New County Redistricting Plans Proposed

Just hours before a May 11 meeting of the Washtenaw County apportionment commission, which begins at 5:30 p.m., several new plans to redistrict the county board of commissioners have been submitted for consideration. In total, 10 plans will be considered by the commission – they are now posted in the lower-level conference room in the county building at 200 N. Main St. in Ann Arbor, and are available for public viewing before the 5:30 p.m. meeting. The meeting is also open to the public.

Redistricting occurs every 10 years, based on population changes determined by the U.S. census. There are currently 11 districts represented on the county board of commissioners, including four in Ann Arbor. Now being considered are plans for 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 21 districts.

Until now, only two plans had been offered: one for 9 districts, another for 12. The five-member commission is expected to adopt one of the 10 plans at Wednesday’s meeting, although their deadline for completing this process is June 6. For additional background about the redistricting process, see Chronicle coverage: “No Decision Yet on County Redistricting,” “County Board Districts Likely to Change,” “Public Gives Input on County Redistricting,” “Washtenaw Redistricting Work Begins” and “County Clerk Outlines Redistricting Process.”

A detailed report of the final meeting will follow: [link]