Reapportionment Of City Council Moving Forward, Mayor Reports

Reapportionment of the Central City Council is moving forward.  Mayor David Barrow told the Central City News that he and City Attorney Sheri Morris reached out to the same demographer working on Central School Board redistricting plans in December.  

Mike Hefner, Chief Demographer of Geographic Planning & Demographic Services, LLC, in turn presented them with a cost proposal and scope of work along with some preliminary information based upon new Census numbers. The city’s redistricting plan will be used for the 2022 elections.   Mayor Barrow said the firm’s fee will be $12,900.  He expects this matter will before the Central City Council on Jan. 25.

The mayor said that based on the numbers he’s seen, the district of City Councilman Josh Roy will need to give up some population, while the district of City Councilman Dave Freneaux will need to add some population.

With Central’s population near 30,000, each of the five Council districts will need close to 5,800 residents, Mayor Barrow said.

The primary election is Nov. 8 with runoffs on Dec. 10.