York Supes Select Redistricting Option

Friday, April 22, 2011

York County Supervisors unanimously chose a redistricting option Tuesday evening. The option was supported by a majority of citizens. At the meeting, several citizens also asked that the Board consider adding two more at-large Supervisors.

The Board had to choose between two options. The option chosen, labeled B2, keeps districts compact and contiguous and shifts the least amount of people. The other option was based on a suggestion by Supervisor Walt Zaremba (labeled E2) and would have created a less-compact map but would help residents in District 1 have better representation, Zaremba argued. The Board chose B2 4-0 (Zaremba was absent and did not vote). Several citizens came to speak out in support of option B2, and most also petitioned the Board to consider adding two at-large Board seats, which wouldn’t change the number of districts.

Option B2 will shift about 5,000 people. The area bordered by Yorktown Road, Moore House Road and the Coast Guard Station would shift from District 1 to District 3, and another small piece of 3 would transfer to 1. This area is described by staff as a “ponytail” of District 1, as it looks like a peninsula jutting into District 3. By moving it, the “ponytail” effect would be removed. Other small areas in the remaining districts will also be shifted. (View the map here).

Board members said most constituents they’d talked to favored the B2 option.

Supervisor Tom Shepperd said creating a district that looked as though it had been gerrymandered could “run afoul” of citizens, which was one reason he voted for B2.

Chairman George Hrichak said B2 was very compact and contiguous. He also said he and other supervisors often travel outside their district and will continue to do so, which should alleviate any sense that District 1 is isolated.

Several citizens came to the meeting to support the B2 option, generally because it was compact and contiguous as opposed to E2, which had District 1 “strung along forever,” according to county resident Joseph Taylor.

Citizen Mary Leedom suggested the board add two more elected seats, one for chairman and another at-large member, which would increase representation for citizens and make supervisors even more available to constituents.

This would mean each citizen would have three representatives. Many nearby communities have seven or more Board members, she pointed out, and the Board has already increased the county’s Chesapeake Bay Wetlands Board and the Planning Commission to seven members.

Most citizens speaking at the meeting supported her idea, but the Board did not discuss it specifically Tuesday.