Burlington City Council President Joan Shannon today announced that the first meeting of the newly reconstituted City Council’ s Special Committee on Ward Redistricting will be held tomorrow, Tuesday, March 19, 2012 from 7-9 pm in the Community Room at the Burlington Police Department at One North Avenue. The public is welcome and encouraged to attend and share its input.
Redistricting is the process of adjusting electoral district boundaries to meet US Constitutional requirements of ‘ one person, one vote’ by ensuring approximately equal representation. Based on the 2010 US Census, the City has determined that Wards 4 and 7 are over-represented, and Ward 1 is under-represented, and therefore, ward boundaries must be re-drawn.
The committee is tasked with recommending a proposal that meets the legal requirement regarding equal representation of all residents as determined by the census. Before a redistricting plan can go into effect, a City Charter change must be approved by the voters of Burlington and the Vermont State Legislature.
The City Council recently added representatives from the City’ s Neighborhood Planning Assemblies (NPAs) to the Redistricting Committee, which previously consisted of four City Councilors and the Mayor. City Council President Joan Shannon stated: ‘ I’ m very glad to have active NPA involvement in the Committee. By law, the City Council needs to get a redistricting plan to the voters for their consideration. The NPA representatives are perfectly suited to the task of developing the best possible plan to recommend to the City Council.’
The Redistricting Committee members include the following NPA representatives:
James Langan (Ward 1)
Japhet Els (Ward 2)
Nancy Greenwalt (Ward 3)
Jim Holway (Ward 4)
Elisa Nelson (Ward 5)
Andy Montroll (Ward 6)
Jason L'Ecuyer (Ward 7)
The seven NPA representatives will join Mayor Miro Weinberger, Councilor Sharon Bushor (Ward 1), Councilor Rachel Siegel (Ward 3), Council President Joan Shannon (Ward 5), and Councilor Paul Decelles (Ward 7) as members of the Committee.
The NPA alternates, who will serve only if a Committee member resigns, include:
Peg Boyle Single (Ward 1)
Lluvia Mulvaney-Stanak (Ward 2)
Ita Meno (Ward 3)
George Gamache (Ward 4)
Bill Keogh (Ward 5)
Michael Rooney (Ward 6)
Helen Hossley (Ward 7)
Further, the City Council hired professional facilitator Cindy Cook of Adamant Accord, Inc. to guide the Committee’ s work. Facilitator Cook noted: ‘ I grew up in Burlington, and have a deep affection for the City. I’ m looking forward to working with the Committee and the public to get input from a broad a range of perspectives and to develop a districting plan that suits the City well.’
The Committee encourages public input regarding factors it should consider as it develops and assesses redistricting options. Please email comments to the Committee’ s Facilitator, Cindy Cook, at [email protected].
The Committee will hold a public listening session early on in the current process and will announce the date as soon as possible. The City Council has asked that the Redistricting Committee make its recommendation to the City Council by mid-June.
To learn more about the Redistricting Committee and to get current information about tomorrow’ s meetings and future meetings, please visit http://www.burlingtonvt.gov/CityCouncil/Ward-Redistricting/.