Loading...
03-17-94 Minutes of the City of Ocoee Districting Commission Meeting Held February 27, 1992 MINUTES OF THE OCOEE DISTRICTING COMMISSION MEETING HELD MARCH 17, 1994 CALL TO ORDER AND EXPLANATION OF THE TASK City Manager Shapiro called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. in the City Hall conference room. Mr. Shapiro explained that in regular session the Ocoee City Commission had discussed the fact that some citizens in several areas feel that, as a result of the way the district lines were drawn, they are separated from their neighbors and are prevented from voting in their historic neighborhoods. After discussing the issue, the majority of the City Commission determined that, in response to these complaints and pursuant to Charter requirements, this Commission should be called for the purpose of determining whether the district lines as originally drawn should be reconsidered, and if so, where they should be changed. One of the commissioners felt that none of the lines should be touched. Dr. Walter Terry from the Center for the Study of Population in Florida State University, who was involved in compiling the material for the initial districting in 1991-1992, was called to provide guidance to the Commission where needed. ROLL CALL AND DETERMINATION OF A QUORUM Mr. Shapiro called the roll and declared a quorum present. PRESENT: Bill Breeze, Frank Carlsson, Ann Dunnaway, Philip Pauline, Cathy Doss Starn, Dr. Walter Terry, City Manager Shapiro, and City Clerk Grafton. Also present were Commissioner Combs, Commissioner Gleason and Mrs. Beverly Willis. ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN AND VICE CHAIRMAN Mr. Pauline, seconded by Mrs. Dunnaway, nominated Mrs. Starn to be chairman. Mrs. Starn nominated Mr. Carlsson, who declined. There was a motion to close the nominations and Mrs. Starn was elected 5-0. Chairman Starn appointed Mr. Carlsson to serve as vice chairman. DIRECTION TO DISTRICTING COMMISSION RE: PROPER APPROACH TO TASK Chairman Starn asked Dr. Walter Terry to address the issue before the Commission. Dr. Terry said that normally when a city goes to districting it is because they are in court for Section 2, and there would be definite guidelines for their procedures, but it is not so in this case, as there is no "voting rights" issue. The City of Ocoee was not required to go to districting and would be free to do away with districting should they so choose. He explained that included in the fundamental rights of every person within the jurisdiction of the United States is the assumed right to have equal representation; thus ideally there should be roughly the same number of people residing in each district. He reviewed the process used to determine the existing districts whereby the census block lines were used. He pointed out that the census block lines are drawn from aerial photographs using visible dividing lines, such as roads, fences and natural barriers. At the time of Ocoee's districting, the goal was to achieve strict population equality, and to deviate from those census block lines it would have been necessary to use some method of determining the population in those areas of census block splits. At this time it would be possible to make adjustments, but it would not be appropriate to use the 1990 census for the changes proposed. The points to consider in drawing the lines are 1) population equality, 2) contiguousness, 3) compactness, and 4) the preservation of communities of interest. Dr. Terry asked Mrs. Willis if she had suggestions to add to his remarks. Ocoee Districting Commission Meeting March 17, 1994 INPUT FROM CITY COMMISSIONERS AND CITIZENS Mrs. Beverly Willis, Supervisor of Elections Mapping Department Director, agreed that the 1990 census figures are no longer to be used as they are reaching a mid-decade position and are considered very weak at the city level now. She said that this Commission should be concerned with the method used in reaching the population numbers, as it could be done by massaging the census figures, from building permits, electrical hookups, or any number of methods. She pointed out that the City of Orlando did not follow census boundaries but kept their neighborhoods together, using their planning department's historic record of population shifts within their neighborhoods. The main concern of the elections office is to have everybody in the right place. In order for the elections office to supply the correct information for Ocoee's elections, her office would require a list of the census tracts and blocks where changes are made and where there is a split in a census block they must have addresses. Mrs. Willis also pointed out that it would be helpful if the districting map showed a projected line to indicate which district an annexation should be assigned to. Mrs. Willis suggested speaking with the City Attorney regarding this and doing whatever he considers the safest. She added that the projections could be done from traffic analysis information. City Manager Shapiro explained that the City Commission is simply asking for a massage of the neighborhood lines at this time and proposes to save any major changes until 1996. He pointed out that, with the Joint Planning Area Agreement with Orange County, the perimeters for the City's growth have been established for the next ten years and the City is already tied into the County G.I.S. system for information. Commissioner Gleason pointed out that along the western edge of District 4, the following streets divide neighborhoods: Nicole, Leslie Ann, Sandy Cove, Ridgefield, Sullivan, and Marsden, and he said that in order to keep the neighborhoods together, it would be appropriate for the district line to be at the backside of the property facing those streets. He said that he was not eager to give up any portion of his district but he felt consolidating neighborhoods was a valid move. Commissioner Johnson expressed the same opinion, and said that he just wants the neighborhoods to be together and is not asking for any major changes in the districts. He pointed out that the area bordering Apricot Street and Pinewood Street is divided as well. City Clerk Grafton noted that there was a similar situation on Caballero/Little Spring Hill Road bordering Lake Moxie to be considered. Commissioner Combs said that those changes were acceptable to him and he wished that Commissioner Foster were present so that they could discuss the Caballero Court/Little Spring Hill Road area which is split. He said that the district lines were not as significant to him as he is running for mayor this year and he had been against districting anyway. Mrs. Grafton 2 Ocoee Districting Commission Meeting March 17, 1994 said that Commissioner Foster was not able to attend this meeting but had sent a message to the Commission to only put people in his district who would vote for him. Dr. Terry said that minor adjustments can be made and such changes are done routinely. He felt that the Commission was focusing on the wrong thing as it is perfectly all right to go from one census to the next without making changes. He said that there is no real reason to address the issue every five years and that doing so could open the door for citizens to complain. He said minor adjustments are all right but it was very important to do this for the right reasons and he pointed out that such changes should not be made for some one person's convenience. In rebuttal to Mrs. Willis' statements earlier, he suggested that when deciding to do a study in population estimates a demographer should be consulted instead of an attorney. Mrs. Willis asked again for some guidelines regarding the district to which each annexed parcel should be assigned at the time the adopting ordinance is submitted to the elections office. City Manager Shapiro asked Mrs. Willis to send a letter requesting that specific information and he would assign the task to a staff member. There was general discussion regarding the original recommendation that districting was premature and charter revision was preferable. Member Bill Breeze submitted a ikkiv recommendation to be considered by this Commission: 1) "This Commission recognizes that present districting splits some neighborhoods to a minor extent. We also recognize that attempting to correct these splits is more expensive than the benefit gained. We recommend that the 1995 mid-term district review address this problem at that time. 2) We re-iterate our recommendation of February 27, 1992 that single member districts be abolished." There was no action taken on this recommendation. City Manager Shapiro explained that the Charter Review Committee will meet in 1996 to decide whether they will meet mid-term, but he is certain that they would need to meet as there are several issues they will need to address: districting, terms of office, and charter requirements regarding the prices of land, to name a few. In response to Chairman Starn's question about the procedure at this time, he said that, following a recommendation from this Commission, an ordinance listing the recommended changes including the affected addresses would be drawn up and a public hearing would be held at the second reading of that ordinance. Member Carlsson, seconded by Member Pauline, moved to have staff come back in two weeks with a map of the eastern quadrant showing the mentioned changes so that a recommendation can be prepared. Motion carried 5-0. The next meeting was scheduled for Tuesday, March 29, 1994 at 7:30 p.m. 3 Ocoee Districting Commission Meeting March 17, 1994 ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 9:05 p.m. Je. ' Grafton, City ( lerk L 4