Dale Commission talks redistricting

How to redraw lines with the least disruption to existing county voting districts was the subject of a special called work session of the Dale County Commission Nov. 2.

The commissioners met with Southeast Alabama Regional Planning and Development Commission Executive Director Scott Farmer to hear options to resolve a population deviation revealed by recently released census data.

“Traditionally after the United States Census results are published local, state and federal governments look at their populations. Traditionally, local governments have allowed up to 10 percent deviation between the districts with the highest and lowest populations,” Farmer said.

The recent census revealed about a 25 percent deviation between Commissioners Charles “Chic” Gary’s District 3, the most populated district, and Commissioner Chris Carroll’s District 1, the lowest.

“The normal recommendation is to move the district line to get back within that 10 percent deviation,”

Farmer had told the commissioners at the meeting Oct. 26.

With the impending primary election May 24, 2022, and the legal public notification requirements before any such re-districting, Dale County Attorney Henry Steagall suggested that the commission begin the redistricting process as soon as possible.

He reminded the commission that Fort Rucker officials had notified the county that no building on the military installation can serve as a voting location, which necessitates moving one of the Rocky Head voting places to a new location. “We’ve going to have to change the precinct lines to get the Fort Rucker and Rocky Head voting district lines straight,” he stressed to the commissioners.

At the meeting Nov. 2, Farmer displayed two maps. One was the existing commission district map which shows that District 3 gained population and District 1 lost population since the last census was taken a decade ago.

Reiterating that local courts allow a 10 percent deviation between the highest and lowest populated districts, Farmer noted that District 2 and 4 are within that compliance percentage. “Generally my philosophy is to make as few changes to district lines as possible,” Farmer said. “Therefore my recommendation is that the change should be one that takes people from District 3 and adds them to District 1.”

The second map Farmer displayed reflected the district lines after moving a “little triangle” of some 1,444 people—most within the city limits of Ozark—that would put all the districts back in compliance. “That is the simplest change to get all four districts within the correct numbers,” Farmer said.

“This is something that the commissioners from District 1 and 3 have to decide because they are affected the most,” said Steagall. Both Carroll and Gary agreed to the proposal presented by Farmer.

No official vote can be taken at a work session but the commissioners were of the consensus that Farmer’s proposal to move 1,444 people from Gary’s district to Carroll’s without disrupting the other two districts was a good one.

Formal consideration of the proposed plan will be addressed at the commission work session Nov. 23 at 10 a.m. at the Government Building in Ozark. Maps of the proposed district boundaries are available for public review at the county website www.dalecountyal.org, the county commission office and the municipal offices in Ariton, Daleville, Midland City, Newton, Ozark and Pinckard.

“This is a lot more compressed time line than normal because of the census numbers not being released until the end of August and with a primary election coming up next year,” Farmer said.

At the Dale County Commission meeting Oct. 26, the commission voted unanimously to authorize a special election Jan. 11, 2020 to renew a tax that has supported school students in Dale County for more than 100 years. The re-drawn district lines voted on by the commission at the Nov. 23 meeting will not be in effect for that special school-support tax election, said Dale County Probate Judge Sharon Ard Michalic, who is the election official for the county. The re-drawn district lines are for the May 24, 2020 primary elections.

The next meeting of the Dale County Commission is Nov. 23 at the Government Building in Ozark. A work session begins at 10 a.m. with a voting meeting immediately following. Both meetings are open to the public.