Council Holds Public Hearing on Redistricting

TYLER � The realignment of the Tyler city council�s single member districts was the topic of a presentation and public hearing yesterday. Last month the city council adopted redistricting criteria for the consultants to use as the framework for developing options. City Attorney Gary Landers said yesterday council members heard two options for proposed new boundaries to achieve proportionate representation in our Council districts.

Option “A” is the consultant’s attempt to balance the total number of voters in each district as closely as possible. Option “B” incorporated recommendations from Option “A”, but involves fewer geographical shifts that result in changes in voting precinct boundaries and takes into account the need to ensure that in the majority-minority districts the new districting plan does not result in a reduction of the minority group’s ability to elect a candidate of their choice. According to Landers, there is “less change in voter precinct boundaries should result in less voter confusion during the next election,”

The Council expressed support for Option “B” and asked the public for comments in preparation for a second public hearing on June 8.

According to a city news release, Tyler last redistricted in 2000; since that time, there has been a sizable increase in the total population of the city, requiring the City to again redistrict. The United States Constitution requires that each district within a city have approximately equal population. Preliminary results from the 2010 Census indicate that the population of Tyler is 96,900, an increase of 15.84% from the 2000 Census. The distribution of that growth has not been evenly dispersed resulting in an uneven number of residents in some of the City’s single member districts. Given Tyler’s current population, each district should have 16,150 residents or be within 10 percent of that figure. To achieve this equity, district boundary lines must be adjusted to rebalance the populations in the districts.

In addition to the one voter – one vote rule, cities in Texas must be aware of the federal Voting Rights Act requirements that govern the redistricting process. To ensure redistricting obligations are met, the City of Tyler along with Smith County and Tyler Independent School District, has contracted with the law firm of Bickerstaff and Health to assist with the redistricting process to increase coordination and cooperation. It is anticipated that this coordination will assist voters in the future.

Once a plan is adopted, the city must still get approval from the U.S. Department of Justice for the new district boundaries before they are implemented in an election. At the June 8th public hearing, the city council could vote to approve a redistricting plan. That plan will then be submitted to the Department of Justice after adoption and be implemented prior to the 2012 City Council elections.