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Update: New JCC Redistricting Plan Cuts Different Supes From DistrictsWednesday, April 06, 2011 Another member of James City County’s citizen redistricting committee has submitted a map option, this time giving minorities more voting strength and keeping large communities whole while cutting two Republicans out of their current districts. The ten-person citizen committee appointed by the Board of Supervisors met for the first time last week to redraw the county’s districts to reflect new census data. At that time, a Republican-appointed member and head of the committee, Jeff Ryer, offered the group a look at his suggested redistricting map which shifted both Democratic supervisors out of their districts (read that story here).Democrat-appointed committee member Debbie Kratter lives in Ford’s Colony, which would be split in Ryers map. On Tuesday evening, she shared the map option she’d created with the group and the press. In Kratter’s map, large communities are kept together, but Supervisor Bruce Goodson’s Kingsmill neighborhood and Mary Jones’ Jamestown Hundred neighborhood are both moved into Democrat John McGlennon’s Jamestown District. Kratter had said at the first committee meeting that she wanted to try to create a majority/minority district in the county. While this wasn’t possible, she did manage to separate the Grove community from Kingsmill in her alternative by snaking Goodson’s Roberts District north along Route 199, which would help give “historical minority communities” more of a voting voice. “Current and proposed districts put Grove in with Kingsmill – clearly a community with very different interests and needs,” Kratter says. “District 5 [Roberts] would instead provide not a majority/minority district, but at least one that allows minorities and certain other low income residents to play a much more significant role as voters and constituents.” Kratter also significantly changes the current Berkeley District, making it more compact and shifting it east. The new Berkeley “includes a high proportion of large land owners, who themselves have interests distinct from those who live in the county’s many subdivisions and planned unit developments,” she says. The Powhatan District becomes less compact in her proposal, reaching further north, while the Jamestown District reaches further south. Though compactness is one criteria the group is supposed to consider during the process, according to Kratter, “in a relatively small county like James City, the importance of ‘compactness’ is not high because of the ease with which one can travel the length and breadth of any of the entire county, let alone any one of the proposed districts. “These districts readily allow candidates and elected officials alike to know their neighborhoods and neighbors.” The committee will likely discuss Kratter’s option when they meet Thursday. Their meeting will be held at 4:30 p.m. in the board room of building F at the county government complex on Mounts Bay Road. The public is welcome to attend meetings or submit comments via email to redistricting@james-city.va.us or by calling the secretary to the Board at 253-6609. Citizens may also submit maps to the above email address. Map email attachments should be no larger than 10 MB and submitted as a pdf file or Microsoft Word document, and should include contact information. If needed, James City County will provide access to data, software and current maps available only at County offices. Call 253-6654 for more information.
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Comments
1)It's correct Goodson and Jones would not be able to run in their new district until the next election cycle.
2)This reporter can't assume Kratter drew a district with one candidate in mind, as she did not say this.
3)While there wasn't time before the story ran to find where all the school board members lived, it is very possible that is correct. In the other map submitted by Ryer, three SB members are affected. One redistricting criteria is to avoid putting incumbents (such as SB members) in the same district. Both maps do this.
4)Kratter's map does deviate more than Ryer's. The deviation allowable is plus or minus five percent from the goal population.
5)The committee is working under a set of guidelines, none of which is weighted higher than another. One of those guidelines is to keep 'communities of interest' together. The committee said at their last meeting that a neighborhood is considered one such community.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the matter -- that's what community conversation is all about. The redistricting process is very complex, and many of these issues as well as others will likely come up at Thursday's meeting, which WYDaily will share with readers.
One last point: The map was released in a format WYDaily cannot easily transfer online with our current system. We're working on it. Thanks.
"Ladies and Gentleman
I have attached for your consideration an alternative version of a 5 -district map for Supervisors of James City County.
In developing this map, the primary consideration, among the several that were presented to and adopted by the Board of Supervisors, wasmaintaining communities of interest. In a relatively small county like James City, the importance of “compactness” is not high because of the ease with which one can travel the length and breadth of any of the entire county, let alone any one of the proposed districts. These districts readily allow candidates and elected officials alike to know their neighborhoods and neighbors.
Among the most important communities addressed by this mapare our historically minority communities, principally in the Grove section of the county. Current and proposed districts put Grove in with Kingsmill – clearly a community with very different interests and needs. District 5 would instead provide not a majority/minori ty district, but at least one that allows minorities and certain other low income residents to play a much more significant role as voters and constituents.
This plan also retains the cohesiveness of other large communities of interest such as Ford’s Colony , Kingsmill and Governors Land. In addition, District 3 includes a high proportion of large land owners, who themselves have interests distinct from those who live in the county’s many subdivisions and planned unit developments.
I would like to add a personal note of thanks and commendation to Kim Hazelwood who assisted enormously, and with good cheer. Credit also goes to Craig Metcalfe, a resident of the county who has spent many, many hours working on the issue of redistricting, not only in the county, but the Commonwealth of Virginia.
I look forward to our discussion of this alternative on Thursday.
Deborah Kratter"
The following facts of her map have not been reported.
1. Goodson and Jones not only share a district now, but are unable to run for office this year.
2. Her map draws an exclusive district for Democratic Candidate Carlton Stockton
3.There are 4 school board reps in 2 districts, a big concern of Jarman, Koch/Larson, Kelly/Fuentes
4. The deviation range is 9%, current proposal is 4.4%
5. When was it ever a concern that Gated Communities remain whole? The commentary grouping low income and minorities as exclusives is an elitist attitude. Even if this district were to be created, the power of the community lies in special interests, namely gated communities.