Submitted by: Laura Reams
Submitting Department: City Clerk
Agenda Section: Action
Item Title:
title
Charter Amendment Resolution 2022-02: Adjusting the City's Five Ward Boundaries
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Suggested Action:
recommendation
I move the Mayor and Council introduce and adopt Hyattsville Charter Amendment Resolution 2022-02, a resolution amending the Charter to adjust the City's five ward boundaries based on the most recent census data and the relevant legal requirements (INTRODUCTION & ADOPTION).
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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 order to minimize impact of population growth on future redistricting.
The Redistricting Commission was a...
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