HomeMy WebLinkAbout032661 RES - 02/08/2022Resolution adopting criteria for use in the 2022 redistricting process;
and adopting guidelines for other entities submitting redistricting
plans.
WHEREAS, this City Council has certain responsibilities for redistricting under
federal and state law including but not limited to Amendments 14 and 15 to the United
States Constitution, U.S.C.A.; section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, 52 U.S.C.A. §10301;
City Charter Art. II, Sec. 1; and Tex. Gov't Code Ann. §§ 2058.001 and 2058.002; and
WHEREAS, a review of the 2020 census data reveals that a population imbalance
exists among the City's councilmember districts requiring redistricting of those districts;
and
WHEREAS, it is the intent of the City to comply with the Voting Rights Act and with
all other relevant law, including Shaw v. Reno jurisprudence; and
WHEREAS, a set of established redistricting criteria will serve as a framework to
guide the City in the formulation and consideration of districting plans; and
WHEREAS, redistricting criteria will provide the City a means by which to evaluate
proposed plans; and
WHEREAS, redistricting criteria will assist the City in its efforts to comply with all
applicable federal and state laws; and
WHEREAS, it is necessary to provide for the orderly consideration and evaluation
of redistricting plans which may come before the Council;
WHEREAS, these guidelines for entities submitting specific redistricting plans help
to provide an orderly evaluation process; and
WHEREAS, the Council also welcomes any comments relevant to the redistricting
process.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED AND ORDERED, that
Section 1. The City Council, in its adoption of a redistricting plan for councilmember
districts, will adhere to the following criteria to the greatest practical extent when
establishing new councilmember district boundaries:
A. Easily identifiable geographic boundaries should be followed.
B. Communities of interest should be maintained in a single district, and
attempts should be made to avoid splitting neighborhoods.
C. Councilmember districts should be composed of whole voting precincts.
Where this is not possible or practicable, districts should be drawn
considering county election precincts. Avoid splitting census blocks unless
necessary.
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SCANNED
D.
E.
G.
H.
Although it is recognized that existing districts will have to be altered to
reflect new population distribution in the City, any districting plan should be
based on existing districts.
Districts must be configured so that they are relatively equal in total
population according to the 2020 federal census. In no event should the
total population deviation between the largest and the smallest district
exceed ten percent as compared to the ideal district size.
The districts should be compact and composed of contiguous territory.
Compactness may contain a functional, as well as a geographical,
dimension.
Consideration may be given to the preservation of incumbent -constituency
relations by recognition of the residence of incumbents and their history in
representing certain areas.
The plan should be narrowly tailored to avoid racial gerrymandering in
violation of Shaw v. Reno.
I. The plan should not fragment a geographically compact minority community
or pack minority voters in the presence of polarized voting or otherwise
discriminate against protected groups so as to create liability under the
Voting Rights Act.
Section 2.
value, the
submitting
A.
B.
C.
D.
In order to ensure that a redistricting plan submitted by another entity provides
City Council hereby sets the following guidelines to be followed by an entity
a proposed redistricting plan for consideration:
The proposed plan must be submitted in writing and be legible.
The proposed plan must show the total population and voting age
population for each proposed council district based on the 2020 Census
Data.
The proposed plan should redistrict the entire City.
The proposed plan should conform to the redistricting criteria the Council
will be using in drawing the districts.
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PASSED AND APPROVED on the day of
Paulette M. Guajardo
Roland Barrera
Gil Hernandez
Michael Hunter
Billy Lerma
John Martinez
Ben Molina
Mike Pusley
Greg Smith
ATTEST:
2022:
OF CORPUS CHRISTI
Rebecca Huerta Paulette M. Guajardo
City Secretary
Mayor
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