Have a Voice and help draw the boundaries for 2016 district elections.
The City invites you to attend an important series of community meetings that need your input and participation for a successful outcome in developing five voting districts to elect City Council members beginning in November, 2016. Two meetings to explain the process and the criteria used to draw five City Council districts will be held: Thursday, Sept. 25 at 6:30 p.m., at Linwood Elementary School Multi-Purpose Room, 3129 S. Linwood St., and Tuesday, Sept. 30, at 7 p.m. at Manuel Hernandez Community Center, 247 W. Ferguson Ave.
For more information on the City's District Election process, including links to public participation kits, click here.
In developing the five City Council districts prior to the 2016 election, the City must comply with legal criteria in establishing districts so that the districts are at least as nearly equal in population as required by law, do not result in a denial or abridgement of the right of any citizen to vote on account of race or color, and shall not be gerrymandered in violation of the principles established in the Ul.S. Supreme Court case, Shaw v. Reno.
In addition to the legal criteria, the Council voted to adopt optional criteria to be used in the development of the districts. NDC provided optional criteria that has been used in other communities. Council approved all criteria presented and a resolution was presented at the Aug. 4 regular meeting with the criteria defined by the Council for formal approval. To view the resolution, click here.
The Council's goal is to adopt the district boundaries by June, 2015, to ensure there is ample time for the citizens and any potential City Council candidates to understand the districts prior to the election cycle in 2016. The preliminary scheduled proposed by NDC includes holding community forums and distributing public participation kits, release of NDC's draft plan, and holding a public hearing on the consultant's and public plans. Community forums would then be held, with a Council hearing in the first of 2015. Additional hearings, readings and adoption would take place between February-April, 2015.