County to Look at Three Redistricting Plans

The County’s Redistricting Advisory Committee voted Monday to forward three proposed redistricting plans to the Board of Supervisors.

The Board must adjust the boundaries of the County’s five supervisorial districts every 10 years to balance their populations, based on the federal census.

The committee's proposals come after a series of public meetings which began in February, in which the public received information on the redistricting process and were able to provide input. At least one meeting was held in each district.

The citizen’s committee was tasked with forwarding no more than three plans for the Board’s consideration. It finished that work and held its final meeting Monday.

The Board is expected to hear the committee’s proposed plans at its regular meeting at 9 a.m. on June 28.

To view the three proposals go to the County’s redistricting website. Then choose “view/submit plan” from the left menu, then “view the latest proposed plans.” This will take you to the online viewer, where you can “Choose (a) Plan.”

The final proposals the committee will forward to the Board are titled 061311 RAC Draft Plan 2-4, 061311 RAC Draft Plan 5-6 and 061311 RAC Draft Plan 5-7.

The online viewer allows a close look at the proposals in an interactive map. It also displays the population and demographics of each new proposed district.

Under state law and the County’s charter, the Board of Supervisors is required to adopt the County’s final redistricting ordinance.

The Board is expected to introduce its redistricting ordinance at its July 12 public meeting and adopt a final ordinance at its August 2 meeting. The ordinance would take effect in early September, setting district lines for elections in 2012 through 2021.