Title
Districting Process Advisory Committee Preliminary Report to City Council and City Clerk
Presenter:
Chair, Districting Process Advisory Committee
Body
Summary:
City Council, in accordance with City Code Section 5.1.402, convened a Districting Process Advisory Committee by appointing seven committee members on May 24, 2016, which serves as an advisory committee to oversee the public process, educate the public, assist the City Clerk, and advise City Council on the districting process. By City Code, City Council districts are redistricted every four years in the even year before district Councilmembers are elected.
Previous Council Action:
This is the first time a Districting Process Advisory Committee has been convened, after the relevant City Code section was adopted by City Council in 2013.
Background:
The City of Colorado Springs has a Council-Mayor form of government. The nine member City Council acts as the City’s legislative body and the members are elected by the people to serve a four year term of office. The nine members include three at-large members and six district members. The Mayor, a fulltime position, acts as the Chief Executive Officer of the City and is elected by the people to serve a four year term of office.
The Districting Process Advisory Committee consists of one member from each of the six council districts and one member at-large, all of whom are registered electors of the city. City Council is required to strive for gender, racial, ethnic, age and geographic diversity of the committee members. The Committee will prepare a final Advisory Committee report and submit it to City Council in November or December 2016.
City Charter requires the City Clerk to redraw the six City Council district boundaries every four years. Neither City Council nor the Mayor has approval authority over any plan relating to district boundaries. Some relevant details regarding the districting process are as follows:
• Only complete precincts will be moved from one district to another.
• The Clerk will release a preliminary district report on October 1, 2016 and will hold a public hearing in October.
• The Clerk will release the final district report, setting the district boundaries, between November 5, 2016 and December 5, 2016.
• Districts must be substantially equal in population, contiguous, and comply with the Voting Rights Act, City Charter and City Code.
This item supports the City’s strategic goal relating to building community and collaborative relationships. Complying with City Code provisions relating to public input on districting helps to ensure that citizen representation on City Council is based on district boundaries that have been fairly and thoroughly considered.
Financial Implications:
N/A
Board/Commission Recommendation:
The Districting Process Advisory report is attached to this memo.
Stakeholder Process:
The committee has met regularly since their appointment to plan their work and discuss public input, and hosted seven public input meetings (one in each of the six Council districts and one “at-large”) during July 2016 to solicit input for the City Clerk’s consideration in drawing the new district boundaries. The Committee’s report includes a summary of the public comment and a recommendation on possible district boundaries.
Alternatives:
N/A
Recommended Action
Proposed Motion:
N/A
Summary of Ordinance Language
N/A