said those schemes dilute black voting strength in variousways and prohibit them from electing a candidate of theirchoice.

A plan was introduced that raised District 1’s black voting agepopulation to 69.86 percent and came closer to overall idealpopulation and variance guidelines. However, in the plan, District1 was heavily concentrated in and around the city with the rest ofthe county roughly divided into four quadrants.

In talking about the county’s plan Monday, Allen said it did not”stack, pack or crack” and left District 1 intact as it is now. Inthe plan, District 1 has the smallest population with 6,277 andDistrict 5 remains the largest with 6,764.

The ideal district population is 6,633 and the total variance,the difference between the largest district and the smallestdistrict, is 7.34 percent. Courts have generally allowed no morethan a 10 percent variance.

“We’ve got to get the legal descriptions of the plan now,” Allensaid, adding that he hoped to be able to submit it to the U.S.Department of Justice within the next few weeks.

Once received, the justice department will have 60 days topre-clear the plan or ask for additional information and another 60days. Following pre-clearance, voters affected by line changeswould be administratively re-registered and notified, and new linesused in next year’s elections.

Pre-clearance of a redistricting plan doesn’t preclude alawsuit. It signifies that the justice department has noobjections.

There were no citizens present Monday to support or oppose thecounty’s redistricting plan. Allen said he has not been through aredistricting where someone has not contacted the justicedepartment directly to express concerns about a plan.

“Whether or not they file a lawsuit is always a big issue,”Allen said, adding that any lawsuit would be heard by a federalthree-judge panel.

In other business Monday, Southwest Mississippi Planning andDevelopment District Planner Mary Martha Dixon said the new BehanRoad project has been completed and closed out. The project totaledalmost $1 million, she said.

“Every obligation has been met on that,” Dixon said.

Lincoln County supervisors also voted to send a letter tomembers of the Mississippi Association of Supervisors finance andexecutive board opposing salary increases for MAS officers andstaff. Given the tough economic times, the county’s letterencouraged “conservative” raises instead of the “substantial”increases being considered.

“We need to spread the word to other counties and let them dothe same thing,” said District 4 Supervisor W.D. “Doug” Moak aboutletter plans.

Supervisors questioned the association’s effectiveness on somelegislative issues. They cited an inability to strengthen garbagefee collection measures as one example.

After hearing from Tax Assessor/Collection Nancy Jordan,supervisors voted to lower the property value assessment of theBest Western motel from $1.4 million to $841,000. The motel, whichwas recently sold for $650,000, was the last unsettled objection tocurrent tax rolls.

“I feel like we’ve reduced the buildings as much as we can,”Jordan said.

Also Monday, supervisors voted to reappoint Carolyn Patterson tothe Lincoln County Library Board of Trustees for a five-yearterm.

“She’s doing a good job over there,” said Nolan Earl Williamson,District 3 supervisor and president of the board.