Politics & Government

City Redistricting Expected to Cut Into Ward 1

Following dramatic growth over the last decade, voters of Fredericksburg's City Council Ward 1 will probably be the most affected by the upcoming local redistricting process.

Only a handful of residents attended a public information meeting held last night at Fredericksburg's City Hall to discuss the redrawing of the city's political boundaries. The meeting, led by Fredericksburg Planning Director Ray Ocel and Marne Sherman, city community development planner, sought to answer questions from the public and explain the process surrounding the upcoming local redistricting.

After the meeting, Ward 4 Councilor Bea Paolucci bemoaned the small attendance, and encouraged city residents to be more involved in the municipal decision making processes. 

"People need to start getting engaged, be it the courts, redistricting, taxes or council meetings," said Paolucci. "People need to get involved, we need the input."

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Following dramatic growth over the last decade, voters of Fredericksburg's City Council Ward 1 will probably be the most affected by the upcoming local redistricting process. Ward 1's population grew by roughly 3,530 over the last 10 years, rising to a total of 8,310 residents according to Census 2010 data. Ward 1's growth rate dwarfs the rest of the city, with Ward 4 growing by 28 percent to 5,390 residents, Ward 2 growing by 4 percent to 5,085 residents, and Ward 3 growing the least, 1.6 percent, to 5,494 residents. Fredericksburg's total population grew by 26 percent over the last 10 years, up from 19,280 to 24,290. 

Federal and state voting regulations require that the city's population be split among the wards as equally as possible. By law, the populations of the redrawn wards cannot deviate more than plus or minus five percent. In an ideal world, this would mean that the new wards would be split equally with 6,070 residents each. Unfortunately for staff in the city's planning department, striking such a perfectly equal balance may be challenging. 

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To achieve such parity, Ward 1 would have to lose 37 percent of its population, roughly 2,250 people. Those residents would then be split among the remaining wards. Ward 2 needs to grow by 16.2 percent, Ward 3 needs to grow by 9.5 percent, and Ward 4 needs to grow by 11.2 percent to achieve legal population equality. 

Article 8 of the Virginia Constitution requires local governments to redistrict if they elect local officials from legislative districts or wards. The redistricting process is tied into the decennial federal census, which counted residents who lived in the city of Fredericksburg on April 1, 2010. This count includes college students living in dormitories at Mary Washington University, as well as homeless people living in makeshift shelters throughout the city. 

The wards will be required to be as compact and contiguous as possible, deliniated by clearly defined boundaries, and avoid splitting wards between state and congressional legislative districts, and to avoid splitting neighborhoods, again, if possible.

Race will also be a factor in the redistricting process. The new redistricting plans will be required, within the limits of practicality, to maintain Fredericksburg's majority-minority voting district, Ward 4. 

Census 2010 data shows that Fredericksburg's Hispanic population grew faster than any other race or ethnic group in the city over the last 10 years.  Fredericksburg's 2,600 Hispanics now account for 11 percent of the city's population, a 176 percent increase over the last 10 years. In that time, the city's black population grew 38 percent and the city's white population grew 7 percent. Whites still make up the dominant racial group in the city at 61 percent, while blacks account for 22 percent of the population. 

City planning staff also unveiled an updated timeline for the redistricting process:

  • June 6 - Redistricting meeting with School Board
  • Summer 2011 - Develop options for new ward boundaries
  • August 2011 - Public presentation of new ward options
  • Sept. 13 2011 - Public hearing on new ward options
  • October 2011 - Submit approved redistricting plan to the Department of Justice for Voting Rights Act preclearance. 

Ocel says that the tools available to planners engaged in redistricting have become more advanced than they were even 10 years ago, when he remembers using colored pencils to sketch proposed ward boundaries. Now, the city will be using a computer program called AutoBOUND which can generate maps automatically using imported census data. 


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