St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley has appointed the 14 members of a commission that would redistrict county council boundaries to conform to the 2010 Census. He announced his selections in letters the county council made public today.
The last time a redistricting commission - seven Democrats and seven Republicans -succeeded in drawing council district boundaries was after the 1970 Census. Federal judges established the boundaries after the last three censuses.
U.S. District Judge Catherine Perry drew the current boundaries after the last redistricting commission deadlocked in late December of 2001. Her boundaries established districts of about145,000 people each with the difference being only 331 people between the smallest district -the 1st - and the largest district -the 4th.
Mike Jones, Dooley's senior policy advisor, said redistricting should be easier this time because the county is built up. Last time, the largest variation from the target number of 145,188residents was 33,465. This time the largest variation from the target number of 142,707 is 8,877.The redistricters must get as close to the target number - one seventh of the county's population, as possible.
Last time, the 7th District in west St. Louis County had the largest variation; it had too many residents. This time, the population of the 1st District in north central St. Louis County was furthest from the target; it had too few of them. In both the 2000 and 2010 censuses the 6th and7th districts, in South County and West County, respectively had more than the target number; all other districts had too few.
Earlier today, St. Louis County planners provided 2010 census data by population and race. It showed the 4th District joined the 1st District in having a population whose majority is African-American. Federal civil rights law require redistricters to pay attention to minority groups to make sure new boundaries do not dilute their chance of electing one of their number.
The change in 4th District in the northeast corner of the county generally north of Interstate 270may reopen one of the biggest issues in the last redistricting debate - whether to draw the boundaries of the 4th District to make easier electing a black to the council.
Elbert Walton, a controversial lawyer and former state representative and an expert in redistricting, in 2001 unsuccessfully pushed for a 4th District with a substantial black majority." Black people are moving in in droves while white voters are moving out," Walton said in February 2002 after Perry redrew the boundaries.
The new Census data back him up. The number of blacks in the 4th District grew to 85,082 in the last 10 years, an increase of almost 25,000. Meanwhile, the white population fell to 50,355,a drop of more than 30,000. Blacks now make up 60.7 percent of that district's population.
The county charter makes the redistricting highly partisan. Dooley must select commission members from two people the Democratic and Republican county central committee nominate for each council district. Each party gets a member in each district. The charter shuts out other parties by saying only county central committees of the two parties that had the most votes for governor in the last election can suggest commission members.
The charter requires nine favorable commission votes to adopt a new map, meaning that one party needs at least two votes from the other to push through a map.
The members of the commission are:* 1st District - Former State Rep. Donald Calloway, D-Bel-Nor, Democrat and Sarah Davoli, University Township committee woman, Republican.* 2nd District - Rhoda Gwaltney, wife of Edmundson Mayor John Gwaltney, Democrat, and Becky Buwalda, Airport Township committeewoman, Republican.* 3rd District - Former State Rep. Sam Page, D-Creve Coeur, Democrat, and Jeff Yorg, an attorney with the Husch Blackwell law firm, Republican.* 4th District - James McHugh, a former aide to the late St. Louis County Executive George "Buzz" Westfall, Democrat, and Bryan Koen, Florissant Township committeeman, Republican.* 5th District, Art Martin, an attorney from University City, Democrat, and David Stokes of the Show Me Institute and an former administrative assistant to former St. Louis Councilman KurtOdenwald, R-Shrewsbury, Republican.* 6th District, former St. Louis County Councilman Jeff Wagener, D-south St. Louis County, Democrat, and former State Rep. Jack Goldman, R-south St. Louis County, Republican.* 7th District, Francis "Butch" Miller, a lawyer with Gallup, Johnson and Neuman and son of Loraine Miller, Queeny Township committeewoman and administrative assistant to St. Louis County Councilwoman Kathleen Kelly Burkett, D-Overland, Democrat, and former State Rep. Allen Icet, R-Wildwood, Republican. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) |
