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Politics & Government

RMWD Board Looks at Redistricting

Federal Census figures show the population remains the same for water district boundaries, but the divisions should be readjusted for board representation.

The 2010 Federal Census shows the boundary lines for ) divisions will need to be adjusted.

Public agencies in the state that have elected officials, such as RMWD, are required to adjust division boundaries to comply with the new census data that was released in March 2011.

The RMWD board heard a report at its Nov. 8 meeting from district staff and its consultants, Shepherd & Staats, Inc., outlining changes in population within the district’s five geographical divisions.

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The major changes appear in divisions 3 and 5, which include San Diego Country Estates and the surrounding areas. Currently, Div. 3 has a population of 7,013 while Div. 5 is at 7,686. The other three divisions fall between 6,000 and 6,600.

By adjusting the figures within the five divisions, each director would then represent roughly the same number of people, each around 6,700.

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The district's population is 33,568.

Director Kit Kesinger, who represents Div. 2, shared his concerns about the redistricting, suggesting the consultants take a different approach in dividing up the divisions. He pointed out that the same process was used 10 years ago following the 2000 Federal Census.

“One of the goals at that redistricting was to have a single board member represent San Diego Country Estates,” Kesinger said. “That’s how we ended up with the current distribution.”

Kesinger added that with the suggestions now being made, there is a potential for the Country Estates to dominate two board positions. By switching the population figures into different divisions, he said, there could be one director representing Country Estates instead of two.

Lengthy board discussions followed, with no decision reached. A final report is expected to be presented at the Dec. 27 board meeting.

The deadline for RMWD to submit the redistricting changes to the county Registrar of Voters is in July in order to be covered in the November 2012 election.

“That’s quite a job to make these (figures) come out right so we have equal distribution in each district,” Director Darrell Beck complimented the staff and consultants.

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