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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-06-2011 Minutes MINUTES OF THE CITY OF OCOEE DISTRICTING COMMISSION MEETING HELD JULY 6, 2011 CALL TO ORDER City Clerk Eikenberry called the meeting to order at 6:35 p.m. in the Commission Chambers. The roll was called and a quorum declared present. PRESENT Members Anthony Adams, Julie Butler, Joe Chinelly, Lester Dabbs, and Victoria Laney. Also present were Mayor Vandergrift, Commissioner Keller, City Attorney Paul Rosenthal, Staff GIS Analyst Michael O'Halloran, City Clerk Beth Eikenberry and Deputy City Clerk Sibbitt. ABSENT None City Clerk Eikenberry explained that tonight's meeting will mostly involve the administrative details such as covering the purpose of the board and the guidelines they have to follow, Florida sunshine law, and their timeline. She further stated that the Commission created this board early in order to make changes for the upcoming 2012 election; therefore, they are on a tight timeline to get everything done by September so that an ordinance can be created with the amendments and adopted before the election deadlines. The election date has not been determined yet because the city is piggybacking off of the presidential preference primary and the date for that is being determined at the federal level. As of right now it seems there is a tentative date of January 31, 2012, but we will not know for sure until October 1 The Presidential Preference Primary can be set any time between the first Tuesday in January and the first Tuesday in March. City Clerk Eikenberry stated that the election of Chair and Vice Chair is on the agenda but recommended they hold off on this election due to Member Dabbs' position not having been officially adopted by the Commission. The members of the Districting Commission briefly introduced themselves. ELECTION OF OFFICERS Due to Member Dabbs not having been officially appointed by the City Commission this item was tabled to the next meeting. 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 this committee is formed as a Charter requirement and the Districting Commission is appointed every five years to match the timing of the census and interim period. City Attorney Rosenthal stated that, as the City Clerk mentioned, they are starting a little bit City of Ocoee Districting Commission Meeting July 6, 2011 early because they have a schedule in the charter; however when that charter was put together elections were held with the presidential election and now they do not have any idea on when the next city election will be held because it has to match the presidential preference primary. They are trying to accelerate the work of the committee so that the City Commission can have an opportunity to put new districts in place prior to the 2012 election. If for some reason they miss the 2012 election that will be fine because the districts can stay in place as they are now and pick up with the 2013 elections. City Attorney Rosenthal reminded the committee that they are an advisory group to the City Commission; therefore, the City Commission is asking them to do all the leg work in putting together the recommendations. This also means they can disagree /agree with what is presented to them. The charter does state that if the Commission wants to reject some of their recommendations they will need to refer some actions back to the Districting Committee. He stated at the end of this process what they will need to do is put together a report with their recommendations to the City Commission. City Attorney Rosenthal explained the City Charter and the requirements for the Districting Commission therein. City Attorney Rosenthal explained 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 equal to population. The current estimated population of Ocoee is 35,570 and each district should have 8,892 voters. They should aim for +/ -5% deviation or a 10% range. He further explained that if they go over +/ -5% range then they can have problems with the courts. City Attorney Rosenthal explained the data information that they can provide to them from the Supervisor of Elections Office such as racial mix in the city. He further explained it is legally permissible to maintain minimal disruption of existing districts. It is permissible to try and preserve the existing districts. It is permissible to look at the incumbent elected officials and where they live or do not live; they can consider this in drawing the boundaries but they do not have to take this into account. It is permissible to look at data related to party affiliation to the extent they feel it is relevant. BRIEFING ON CURRENT STATUS OF DISTRICTS City Clerk Eikenberry advised the board that they are currently under the 5% population deviation in all the districts but the City Commission has asked for the City to go ahead and form a Districting Commission since the census numbers are in and everyone at the county and federal level is moving their boundaries around. The county is also requesting our numbers by September or early fall so that they can consider our boundaries when they recreate county lines. GIS Analyst O'Halloran introduced himself and said he would be working with the Districting Commission regarding maps and the statistics of the redistricting project. He presented data showing the 2007 population and deviation as well as the current population and deviation. He also presented data on current district lines and stated new district lines should be drawn to equalize the districts. 2 City of Ocoee Districting Commission Meeting July 6, 2011 GIS Analyst O'Halloran explained that the ideal population for each district would be 8893 because according to the census there are 35,570 total people within the City. He further explained how he used the census blocks to come up with the population numbers for each district. He stated using the census blocks is also how this board could make changes to the districts. They can take a census block and move it to a different district to see how the population numbers change and whether that makes the district more or less equal. Mr. O'Halloran presented a census block map to show them how he had to split some of the census blocks to assign them to their appropriate district. He also did a software demonstration and explained that he can add or remove any of the data layers in the program to customize the map the way the board would like to view it. Mayor Vandergrift inquired if the program being presented tonight was something the board members could access in their home so they could play around with the numbers. GIS Analyst O'Halloran stated he will look into that possibility advise them at the next meeting. City Attorney Rosenthal advised the board members that they could always set up a meeting individually with Mr. O'Halloran to come to city hall if the program is not available. Member Dabbs inquired as to what "unassigned" meant on the map. Mr. O'Halloran explained that he has manually assigned all the areas in our city and that there are some unincorporated orange county areas which still read "unassigned" because it is not in the city. City Clerk Eikenberry advised the board that if they look at the numbers they will notice that Districts 1 and 3 have more than the ideal population and District 2 and 4 have less than the ideal population. She further explained that she and Mr. O'Halloran looked at those numbers when they played around with the software. The deviation is so small that they were looking for small areas to move around so it does not skew the numbers in the opposite direction. City Clerk Eikenberry stated one of the options they came up with was moving Ingram Estates out of District 1 and into District 4. City Attorney Rosenthal stated one other factor they can consider is looking at where growth is going to occur over the next five years. He added that there are approved subdivisions within the city that have 0 or small populations where building permits are being pulled and those are numbers that will not be in the census. City Clerk Eikenberry stated in 2007 they deliberately left District 1 underneath the ideal population because the Planning Department gave them figures that showed the population would change. Currently that district has the highest deviation over ideal population. Member Dabbs inquired if the Planning Department would be able to tell them where there are approved subdivisions. City Clerk Eikenberry stated she can provide that information to them. Member Adams inquired if they could get something that would show each census block throughout the city. He added that the program Mr. O'Halloran is presenting is a really good tool but they do not have access to that. He further inquired if the census blocks would show the subdivisions that are authorized for development. City Clerk Eikenberry stated that the census blocks would only account for the people that were present at the time it was counted. They have to figure out what has happened since then and what might happen in the next five 3 City of Ocoee Districting Commission Meeting July 6, 2011 years until their next districting committee. GIS Analyst O'Halloran demonstrated how his software program can add a layer and show new residential area projects within the city. Member Adams inquired if there were anticipated density to go along with the various colored developments on the map. GIS Analyst O'Halloran stated he cannot show density but he can show the total lots planned in each development. City Attorney Rosenthal stated that there is an average number for persons per household so they can use that information along with the number of lots. Mr. O'Halloran stated he believes it is 3 persons per single family residence and 3.2 persons for multi - family residence but he can bring that information to the next meeting. Member Adams commented that it seems a lot of information is being scattered around in different places and he was wondering if they could gather all that information so they can do what is needed for them to do. The board members requested a print out of the map with the census block numbers. City Attorney Rosenthal inquired if the state has a program on -line with the census block information. GIS Analyst O'Halloran stated he believes Beverly Willis with the Supervisor of Elections Office has mentioned such a website. City Clerk Eikenberry informed the board members that the only problem with using the State's website is that it will not reflect the district boundaries in Ocoee. Member Chinelly inquired if there is vacancy information at the time of the census with the number of homes that were not occupied. He further stated it would be the flip side of the growth question where this would show the areas of the city already built but vacant. It could help show what the total population of the city would be if the economy was not turned around. Mr. O'Halloran stated he does that have that information. Member Laney stated the HOA would normally know which houses are vacant in their neighborhoods. Mr. O'Halloran inquired if he is looking for this information on new development where only a few people have moved in or is he looking for this information on established housing subdivision where there are a number of foreclosures and people have moved out. Member Adam stated that if they use the same logic that they used when they projected the growth in the city such as using the number that is authorized and zoned for the area and the average amount of people per dwelling then they should derive at a number. City Clerk Eikenberry stated that is a situation that will arise in several parts in the city and they will just have to get the best numbers that they can to make estimates. City Attorney Rosenthal stated it is be easier to get macro information as opposed to micro information because it the totality of a district as opposed to an individual subdivision. At the last districting committee they tried to have some districts over and some under as opposed as trying to get zero deviation based on just projections. Further discussion ensued regarding vacancy in subdivisions. City Attorney Rosenthal advised that they could have a representative from the Planning Department speak with the board regarding the general terms and trends regarding vacancies in developments. Mayor Vandergrift addressed the board and briefly gave background information on how this committee was created. He also thanked all the members for volunteering to serve on the board. SCHEDULE MEETING DATES 4 City of Ocoee Districting Commission Meeting July 6, 2011 City Clerk Eikenberry briefly advised the board of the week days that the Commission Chambers is available for a meeting. She also stated that the budget hearings are going to be scheduled at the next Commission Meeting for August and September. It was decided to hold the next meeting for the Districting Commission on July 20 at 6:30 p.m. and to schedule the following meetings once they know what days the budget workshops and hearings is going to fall on. DIRECTIONS TO STAFF City Clerk Eikenberry clarified that the board had requested the following to be provided at the next meeting: 1) Map with Census numbers 2) Census Website information 3) Information about vacant units (if applicable) 4) Information from Planning Department regarding what development has been approved 5) Residential development projects map 6) Future land use map City Attorney Rosenthal added that if they would like to have this in advance of the meeting they can contact staff. A brief discussion ensued and GIS Analyst O'Halloran briefly demonstrated some more of the layers he could add using his software. Commissioner Keller stated he want to echo the Mayor in thanking all of those present tonight for volunteering their time to do this. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 7:58 p.m. awl .r Melanie Sibbitt, Deputy City Clerk Be Eikenberry, City Clerk 5