HARLINGEN — The clock is ticking as city commissioners push for options to a plan proposing to redraw the city’s five single-member district boundaries, arguing the move would impact voter numbers.
Tuesday, commissioners are set to meet in a workshop to discuss their concerns with San Antonio-based attorney Rolando Rios, who is working with the city to redraw the districts’ boundaries based on the new Census’ population shifts.
Then on Wednesday, they’re expected to approve the city’s new district map.
Now, they’re running against the clock after City Manager Gabriel Gonzalez set Wednesday as the deadline to realign the boundaries.
“They want us to force the vote,” Commissioner Frank Puente said. “I’ve been asking for this information for almost a year. Now they want us to vote.”
The law calls on commissioners to realign boundaries to try to balance the five districts’ population numbers.
On Monday, commissioners offered options to Rios’ proposal, arguing votes were at stake.
“This is a huge, huge issue,” Puente said, adding the new boundaries could help decide elections.
“We’re going to live with these lines for 10 years,” he said.
Running against the clock
For months, city officials have been working on the proposal but didn’t disclose details behind Rios’ plan until last month, Commissioner Frank Morales said.
“We’ve only been given one plan and there was another thrown at us at the last possible minute but its nothing,” he said. “I don’t know why we were given this all of a sudden.”
Based on the new Census, Rios proposed shifting population blocs from fast-growing Districts 3 and 5 into Districts 1 and 4, where figures show slower growth during the decade in which the city’s total population climbed from 65,074 to 71,829.
As part of the plan, Rios is proposing commissioners shift about 3,482 residents from District 5 into District 4 after the new Census showed the west-side district’s population swelled by about 5,000 residents to 17,733 since 2010.
Proposing options
However, Commissioner Rene Perez, who oversees District 5, said he opposes Rios’ proposal to move the so-called U.S. Home subdivision, which he described as a critical voting bloc, into District 4.
“We’re going to try to work it out to make it a little more equitable,” he said, referring to Rios’ proposal.
Perez said Rios’ proposal fails to adjust District 3’s population numbers.
“There are some districts that don’t get touched,” he said. “We want all the districts to get touched to make it more fair.”
As part of his plan, Perez is proposing shifting part of District 3 north while moving part of District 2 toward the west.
Meanwhile, Puente, who oversees District 2, said he wants to shift part of District 5 into his district.
“I’m in a district that includes an affluent section,” he said. “I think my district should include a lot more of the west side. I would like more of the working class areas.”
Morales, District 4’s commissioner, said he wants to boost population numbers there, proposing to move an area north and south of New Hampshire and Business 77 from District 3 into his district.
“I need numbers,” he said, arguing District 3’s Treasure Hills area stands to gain population after developers begin opening two new subdivisions there.
Shifting district populations
The city’s new Census figures are driving the districts’ biggest population shifts since a previous commission drew up the original map more than 13 years ago.
Census figures show District 5, running along the city’s west side, picked up the biggest population boost, pushing its total numbers to 17,733, according to Rios’ proposal.
Growth also swept across District 3, with 14,757 residents, and District 1, with 14,135 residents.
Meanwhile, growth remained stable across much of Districts 2 and 4.
In his proposal, Rios described each district’s “ideal” population as totaling 14,366 based on the new Census that sets the city’s population at 71,829.
Background
After voters adopted single-member district representation in 2008, Rios helped officials draw up the city’s original five-district map before helping a previous commission revise its boundaries following the 2010 Census.
