The drawing of new district boundaries by the Clark County Council may finally reach a resolution in the next few weeks as a public hearing is set for 6 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 7.
The Clark County Redistricting Committee reconvened on Jan. 20 after the Clark County Council put the decision on new boundaries back into the committee’s consideration earlier that week.
Following the hearing, the committee plans to meet on Feb. 16 for its final approval of a map, which will then go before the county council again for approval or amendments.
The decision landed back in the hands of the committee after a majority of the county council determined the redistricting committee did not follow proper procedure. Instead of receiving a single map to consider, the council received three.
The multiple maps followed a deadlocked committee as they attempted to select a single new set of boundaries in December. One of the maps was favored by two of the Republicans on the committee, one was favored by two Democrats and Republican Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey, and the third option featured a compromise between the two maps which was designed by the county’s Geographical Information Services (GIS.) In order to be approved, one map needed four out of five committee members’ approval.
A chief difference among the Democrat- and Republican-favored maps related to the council’s current makeup. The boundaries favored by the Democrats would have had three councilors living in a single district, while the Republican-backed one made adjustments to prevent that scenario.
The county is adjusting its council districts following the approval of an amendment to the Clark County Charter by voters in November. The amendment changes the number of districts in the county from four to five, and makes the current at-large chair position the representative for the new fifth district.
At the Jan. 20 committee meeting, Clark County Geographical Information Services Analyst Paul Newman, who serves as the redistricting master for the county process, supported the boundaries favored by the Democrats and Kimsey.
“As a professional, when we redistrict Clark County councilor districts for population and other items, it is most appropriate to keep the councilor districts as close as possible to what was approved by voters on the November 2021 ballot,” Newman said.
That map will be under consideration by the public at the Feb. 7 hearing.
“The voters’ decision in November is something that should be a very strong guidance in this redistricting effort,” Kimsey said.
The new boundaries need to maintain a nearly equal population in each district and compactness, as well as placing communities of similar interests in the same district.
Following the hearing and approval by the committee, the Clark County Council will have final say on whether to approve the boundaries as-is or make amendments. Amended areas may not include more than 2% of the population of any council district and would require a two-thirds vote for approval, according to the Clark County Charter.
Information on how to access the Feb. 7 hearing is available online at clark.wa.gov/councilors/redistricting-committee.
