Annexation: Fallout

We're going to be talking about Mayor Robert Reichert's annexation proposal for a while. There will be several pieces in tomorrow's paper, but for the moment I'm most interested in responses from the state legislators who will have to drive the boat if this thing moves forward.

You can read individual comments in tomorrow's paper, but this sentence pretty much sums things up:

In Atlanta, members of Bibb County's legislative delegation said they had not been briefed on the plan, and none of them expressed much enthusiasm for it.

Kind of what I figured, though that's putting it nicely. It's hard to run for re-election after forcing people to annex into a city, even if you do believe it's the right thing to do to ease the city of Macon's financial strains, more fairly divide tax burdens and set more efficient service boundaries.

Even so, my initial thinking was that state representatives who primarily represent city residents would be for this proposal, because it could potentially lower their tax burdens by increasing taxes on the unincorporated area. Then I remembered that I live in Macon, where race is as much a part of politics as... I don't know. Let's say money:

State Rep. David Lucas, D-Macon, said he wants to see a breakdown of census tracts that would be involved. One issue at stake is potential dilution of black voting strength in Macon, he said.

Once again, the same issues that have kept this community from consolidation are in play: Race and taxes. Mayor Reichert has a long, long way to go on this thing. And don't forget, as we learned last year when state Sen. Robert Brown derailed a proposal to downsize the City Council, one legislator alone can sometimes gum up the works.

CORRECTION: Mike Billips, who wrote the bit about Rep. Lucas, sent in this correction:

A story in Thursday's Telegraph paraphrased Rep. David Lucas, D-Macon, incorrectly. Lucas did not say he needed to look at the effect annexation would have on the percentage of black voters in the city. He only affirmed that the U.S. Justice department would have to approve any annexation. We regret the error.

Fair enough. I've always known Rep. Lucas to be one of a few people willing to openly discuss race in politics, when asked. So reporters are probably more likely to ask him, than he is to bring it up.