County Holds Meeting as Redistricting Nears

Locals cherish the way that Westchase encapsulates the small-town feel within close proximity to the metropolitan Tampa Bay area. However, as Hillsborough County proceeds with its re-districting initiative, there is a 60 percent chance that the burgeoning community may be split between Districts 1 and 2.

On Wednesday night, the Board of County Commission held its sixth public meeting at Town ‘N Country Library, giving Hillsborough residents the opportunity to participate in the process and voice their opinions on the impending plan to establish new district lines.

“We set up these meetings to get the people the information on what’s going on,” said Edith Stewart, the county’s director of client and liaison services. “It gets them thinking.”

Five different maps – each with its own set of new borders for Hillsborough’s four districts – were on display for analysis at the meeting, and several members of the county’s Redistricting Task Force were in attendance to answer questions and explain the process.

The 20-person team includes representatives from several different departments, including Dan Hardy, general manager of the GIS department.

“These are just plans… just models at work,” said Hardy, who helped create the maps. “It’s all based on the existing boundaries.”

The biggest concern with their design, he said, was to keep the total population in each district relatively even without drastically affecting the established concentration of minority residents living within District 3.

Currently, 39 percent of the district’s population is African-American, and this legally must be maintained to “maximize the opportunity for a minority representative candidate to be elected,” according to the county’s re-districting criteria.

Every decade the district lines are re-evaluated in keeping with the latest Census Data. In this case, three of the five prospective outlines involve cutting Westchase in half.

“There’s a lot of tweaking involved with the existing districts to get the numbers to balance,” said Suzi Dieringer, community planner with the county’s planning commission.

As the public meetings continue, new propositions can be brought to the table based on public feedback, Dieringer said. Other than the potential divide in Westchase, a common concern is the layout for District 1, which would still jump the bay to cover areas waterfront areas from Town ‘N County to Sun City.

About 30 local residents showed up for Wednesay night’s meeting. Five more public meetings are scheduled for the rest of May, followed by a public hearing on June 9 and final selection on June 20.

For more information on the process or to have your voice heard, visit www.hillsboroughcounty.org/redistricting.