Ward Redistricting 2022

Over the past months, City staff have been collecting feedback on three draft maps that would re-draw the ward boundaries within City limits and better balance the population of each of the City’s three wards.

Through public engagement and input from residents, staff have worked to incorporate the public’s suggestions and refine the data to arrive at an updated Draft Final option Ward Boundary map.

This map (called Option 3B) accomplishes the objectives of balancing both population and voters in the three wards while not exceeding the maximum accepted range of 10% difference (not exceeding 5% over or 5% below what would be an exact split between the three wards.) Option 3B also has fairly minimal impacts in that only three precincts would experience change. Precinct 650 at the north central portion of town would be shifted to Ward 3 from Ward 1; and Precincts 626 and 627 on the west side of town would also be shifted to Ward 3 from Ward 2.

Public engagement from residents during consideration of the first round of options led staff to re-examine data and, through this process, the total population number was refined to 98,915 based on 2020 Census data. The total voter number was also refined to 74,202 based on voter data from the Counties as of October 1, 2022. This refinement occurred because it was discovered that the initial analysis and maps inadvertently included some unincorporated enclaves in the counts. After making this correction in the data sets, staff was able to use input received from residents to develop the Final Draft Option 3B that is being presented for comment.

The main challenge of this project has been finding a way to balance both voters and population in the same configuration. Residents may recall from presentations to City Council in late 2022 that the City’s Charter requires that wards are balanced by the number of electors whereas the Supreme Court has upheld balancing of districts by population. Other criteria for redistricting have also been met with this proposed option including: contiguity and compactness of wards, preservation of existing precinct boundaries, retention of elected officials in their existing ward, balance of population within acceptable range, and the preservation of communities of interest.

Public comment on this Final Draft Option 3B will be accepted through April 21, 2023. The map will then be taken to Council for consideration of adoption along with any comments received.

Option 3B in the numbers:

*Voter numbers are from the Counties as of October 1, 2022

^Population numbers are from the 2020 Census