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Home My WebLink About08-06-2001 Regular Meeting AGENDA REGULAR MEETING OF CITY OF LA PORTE REDISTRICTING COMMITTEE TO BE HELD AUGUST 6, 2001, IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS OF CITY HALL, 604 W. FAIRMONT PARKWAY, LA PORTE, TEXAS, BEGINNING AT 6:30 P.M. 1. CALL TO ORDER 2. CONSIDER APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON JULY 23, 2001 3. PETITIONS, REMONSTRANCES, COMMi1NICATIONS AND CITIZENS AND TAXPAYERS WISHING TO ADDRESS REDISTRICTING COMMITTEE 4. COMMITTEE REPORT FROM ED MATUSZAK ON MATHEMATICAL EQUAL REPRESENTATION DISTRICT BY DISTRICT 5. PREVIOUS BUSINESS 6. NEW BUSINESS 7. CALENDAR Review Monthly Calendar New Calendar Items and Deadlines 8. COMMITTEE COMMENTS 9. ADJOURNMENT City of La Porte Redistricting Committee Meeting Minutes August 6, 2001 CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Chairman Sidney Grant at 6:30 p.m. Members of the Redistricting Committee Present: Kirby Linscomb, Sidney Grant, Betty Stoumbaugh, Ed Matuszak, Betty Waters, Bernard Legrand, Jesse Wilson, Bob Capen and Claudia Zapata. Members of the Redistricting Committee Absent: Dina Martinez (Alternate Member). Others Present: Assistant City Attorney John Armstrong, Planning Coordinator Masood Malik and City Secretary Martha Gillett. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF MEETING HELD ON JULY 23, 2001 A motion was made by Betty Waters to approve the minutes as presented. Second by Jesse Wilson. The motion carried unanimously. Ayes: Grant, Waters, Stoumbaugh, Linscomb, Wilson, Legrand, Capen, Zapata and Matuszak. Nays: None Abstain: None 3. Petitions, remonstrances, communications and citizens and taxpayers wishing to address redistricting committee. There were no citizens wishing to address the committee. 4. The committee received a report from Ed Matuszak on mathematical equal representation district by district. Mr. Matuszak provided the committee a draft map with newly drawn district lines. The mathematical process included taking the new population 31,880 as provided by the census bureau and dividing it by six districts to equal 5,313 per district. The lines drawn on this first draft map were drawn in such a manner to take into account the guidelines provided by the census bureau that were discussed in the two previous meetings. The committee all agreed this was a good first draft due to the following reasons: • Lines were drawn on easily identifiable boundaries and made cleaner and clearer lines. • • Page 2 - 8-6-01 Minutes Lines kept neighborhoods of similar types and make up together. Lines protected incumbents and kept them within their current districts. Lines were drawn in attempt to be relatively equal in population. Handouts were provided to the committee from Planning Coordinator Masood Malik and Ed Matuszak. It was noted the committee would also review the guidelines to be passed by City Council at the 8/13/01 meeting in working on future maps and recommendations. The committee discussed the following previous business: Chairman Sidney Grant reviewed his notes from the first meeting and reminded the committee of the following guidelines to be followed according to instructions given to the committee by City Council and the City Attorney as part of the guidelines Ordinance: • Where possible, easily identifiable geographic boundaries will be utilized as single member city Council District boundaries; • Historic communities of interest shall be maintained in a single district where possible, and to the extend possible neighborhoods shall not be split when drawing district boundaries; ~! •-~ • It is recognized that due to the size of the City of La Porte, it is ~os~ible to use County voting precincts when drawing district boundaries; • The new district plan shall be based on the existing Benchmark plan, to the extent possible; • Districts shall be drawn relatively equal in population size and in no event shall there be a plus or minus five percent (10% maximum to minimum) deviation in population between districts; • Districts shall be drawn that are compact and contiguous; • The new district plan shall recognize incumbent/constituency relationships, and consideration shall be given to the preservation of incumbent-constituency relationships by recognition of the residence of existing members of the City Council, and their history in representing their current Districts; • The plan shall be narrowly tailored to avoid retrogression to the extent possible in the position of racial minorities and language minorities as defined in the Voting Rights Act of 1965 as amended, with respect to their effective exercise of the electoral franchise. i Minutes -Page 3 6. New Business i The committee agreed that all maps should be dated and numbered starting with the existing map being numbered as the first one. It was noted all maps would be sent as exhibits to the Justice Department with the submission proposal. Chairman Sidney Grant requested Mr. Matuszak to revisit the lines and numbers in order to get the numbers closer to the 5,313 per district. Mr. Matuszak requested each committee member to provide input and mark maps with his or her comments and recommendations. Each committee member provided input and suggestions following provided guidelines. 7. Calendar The calendar was reviewed and discussed. Meetings were set for the month of October. The committee discussed meeting on October 1, 15 and 29t" of October 2001. Motion was made by Bob Capen to accept the meeting dates as discussed for the month of October. Second by Jesse Wilson. The motion carried unanimously. Ayes: Grant, Waters, Stoumbaugh, Linscomb, Wilson, Legrand, Capen, Zapata and Matuszak. Nays: None Abstain: None The committee had no further comments. 9. Motion was made by Bob Capen to adjourn the meeting. Second by Betty Stoumbaugh. The motion carried unanimously. Ayes: Grant, Waters, Stoumbaugh, Linscomb, Wilson, Legrand, Capen, Zapata and Matuszak. Nays: None Abstain: None There being no further business, the Redistricting Committee Meeting was duly adjourned at 8:05 p.m. • Minutes -Page 4 Respectfully submitted, ,, ~~ ~ ~.. ~ ~~~~~~ /~ `i,' L ~ ,r2 Sidney ant, Chairman Martha A. 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