Charlotte's Redistricting Ad Hoc Committee
Committee’s Charge
In anticipation of receiving the 2020 US Census data in September, I am establishing a Council Committee on Redistricting. The Redistricting Committee Chair will be council member Malcom Graham, along with council members Dimple Ajmera, Ed Driggs, and Greg Phipps serving as committee members. The City Attorney Office will serve as staff resource for the Committee.
Based on input from the Citizen Advisory Committee on Governance, and full Council's general consensus to the recommendations from the Budget and Effectiveness Council Committee presented at the June 28 Business Meeting, the Committee's charge will be to develop redistricting recommendations guided by the following principles. - Mayor Lyles
Committee’s Time Line
The Current Districts
City Council Districts are required to be balanced within a 5% variance of total population. Currently, 6 of the 7 Districts are out of balance. Districts 1, 5 and 6 need to gain more population, while 2, 3 and 4 need to disperse resident population (these number are based on all residents not registered voters). For the current City Council structure with 7 districts, new districts will need to be drawn with the goal of about 125,600 residents per district. If an 8th District is added, then 109,900 or so residents would occupy each district.
The Process
The City of Charlotte has contracted with two former employees, Mac McCarley - the former City Attorney and Jonathan Wells - a former City Planner. They will head the team along with current City Attorney Patrick Baker to help the Redistricting Committee.
Priorities
The district will be drawn with these priorities as determined by the City Council and Mayor.
First Order Importance
Districts must have substantially equal population - one person/one vote rule.(required)
Districts should be reasonably compact. (strongly recommended)
District boundaries may follow neighborhood boundaries or the boundaries of areas containing residents sharing similar interests.
Second Order Importance
District boundaries may be drawn to create/maintain (representative) balance between major political parties.
District boundaries may follow precinct boundaries.
District boundaries may be drawn considering the race of district residents as long as race is not the predominant motivating factor.
District(s) most likely to be impacted by future annexations (or growth rates) may be smaller to minimize impact of future annexations on future redistricting.
District boundaries may be drawn to avoid contests between incumbents.
When possible, districts should have relatively even partisan balance.
Information from CharlotteNC.gov
Public Participation
It is the City’s goal that proposed map(s) are available to the public before the Public Hearing on October 11. Historically, the city has not utilized a public appointed committee or non-partisan redistricting organization to select new district maps. However, over the last 20 years, there has been very little controversy or disagreement in the redistricting process and map adoption.
Tuesday, Oct. 5, at 6 p.m. the committee will host a listening session and gather community feedback. The city requests that a listening session registration form is completed to attend the virtual event.