(a) City clerk to attend meetings. The city clerk or the city clerk's designee(s), shall attend all Committee meetings, and shall provide the Committee with relevant and necessary information.
(b) Duties and functions of the Committee. The duties and functions of the Committee shall be as follows:
(1) To review all relevant data, including but not limited to U.S. Census data, and recommend in writing to the mayor and council whether redistricting is necessary in the potential redistricting year in which the Committee is appointed. The review shall consider the following factors and objectives.
(A) Maintain a Maximum Population Deviation (MPD) across the city's six (6) wards that is no greater than 10%.
(B) Maintain established and recognizable ward boundaries with a minimum of disruption.
(C) Sustain the compactness and contiguity of the wards as they presently exist, except as may be necessary to achieve the other factors and objectives as listed in this section.
(D) Maintain ethnic balance so as to not dilute the minority vote (hereafter, "dilution"). As part of any redistricting recommendation, the Committee shall consider and examine the potential of dilution that may occur with any recommended redistricting, including but not limited to dilution that may occur or may have previously existed through "packing" and/or "fragmenting" of minority voting power. "Packing" means the practice of packing minority voting blocs into one or a small number of districts/wards to minimize their influence; and "fragmenting" means the practice of fragmenting the minority voters among several districts/wards where a bloc-voting majority can routinely outvote them. As part of this evaluation, the Committee shall give preference to redistricting options that will advance "rough proportionality" of minority voting power. For the purposes of this section, "rough proportionality" means the establishment of districts/wards where the number of wards in which minority groups constitute a majority percentage of the voting age population is roughly proportional to the minority voters' share of the overall voting age population. As an example, if the citywide minority share of the voting age population is 50%, then under the concept of "rough proportionality" the number of wards where minority groups constitute a majority percentage of the voting age population should approximate 50% of the total number of wards. The Committee shall also give preference to redistricting options that reduce dilution that may otherwise exist from prior "packing" or "fragmenting." The purpose of this evaluation by the Committee is to provide that the members of the city's minority groups do not have less opportunity than other members of the electorate to participate in the electoral process and to elect representatives of their choice.
(E) Where possible, realign precincts having populations represented by more than one ward.
(2) If it finds, pursuant to subsection (1) above, that redistricting is necessary, then to review all relevant data, hold at least one (1) public hearing, and such other public hearings as it deems necessary, gather information and opinions from the public, and thereafter make recommendations in writing to the mayor and council concerning the manner in which redistricting should occur in order to best comply with the Charter.
(3) To make such other recommendation(s) relating to redistricting as deemed necessary or desirable.
(Ord. No. 11354, § 1, 5-3-16; Ord. No. 11950, § 1, 8-9-22)