Meeting to address Gainesville's at-large voting process

ATLANTA - The Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials (GALEO) will host a meeting in Gainesville next week addressing the city's at-large voting process.

The meeting will be held Tuesday from 6:30-7:30 at Cielos Abiertos on Aviation Boulevard.

GALEO has launched an effort to eliminate the at=large method of elected city city officials.

The group's executive director, Jerry Gonzalez, said "We will have a PowerPoint Presentation on At-Large Voting in English/Spanish and we will also explain next step actions, which will include discussion of the petition, starting advocacy phone calls to the City Council, making plans for attending City Council meetings and voter registration efforts to make this issue an election year issue for the community of Gainesville."

In August 2011, GALEO's Maria Duarte told the city council Gainesville should do away with citywide or at-large voting for city council members because it dilutes Hispanic voting strength and Hispanic voter numbers are growing.

"There are three wards which potentially could have a heavy influential Latino vote and the at large process dilutes that," Duarte said at the time. "We are dealing with the voting age population whether they're registered to vote or not. Latinos are registering to vote at an increased pace."

Duarte's assertion that at large voting is unfair drew reactions from then-Mayor Pro Tem Danny Dunagan (who is now mayor) and Councilwoman Myrtle Figueras, both saying that at large voting should stay where it is with no changes. Dunagan added that he felt that all the city elections should be at large.

(AccessNorthGa.com's Jerry Gunn contributed to this story.)