County towns want to stay with District 4
Elected officials in Priceville and Falkville have gone on record against a change from District 4 to 5 when and if the U.S. Congress and State Legislature consider taking from one and adding to the other, based on 2010 population changes.
Both municipalities unanimously approved resolutions putting their positions on record, Priceville first on Jan. 27 and Falkville following on Feb. 1. Both Somerville and Eva are expected to follow suit. Somerville has the resolution on it next meeting agenda and Eva is expected to do the same thing at its next town council meeting.
Currently Morgan County’s rural land mass is in District 4 while the metropolitan areas of Hartselle and Decatur are in District 5. Prior to the 2000 census the entire county fell under District 5.
Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Haleyville, represents District 4 and Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) is District 5’s newly elected representative.
The resolution opposing redistricting makes four points supporting Priceville and Falkville’s position as follows:
• Aderholt has always kept small town in the forefront of all considerations in representing his constituency’s best interests.
• Aderholt has been instrumental in obtaining funding and other support for many important municipal projects in his district.
• Aderholt serves on committees, which enable him to obtain great benefits for the small towns within his district.
• Aderholt has always been accessible to town officials and sensitive to the needs of the small towns within his district and the issues they face.
“Passing the resolution was not intended to take anything away from Rep. Brooks ability to represent us well,” said Falkville Mayor Jimmie Walker, “Rather, it is to show the confidence we have in Rep. Aderholt and his ability to continue to work diligently in our best interests.”
Already the Decatur – Morgan County Chamber of Commerce has gone on record as being in favor of moving the entire county to the 5th District.
Congress and State Legislature will take up issue of redistricting following the release of complete data from the 2010 census.
Currently, the 5th District includes all of the counties bordering on Tennessee, plus Lawrence and Colbert counties and a small portion of Morgan County.
The 4th District consists of all; or part of 13 counties, extending south to part of Pickens County and north and east to DeKalb County.
Blue background represents the 4th Congressional District and red background represents the 5th Congressional District. Graphic courtesy of Morgan County Board of Registrars
