By Matt Wiley
Although the 2015 Tampa City Council elections are still more than a year away, the redistricting process is under way to even out populations in each Council districts, including New Tampa’s District 7, represented by Councilwoman Lisa Montelione. However, New Tampa residents shouldn’t be too worried about their voting precincts being moved into another Council district.
By Florida law and as part of the city’s charter, prior to each City Council election, district populations must be shifted to make them as equal as possible. The Tampa City Council has seven seats — four single-member districts and three seats that are elected citywide.
The Hillsborough County Planning Commission (HCPC), the independent agency that is in charge of redistricting for the City, reports that as of April 1 of this year, Tampa’s population is nearly 342,000, which means that the four single-member districts should each have as close to 85,500 people as possible. Tampa’s population has grown by about 6,000 since the 2010 census, with most of that growth being in our area..
New Tampa’s District 7 currently has the largest population of all of the single-member districts, at 91,982, nearly 4,000 more people than in April of 2010, so adjustments must be made to make our district more equal with the other three.
However, there are several District 7 voting precincts located south of New Tampa, so those would be the most likely to be relocated into another Council district. The large amount of growth in New Tampa is attributable in large part to the ongoing development of the K-Bar Ranch Development of Regional Impact (DRI), including the Easton Park community, along Morris Bridge Rd.
“Most political jurisdictions — cities, states, etc. — do their redistricting immediately after the release of census data,” says Terry Eagen, project manager for HCPC. “Tampa is a little different in that the city does it within the year leading up to a municipal election. We (redistrict) every four years, as opposed to every 10.”
The redistricting map must be completed by HCPC and submitted to Hillsborough supervisor of elections Craig Latimer to be proclaimed as the new Council Districts by April of 2014, one year before the 2015 City Council elections. HCPC is tasked with moving as few people as possible, while keeping voting precincts in tact in the process.
“There are lots of rules and criteria that you have to follow when redistricting,” Eagen says, adding that in some Districts with smaller populations, moving precincts can drastically affect voting demographics.
HCPC has prepared six alternatives to evenly distribute Tampa’s population to make the four single-member districts as close as possible to one another without splitting precincts. However, none of the moves should affect any of New Tampa voting precincts (#s 355-367). If any District 7 precincts are moved into another district, they most likely will be precincts located south of Fletcher Ave.
“The (New Tampa) part of District 7 never really changes,” Eagen explains. “The way that the area grew and was annexed, it’s virtually impossible to move any of those precincts out (of District 7) because it’s such a narrow isthmus of land that jumps across the University of South Florida. Pretty much everything north of Fletcher Ave. (within the city limits) is always going to be in District 7.”
Public hearings will be held prior to the approval of any redistricting maps and will be held sometime in February. They will be advertised in January, but those dates have not yet been set.
For more information, please visit PlanHillsborough.org/redistricting.
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