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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-18-2007 Minutes MINUTES OF THE CITY OF OCOEE DISTRICTING COMMISSION MEETING HELD JANUARY 18, 2007 CALL TO ORDER City Clerk Eikenberry called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. in the Commission Chambers. Member Grafton then led in prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. The roll was called and a quorum declared present. PRESENT Members Dan Blankenship, Matt Garland, Jean Grafton, Rob McKey, and Rosemarie Morganto. Also present were City Attorney Paul Rosenthal, Orange County Supervisor of Elections Mapping Supervisor Beverly Willis, Staff GIS Analyst Michael O'Halloran, City Clerk Beth Eikenberry and Records Coordinator Holly Moseley. ABSENT None The members of the Districting Commission briefly introduced themselves. ELECTION OF OFFICERS Member Grafton nominated Dan Blankenship as Chairman. Member Blankenship nominated Rob McKey as chairman. Member McKev. seconded bv Member Blankenshio. moved to nominate Jean Grafton as Chair of the Districting Commission. Motion carried unanimouslv. Member Garland. seconded bv Member Morflanto. moved to nominate Dan Blankenshiv as Vice-Chairman of the Districtin$! Commission. Motion carried unanimous Iv. REPORT ON LEGAL ISSUES City Attorney Rosenthal discussed the Florida Sunshine Law for those who have never served on a board. He also explained the rules of the Public Records Law and how it applies to this committee. He stated, as the City Clerk mentioned, this committee is formed as a charter requirement. Most districting committees meet every ten years, rather than five, because census data comes out every ten years. When the current charter was rewritten and sent to voters some years back, the committee felt that Ocoee was experiencing dramatic growth and having the committee every ten years would make Ocoee to fall behind. That idea has turned out to be accurate, great growth has occurred between the censuses, however, it requires a lot more guess work because of the census not being up to date. City Attorney Rosenthal stated that districting is based on pure population and not registered voters or active voters. He said they may take into account the number of registered voters and active voters and balance that with the population; however, the goal is to create districts that are City of Ocoee Districting Commission Meeting January 18,2007 equal to population. The current estimated population of Ocoee is 32,175 and each district should have 8,044 voters. The allowable 10% deviation for that would be 7,642 - 8,666 people in each. He emphasized that these numbers should not be their target, but a general range. They should aim for a 5% or less deviation. He explained the requirements of how the district lines must be drawn. City Attorney Rosenthal said it was legally permissible to maintain minimal disruption of existing districts. It is permissible to look at data related to party affiliation to the extent they feel it is relevant. It is permissible to look at the incumbent elected officials, where they live, and where they fit in the district, and whether any redistricting will impact those elected officials. However, they do not need to redraw the district to ensure that an elected official remain in their current district. He reminded the committee that they are an advisory group to the City Commission; therefore, the City Commission has to vote on their proposal and would look at where they live in terms of the redrawn district lines. City Attorney Rosenthal explained the City Charter and the requirements for the Districting Commission explained therein. He said the last Districting Commission had a lot of data put together and they also took a field trip to the Supervisor of Elections office and viewed some computerized mapping data. Chair Grafton inquired about their schedule calling for a public hearing, since she saw that they had one last time, and asked if that was a state statute. City Attorney Rosenthal said it was not a state statute requirement and was not sure of their time schedule. City Clerk Eikenberry said the City Charter gives them up to one year. City Attorney Rosenthal suggested they hold a public hearing first, prior to going to City Commission. He explained that anything the Districting Commission does will not affect the election of March 2007. Member Blankenship said he understood that it must be based on population, but inquired if they could take into account the projected growth of Ocoee. City Attorney Rosenthal said it could not be based on projected growth; however, the projections of growth to the north and south had a play in the past in that the district was a little lighter in those areas. BRIEFING ON CURRENT STATUS OF DISTRICTS Orange County Supervisor of Elections Mapping Supervisor Willis introduced herself, presented hand-outs from the census bureau, and gave a detailed overview of redistricting guidelines, district profiles, voter data, dot density maps, and city district maps. She said that drawing single member districts is a simple concept based on equal population, according to recent counts on census, but may be tricky as well. She said that the ten year counts done by the Census Bureau are the only accepted population numbers used. Ms. Willis said that they are in mid-decade and have nothing new other than generalized estimates. The more time that passes from the time of the census, the more problematic it becomes to try to recreate population counts down to the block level, which is what they would be doing. 2 City of Ocoee Districting Commission Meeting January 18, 2007 A local jurisdiction can try to project a mid-decade drawing of a population count, but not normally a very reliable method. Many other jurisdictions are not planning a mid-decade drawing and are waiting for the ten year census. She said it is their decision to wait for ten year a census, SOE recommends waiting. Ms. Willis discussed the census timeline. She said that the census is taken on in April 2010 and the numbers are released in within a year. Therefore, it will be 2011 before you have actual numbers to work with. SOE recommends they concentrate more on educating public on the importance of the census and why they should participate in that. She stated there is lot of work to be done to make sure addresses and municipal boundaries are up to date with the census. She also emphasized that making sure the group living quarters are identified, such as nursing homes, campgrounds, etc. Ms. Willis went over the time line of what happened in 2001 and explained that most municipalities finished their work in 2001; however, Ocoee did not finish until July 2002. She said even if they do a redrawing now, they will still have to do it again in five years. She handed out a diagram of the hierarchy of the census and explained the census blocks. Ocoee did split some census blocks the last time they redistricted. She said the census blocks do not separate neighborhood boundaries that back up to other neighborhoods or cul-de-sacs; they basically stay on roads. She recommended they try to work with the census blocks. Ms. Willis said another big issue to be aware of is that the census does not count race, but origins. If they are concerned if they have enough of one race to make up a district, it has to be kept separate from the population. She explained the level of detail in the fact sheet information given every ten years, such as economic and social characteristics, rent/own, etc. She invited those to visit the census web site to play around with those things. She said that Ocoee's population trends as 1990 census said that they had 12,778 people and the 2000 said 24,391, they almost doubled. She said that shows their growth level and can help them with seeing their trend. Ms. Willis said she would like them to focus on the partner with the census bureau page. It has a lot of information about you as a city getting all of your counts in as soon and as accurately as possible. She went over the time line for 2008-2012 for census coming up in 2010. Census is working on project called LUCA (Local Update on Census Addresses) and Ocoee's planning department should be working with them. She explained it is a way to make sure all address and group housing, annexation, etc. is up to date with the census. They have a cut-off date of when they freeze their lines from accepting more information, which is around October 2008. She said Ocoee had areas that grew between 1998-2000, but the census did not know about those because they were not turned in on time. Ms. Willis said that SOE recommends that, after the 2010 census, that Ocoee move their redistricting date up a bit as to not affect a presidential election year. City Attorney Rosenthal said the City Charter requires them to wait until November to appoint the Districting Commission, which would be too late. He said the charter also states that the new district lines 3 City of Ocoee Districting Commission Meeting January 18,2007 after the 2010 census would not be in affect until at least four months prior to election, and committee isn't appointed until November. Therefore, the first practical time would be 2013. Ms. Willis said the County precincts would not be drawn until July 2012 and SOE cannot redraw precincts until the State is done. She reviewed another hand out of redistricting guidelines including staying on major paved roads, keeping neighborhoods together. She said they can anticipate future growth because you do play with the numbers and they can make one lighter than another because they know it is growing. She said they can look ahead at districts with surrounding areas that may be annexed or have denser subdivisions. Lastly, Ms. Willis discussed a map where she included local updated census address and 2010 census redistricting timeline. She suggested if they try to redraw mid-decade to be very open and clear about how they will come up with those numbers. They do not have a minority district and are lucky in that regard. Ocoee does not really have those types of issues. Their whole methodology of how they create those numbers is to get a close idea of how the next census will come out. She emphasized the importance of being clear as to how they came up with their numbers. Member McKey inquired if there was any data that could provide them with a ratio of race/ethnic areas and how many voters in each group actually turn out to vote. Ms. Willis said there are ways to figure that out, but that is not something they normally keep track of. GIS Analyst O'Halloran introduced himself, presented handouts and said he would be working with the Districting Commission regarding maps and the statistics of the redistricting project. He presented data regarding current district lines and stated new district lines should be drawn to equalize the districts. He also presented another map intending to show the new subdivisions (shown in green) since the last census, in order for them to see where the growth has taken place. He informed the board that he did not have the information on which new developments have been constructed or are occupied now, or the population of them, and suggested they contact the Planning Department for that information. City Attorney Rosenthal said if the green areas are platted, then they are complete with a bond and are no longer than one year old. Chair Grafton inquired if they had the figures for green areas added to existing census, would that give them a defendable figure for population. GIS Analyst O'Halloran explained that they had no defined population numbers; however, the third map assumed population showing drawn units by 3/3.5 people per dwelling unit. He discussed the population was 24,372 as per last census and as of April 2006 was 32,175, creating a growth of 32% since last redistricting. The potential for growth is in certain areas and not others. He said he pulled the maps from the last redistricting and the plan approved had a deviation of2.7% as the largest. He stated once they figure out where our population is and how far each district deviates from the others we can play with the numbers and find a comfortable number. GIS Analyst O'Halloran discussed the third map on right and said they do not have census population numbers mid-decade. This map was done six months ago for a consented use permit in Utility Department to figure out how many water billing customers were expected. They had a 4 City of Ocoee Districting Commission Meeting January 18, 2007 consultant come up with those numbers in 2005 and he basically counted dwelling units and assumed 3.20 people living in each and 3.00 living in multi-family units. GIS Analyst O'Halloran explained they have two different options for coming up with the numbers. First, under the map is a grid made up of small grid cells of .1 acres. Each grid cell is based on their land usage and makes it easy for him to break it up by those cells to figure out how much population is in each district. That map makes it easy for him to manipulate the numbers by cutting up blocks while keeping track of the population in each area. The second method is to take the 2000 census blocks and add in all of our permits and CO's from 2000 until now to come up with an idea of how many more dwelling units have gone in since last census. We would be assuming a 3 people/unit multiplier. Chair Grafton inquired if the second method would be more labor intensive than the first. Mr. O'Halloran said it would be more labor intensive than the cell manipulation, but would have about the same accuracy. Chair Grafton asked if there was a chance to overlay the third map over a census block map. Mr. O'Halloran said he could and presented a census block map used for the last redistricting project to show them. He explained the differences and how much more difficult that process would be than the first. Chair Grafton said she recalls how difficult this process was the last time they redistricted and thought they need to decide if they want to pursue this task again or just wait until the next census in five years. Orange County Supervisor of Elections Mapping Supervisor Willis said that estimating is the only way they would be able to do it, short of doing their own census. City Attorney Rosenthal said they are dealing with a population that is not going to be a huge variation. He thought with the CO's being able to be dropped in the census blocks would be the most accurate way of manipulating the information. He said the Charter allows for them to choose to recommend that no change be made if they conclude that there is not sufficient reliable information available for census. They may recommend to City Commission that no change be made at this time. Member Blankenship asked if our redistricting would have anything to do with SOE. Ms. Willis said no, Ocoee is separate from the County Commission and the School Board. She said the others take lines given by groups like Ocoee; however, Ocoee's lines have nothing to do with the School Board lines or County Commission lines. Member Blankenship was in agreement with Chair Grafton and does not want to grind their wheels for months for nothing. He thought it would be better for them to make a better effort for their 2011 redistricting to come in line with everybody else. Maybe they could move things back, like nominating the redistricting committee so that they are not behind again in getting that done. City Attorney Rosenthal said that would require a charter amendment, but it could be done. Member Blankenship said the big thing is that they want to come in line with everyone else if possible. He thought it would be beneficial for Ocoee to concentrate on doing that. City Attorney Rosenthal explained that when it ultimately reaches the City Commission, their recommendations could be rejected but something still must be done. For instance, if this committee projects that district populations deviate more than ten percent and they recommend a 5 City of Ocoee Districting Commission Meeting January 18, 2007 change, it would be difficult for City Commission to not make a change at that time. However, the City Commission could send it back to the committee for another recommendation. City Attorney Rosenthal suggested they first focus on the model for data population and they might find the districts to be evenly balanced within a 10% deviation, in which nothing would need to be done. GIS Analyst O'Halloran stated an observation or limitation with the map on left is that it does not show the areas of growth in the northwest and northeast boundaries of city as a result of people in those areas moving in after the last census information was turned in. City Attorney Rosenthal gave an example of the area of Brookestone Subdivision, south ofHwy. 50, which he is sure has had some extensive growth since the census. Member Morganto inquired if entering in the information from the CO's since 2000 would give us a more accurate figure than what they have now. Mr. O'Halloran said it would take the give them population, mixed with assumption, but a clearer picture than what they had in 2000. He said the map he has is similar in method as using permits and counts dwelling units as well. Member Morganto asked ifhe could provide them with both compilations. Mr. O'Halloran said he could do that for the next meeting. DIRECTIONS TO STAFF Chair Grafton asked if it were reasonable for them to ask Mr. O'Halloran to do both ways for them to compare or should they expect the figures to come out close enough that they would not need to choose. Mr. O'Halloran said they should be close enough, but he would recommend using the way of the celled out map where he can manipulate the numbers more easily and add in the permits/CO's to the census. Orange County Supervisor of Elections Mapping Supervisor Willis suggested another method of telling them how many registered voters there are in different blocks so at least they can kind of get an idea of how close that is. Member McKey asked if she could tell the ratio of different areas. Ms. Willis said there are higher voter registration rights in single family home owner situations than apartments. She said age also has a role in the numbers, but you can kind of get an idea. If Mr. O'Halloran were to put added population in, she could tell approximately how many voters there are. Vice-Chair Blankenship asked if there were any annexations in a block that they should know about. Mr. O'Halloran said there were a few large areas in the northern part of the city, but the Planning Department could answer more accurately. He pointed out a few areas that he knew of that had dwelling units proposed. Vice-Chair Blankenship asked if they were two years out and if any were pre-populated that would affect us currently. City Attorney Rosenthal said he does not know of any populated areas annexed, usually all vacant land. 6 City of Ocoee Districting Commission Meeting January 18, 2007 Chair Grafton asked if we could have Mr. Q'Halloran bring his figures back in a month and have the Planning Department attend and discuss projected growth. She asked if Mr. Q'Halloran could show us on the overhead some changes as he plays with them at the meeting. Mr. O'Halloran said he is in the process of acquiring software that would make that possible and should have it by their next meeting. SCHEDULE MEETING DATES It was decided to hold the next meeting for the Districting Commission on March 15 at 6:00 p.m. Vice-Chair Blankenship inquired as to where the members should go first if they have questions. City Attorney Rosenthal said to go to the City Clerk for any of their needs and she could coordinate with appropriate staff as needed. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 7:36 p.m. 7