[ back ]
Five fewer precincts proposed for Solon
(by Sue Reid - February 11, 2009)
Five fewer precincts proposed for Solon
By SUE REID
Solon Mayor Kevin C. Patton told City Council recently that there has been a proposal from the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections to reduce the number of precincts throughout the county.
For Solon, that could mean a reduction from 23 precincts to 18. "The data which they provided indicates no changes in ward boundaries, only precincts," Mr. Patton said.
In a letter to the mayor, board of elections Director Jane M. Platten said the reason for the precinct reductions is a result of a mandate from the Cuyahoga County office of budget and management to reduce this year's budget by 11.5 percent.
"The most effective and prudent way to attain this $2.7 million reduction, while also enhancing operation efficiency, is to reduce and restructure the precincts in most municipalities in the county," Ms. Platten said. The changes will be implemented beginning with this May's election.
Mr. Patton said, while that won't immediately affect Solon, it's fairly clear from the information provided be the elections board that there is a "significant imbalance in population among some of the wards."
There is a high of 3,464 voters in Ward 3, compared to 2,225 in Ward 7. Mr. Patton said much of the construction in terms of homes is in Ward 3. The large subdivisions are in that ward, and that is where there is available land. According to statistics from the board of elections, Solon has 19,047 voters.
"Our charter calls for equal representation across the seven wards," Mr. Patton said. In addition, Solon's charter only permits the city to redistrict or reset the ward boundaries in even-numbered years, he said. "This cannot be presented to the people for a vote until 2010."
Mr. Patton recommended the appointment of a redistricting commission later this year to begin to work on this matter. The commission will be comprised of residents, who will be nominated by the mayor and the council members. This body used to be called a charter review committee, he said.
"We'll take a look at what the different boundaries are." Mr. Patton said they will get input from city Planning Director Robert S. Frankland to help with balancing the population among the seven wards.
"What the board wants to do won't have big impact right now, but when we change our wards, the board of elections may need to make an adjustment" by trying to create wards that have the right balance of population. The earliest it would impact a municipal election in Solon would be in 2011, he said.
"It's not unusual for the districts and wards to get out of balance," Mr. Frankland said.
"They are required by ordinance to be updated every 10 years," he said. "That's simply because population shifts among wards." The last time Solon redistricted was about eight years ago, Mr. Frankland said, following the 2000 U.S. Census.
"We are coming into that window where you expect to have a redistricting," he said.
Mr. Frankland said the difficulty with redistricting before the 2010 census would be that the information the city has on ward populations is based upon U.S. Census information. Until the 2010 census "we won't have access to accurate block-group data," he said. "We will have to discuss this issue further."
The means to measure the population in the ward is U.S. Census block-group data, he said. "When you are redistricting, you transfer different block group between wards.
"We have to discuss as a city, how accurate will our information be prior to the 2010 census being released," Mr. Frankland said.
[ back ]
