Public Input Sought for Apportionment of County Commissioner Districts

From Washtenaw County

The Washtenaw County Apportionment Commission is seeking public input into the number and location of boundaries of County Commissioner districts that will be in place for the next ten years.

The Apportionment Commission will hold a series of public hearings in September 2021 to gather input as it works to complete an apportionment plan that will be in effect from 2022 - 2032.

The public hearing schedule is:

Saturday, September 11, 2021, from 11:00 am – 12:30 pm

Saturday, September 18, 2021, from 8:30 – 10:00 am

Monday, September 27, 2021, from 6:30 – 8:00 pm

All public hearings will be held virtually on the Zoom platform out of an abundance of caution for the health of attendees. Each meeting will be accessible by visiting: https://washtenaw.ME/apportionment

Written comments can also be provided to the Apportionment Commission using an online form available at Washtenaw.org/Apportionment; by mail or in-person to the Washtenaw County Apportionment Commission, c/o Washtenaw County Clerk - Elections Division, 200 N. Main Street, Suite 120, Ann Arbor, MI 48104; and by fax to (734) 222-6528.

The Apportionment Commission must adopt a new apportionment plan by October 31, 2021 that includes a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 21 County Commissioner districts.

By law, the plan must meet the following criteria:

• All districts shall be single-member districts and as nearly of equal population as is practicable. The latest official published figures of the United States official census are used in this determination.
• All districts shall be contiguous.
• All districts shall be as compact and of as nearly square shape as is practicable.
• No township or part thereof shall be combined with any city or part thereof for a single district, unless such combination is needed to meet the population standard.
• Townships, villages and cities shall be divided only if necessary to meet the population standard.
• Precincts shall be divided only if necessary to meet the population standard.
• Residents of state institutions who cannot by law register in the county as electors shall be excluded from any consideration of representation.
• Districts shall not be drawn to effect partisan political advantage.

Washtenaw County is currently apportioned into nine county commissioner districts. The current map can be viewed online at Washtenaw.org/Apportionment.

County Clerk/Register Lawrence Kestenbaum states: "This is the process which shapes the county board, and county governance, for the coming decade. Regardless of the number of districts, it is my commitment to make district boundaries as simple and clear as possible. I think we accomplished that ten years ago, and I hope we will be doing that again."

The statutory members of the Washtenaw County Apportionment Commission are Larry Kestenbaum, Clerk/Register of Deeds; Catherine McClary, County Treasurer; Eli Savit, Prosecuting Attorney; David Frey, Washtenaw County Republican Party Chairperson; and Chris Savage, Washtenaw County Democratic Party Chairperson.

More information including past and future meeting notices, agendas, minutes, meeting recordings, and ways to interact with the Apportionment Commission can be found at Washteaw.org/Apportionment.