
The Basics
The City Charter (Section 2.02) divides the city into four elections districts for the purpose of electing district commissioners. It also requires adjustments to the districts to ensure that they are in accordance with the State of Florida Constitution and the Constitution of the United States. The Charter requires the City Commission assess these districts within two years of each decennial census.
The Challenges
The drawing of electoral districts is often considered one of the least transparent processes in democratic governance. To ensure transparency and public involvement, the city has retained the services of an expert consultant to make it possible for everyone to easily draw suggested district boundaries for our municipality through a web-browser. The open source software is designed to give the public an accessible and easy-to-use on-line mapping tool.
Constitutional and Guiding Principles
The City Commission shall follow established constitutional principles for redistricting in accordance with law. With the exception of population equality and compliance with the Voting Rights Act, which are mandatory criteria, there is no order of priority among the remaining criteria, which are discretionary criteria and which the City Commission is choosing to follow.