BY MARK J. CRAWFORD
Telegraph Editor
STARKE — Starke City Manager Drew Mullins has proposed a new voting district map, and the public is invited to comment on Feb. 15.
This will be the first time the city has undertaken redistricting since the districts were first created in the 1980s. For the past few months, the city has been seeking a consultant to work with its attorney on the process.
With the assistance of a software application and the county elections office, however, Mullins was able to redraw district lines that evened out the populations between the five districts and ensured that District 2 would remain a majority minority voting district.
“It checks off all the boxes,” he said.
In fact, in terms of population parity, the map beats the accepted margin of 3% to 5% difference. The population difference between districts is below 1.5%. This is important in preserving the Constitution-based principal of one person, one vote, as Mayor Janice Mortimer pointed out.
“Which is another reason why we really had to do this because we haven’t done anything in over 30 years,” she said.
It also meets the court-ordered demand for a majority minority district, providing District 2 with a 74% minority population, which includes nearly 63% Black residents and more than 8% Hispanic residents.
The maps are based on 2020 census data. Commissioner Danny Nugent tried to argue that the construction of new apartments and subdivisions meant that population would continue to shift, and so a new map would soon be out of date. He wanted to wait.
“Half my district’s gone,” said Nugent, whose seat in District 1 is open for election later this year, along with districts 3 and 5.
The other commissioners did not agree, and neither did Mullins, who said redistricting is based on the most recent data collected, not on future assumptions.
“The reason I didn’t take that in consideration is I don’t like to go off of what ifs. I like hard data,” he said. That information showed the districts varied in population by several hundred residents. Districts 2 and 3 had around 600 and 800 residents. District 1 had around 1,100, and the rest resided in Districts 4 and 5. It was obvious the larger districts would be smaller when the lines were redrawn.
Mullins credited Matt Barksdale, assistant supervisor of elections office, for introducing him to the software program.
“I was astounded when I saw it,” Mortimer said. “This is what we needed.”
It also appears a money-saving choice for the commission, as the single consultant responding to their search proposed a fee around $40,000. There will still be legal costs. Up to $30,000 has been authorized, and if a subcontract with a consultant is needed during the process, fees will be paid from that set-aside. There will at minimum be a $3,000 retainer for the consultant, but $30,000 in attorney and consultant fees is far less than $70,000.
Public input on the map will coincide with two ordinance readings to approve the redistricted map. Those readings will be separated by a court review of the changes. Pending court approval, the second ordinance reading with put the changes in place.
Mortimer wanted an additional workshop to give the public a chance to comment prior to the process beginning. She said it could help when the map goes before court to show that there is community support.
That public comment opportunity will take place during the first hour of the commission’s meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 15, at 5:30 p.m.
