Lee County holds first public redistricting hearing

Reporter: Breana Ross Writer: Matthew Seaver
Published: Updated:
Display of one possibility for Lee County redistricting. (Credit: WINK News)

Redistricting in Southwest Florida is no small process, and the NAACP is pushing for a coalition majority-minority district containing Dunbar and Lehigh.

As Gerri Ware looks at the maps, she sees more than just numbers, colors and lines. She sees the history of the Dunbar community. Ware has lived most of her 79 years in Dunbar and remembers what it was like to leave the safety of the neighborhood and walk right into racism. “There was the white water fountains and the colored water fountain so these are the things that make me fight that those things do not reoccur.”

For Ware, that means keeping a close eye on Lee County’s redistricting process and electing people who can relate to her experience. “You cannot get representative for the county because of that at large.” Ware continued, “that’s why we need somebody that can be drawn from our community when we get representatives.”

Ware joined with other community members at Lee County’s first redistricting hearing.
They want three things: A transparent process, the county to get rid of its at-large voting system for commissioners, and for re-draw the proposed redistricting maps.

Fredrick Dunbar Morgan ll, co-chair of the political action committee, NAACP, was at the meeting and said, “we the NAACP reject all five of the proposed maps as discriminatory.”

The NAACP and many other speakers have asked Lee County to draw a map with Dunbar and Lehigh Acres combined to create a majority-minority district. Commissioners gave the okay to do that, but they’re keeping all options open.

If you missed Tuesday’s redistricting hearing, you can watch the hearing on the county’s redistricting web page.

There are several more redistricting public hearings. They will be held at the Old Lee County Courthouse, 2120 Main Street, Fort Myers, FL 33901. You can find those additional dates and times here.

If you want your redistricting ideas considered for the next meeting on October 19th, please submit your information by 5:00 p.m. Friday, October 15, 2021, to 2021redistricting@leegov.com.

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