Live Blog: County Redistricting Public Hearing

The Prince William Board of County Supervisors is hearing from the public Tuesday evening on the . The county has publicized two alternatives; one that maintains the current seven districts and one that adds a new eighth district.

To follow the agenda, click on the PDF attached to this article. You can watch the meeting live on the county website.

7:52 p.m. Keith Scarborough of the Electoral Board spoke to the Board of County Supervisors about the mistake that . Scarborough said that there was no political attempt to shorten the time for citizens to have input, it was an unfortunate oversight on the part of the Electoral Boad. Scarborough also gave some input from the Electoral Board on precinct names and locations. Scarborough said that the Electoral Board had looked at Virginia House and Senate proposed redistricting maps and there are a number of potential "split precincts," which could lead to voter confusion.

8:13 p.m. Tracy Gordon from the Office of Executive Management introduced the topic, recapping the . Gordon pointed out that the seven-district plan would cause eastern districts to shift north and west while the eight-district plan would cause less change to existing districts.

8:20 p.m. The public hearing has opened. The president of the County Center homeowners' association expressed concern that the center would become more divided between districts with Ridgefield Road becoming the dividing line. A Woodbridge resident said she did not like the fact that both alternative proposals remove Freedom High School from the Woodbridge district, leaving the district without a high school.

8:35 p.m. Dale City resident Eric VanNortwick complained that the proposed seven-district map would divide the Princedale and Ridgedale neighborhoods into two separate districts by making Princedale Road the boundary line. "It seems like community intactness is not being considered," he said. He said he wants the neighborhoods to be in one district, whichever one that is. "We’re blessed to have two supervisors that work close together for Dale City. You can’t guarantee that for the next 10 years," he said.

8:40 p.m. Dale City resident Connie Moser echoed VanNortwick's concerns about splitting neighborhoods. Moser added that she does not want the Neabsco district to lose County Center, saying it is the only high-end development in the district. Moser emphasized that what looks good on a map might not seem so good to people living in the neighborhoods. "We don’t care about votes, we don’t care about politicians," she said. "We care about our community."

8:52 p.m. Two speakers on behalf of Virginia New Majority said the currently proposed district maps are unfair to minority communities, splitting them up in such a way as to minimize their vote. The organization presented their own versions of both the seven-district and eight-district alternatives that they say would give better representation to minorities.

9:07 p.m. Several more residents have spoken of concern about breaking up "communities of interest," especially in the Gainesville district, the Southridge area, and Dale City's Princedale and Ridgedale neighborhoods. Other residents have expressed concern about the potential cost of adding an eighth district: about $1 million in startup costs plus additional costs each year.

9:09 p.m. The public hearing is closed. Chairman Corey Stewart said he believes the board should look at putting Freedom High School back into the Woodbridge district. He added that the board could also look at putting County Center back into the Neabsco district, but that would mean Neabsco would need to lose residents elsewhwere. He also specifically mentioned Princedale and Ridgedale as an issue to solve.