Submitted by: Nate Groenendyk
Submitting Department: City Clerk
Agenda Section: Action
Item Title:
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City of Hyattsville Ward Redistricting: Selection of Ward Boundary Map
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Suggested Action:
recommendation
I move the Mayor and Council direct the City Attorney to draft a Charter Amendment Resolution adjusting the Ward Boundaries of the City as indicated in the INSERT NAME OF MAP presented by the 2022 Redistricting Commission. I further move that the Mayor and Council schedule a Public Hearing on the proposed Charter Amendment Resolution to be held at 6 PM on Monday, December 5 2022
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Summary Background:
Every ten years, after the Census, the City must use the new census data to review its ward boundaries, and if needed, redraw the boundaries between wards in order to reflect how the local populations have changed. The authority for the modification of ward boundaries is found in the City Charter, ? C4-17.
The redistricting process is done with the primary goal of creating wards which have substantially equal populations. The widely accepted standard for population variation between the largest ward and the smallest ward is that there should not be a greater than 10% difference. Additional criteria for consideration throughout the redistricting process is listed below.
* Wards must be comprised of contiguous territory and as geographically compact as possible.
* Wards shall, as much as possible, be bounded by natural boundaries, street lines, and/or City boundary lines.
* Wards must be drawn to provide fair and effective representation for all residents of the City, including racial, ethnic, and language minorities. Additionally, to the extent possible, wards should preserve identifiable communities of interest. The redrawing of the City's ward boundaries should be designed to ensure that our elected body is representative of the City's diverse population.
* Wards most likely to be impacted by future development may be smaller by design in orde...
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