By DAVID A. MANN
David.Mann@newsandtribune.com
JEFFERSONVILLE —
Geographically, the Jeffersonville City Council’s biggest legislative district will be one of its smallest from a population standpoint.
But wait — they’re using 10-year-old population numbers to estimate the population in an area where many houses have been built since 2000. So perhaps, the biggest district geographically is also the biggest population-wise. Precincts are being split among two districts, meaning there could be two different ballots in one precinct next election. Accusations and even legal threats are being made.
And the council will have to do this all over again next year when new Census figures are released.
All of the above are among the circumstances being considered as the council is preparing to adopt a new district map, which will dictate which council member represents which citizens.
The city annexed areas north and east of the old city limits in 2008, 2009 and 2010 — increasing the city’s population. As a result of having a larger population, it voted to reclassify Jeffersonville from a third-class to second-class city under a state classification system.
That reclassification, among other items, calls for a bigger city council — with six district members as a opposed to the current five district members. So now, a six-district map has to be adopted before next year — when the next municipal election takes place.
During a Tuesday night meeting, members of the council introduced the latest iteration of the six-district map, albeit not without criticism from those who opposed the annexation from the beginning.
“We know the populations out there are higher than the 2000 census says,” Council attorney Greg Clark admitted.
The problem is that the council has to use some set of numbers and Clark argues that — after consulting with state representatives — the 2000 census figures are the most legally defensible.
“It’s 10 years ago and a lot’s happened in those areas,” Clark told the council, but said the only other defensible option would be call for a special census count.
“And that costs a ton of money. The council’s really in between a rock and a hard place.”
The possible poster child of areas miscounted is Charlestown No. 7. The city annexed only a small portion of the precinct, just north of Salem-Noble Road. A consultant the council hired estimated the population at 992 people when it first began discussing redistricting earlier this year. Now, using census blocks from the 2000 census, its population is estimated at only 172 people.
“They know Charlestown No. 7 has 800 more people than they are willing to count,” argues Bruce Herdt, who challenged the annexation that started this process. He accuses the council of intentionally miscounting because it doesn’t want to pay for the cost of a population study.
Not doing would so leave one member of the council representing a disproportionally large number of people living in the newly annexed area, he said.
Council President Nathan Samuel took issue with the accusation that the council is trying to under-represent the newly annexed area.
“I want to say unequivocally that is totally incorrect, that is totally false,” Samuel said at the end of the meeting.
The council is expected to vote on the new map at its next meeting, later this month. Herdt indicated after the meeting that more legal action could follow, citing federal cases which upheld the use of nondecennial population counts data in redistricting.
It’s not simply a matter of drawing lines, Clark points out. The redistricting has to keep current council members in the current districts and population numbers have to be evenly divided.
In other business
• A resolution condemning tolls as a means of paying for the Ohio River Bridges Project died for lack of a second. Councilman Keith Fetz introduced such a motion, saying “I believe looking at tolls as an alternative [for funding the project] is an economic disaster.”
The New Albany City Council recently passed a resolution condemning tolls. And the Louisville Metro Council is considering a similar measure. Tolls as much as $3 have been proposed as a means of paying for the bridges project, which would build two spans over the Ohio River in Utica and Jeffersonville. It also would revamp Louisville’s Spaghetti Junction, where interstates 64, 65 and 71 converge. Business representatives from Louisville and Jeffersonville spoke against the tolls prior to the vote.
• The council approved $50,400 over three years to pay for a proposed public Wi-Fi hotspot over Spring Street and other areas. An additional vote by the Jeffersonville Redevelopment Commission is needed before the project begins. Look for an in depth look at the proposal later this week in The Evening News.
