Lehigh County Redistricting: South Whitehall No Longer Split

When you talk about certainties, two things come to mind – death and taxes.  To that list you could also add – census and redistricting. 

Just as Harrisburg is busy using the data from the 2010 census to redraw districts for next year’s state and federal elections, the Lehigh County Board of Commissioners had the same responsibility in setting new districts for future county commissioner races.

The Lehigh County Board of Commissioners consists of nine elected members, four of whom are At-Large and elected county wide (and are on the ballot in the Nov. 8 general election) and five who are elected from specific districts (and will be on the ballot in 2013).

The last time the commissioner districts were redrawn was following the 2000 census.  At that time the population in Lehigh County was 312,090, which required each district to consist of approximately 62,400 citizens. 

Drawing districts 10 years ago that were close to that size was accomplished but at the cost of splitting townships such as South Whitehall and Whitehall among several different District Commissioners. 

For the 2010 census, the population in Lehigh County increased by 12 percent to 349,497 with a corresponding increase in the number of residents per commissioner district to 69,500. 

As might be expected, the growth across the county was uneven, with the population increasing from 62,400 per district to 65,500 in District 1 (the northern part of the County) all the way to 80,500 for District 2 (Lower Macungie and parts of South Whitehall). 

Based on that, it was clear the districts needed to be redrawn. 

That process was undertaken with the primary goal of creating districts that kept all townships and municipalities in one district (other than Allentown, which, with a population of 118,000, would have to be split regardless) while still meeting the legal requirement that each district be compact, contiguous and deviate less than 5 percent from the targeted population.  

In addition, districts were constructed without any attempt to consider political advantage or racial and ethnic background. 

A proposal that accomplished those objectives was developed (see accompanying chart) and presented to the Board’s Planning Committee for review and public comment on Sept. 28.  

The proposal was then presented to the full Board for additional review and public comment later that evening.   

After that, the board followed the guidelines laid out in Lehigh County’s Home Rule charter and gave the required public notice that the proposed redistricting plan would be considered for approval at the Board’s next meeting, which was on Oct. 12. The plan, sponsored by all nine members of the Board, was unanimously approved after the public input was sought for the third time. 

The ordinance enacting the plan has now been signed by the County Executive, and each of South Whitehall’s eight precincts is now within District 2 and represented by Lehigh County Commissioner Percy Dougherty.