Manatee is redrawing county districts. Where can you see the maps and give feedback?
Facing an end-of-the-year deadline to draw new voting districts, Manatee County officials are moving forward with two draft maps for public input.
Updating the county’s five district boundary lines is a state requirement following a U.S. Census count. The Board of County Commissioners has hired a redistricting consultant and held several public workshops to discuss how those lines will be drawn.
More than 70,000 people have moved to Manatee County since the previous census count in 2010, and all five districts will need to be adjusted in order to balance population levels. Rapid growth in Lakewood Ranch and Parrish has contributed to that imbalance.
For instance, Commissioner Vanessa Baugh has nearly 94,000 residents in District 5 today, while Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge’s District 3 is home to about 67,000 residents, according to the latest population data.
“The entire county has grown 24% and that growth has not been even as we go from district to district,” said John Guthrie, the county’s hired consultant. “District 1 and District 5 have grown by 45%. That’s the result of development pressure.”
In order to make sure that each district has roughly the same amount of residents, new lines have to be drawn.
When county officials approved the current maps in 2011, they aimed to include about 64,000 people in each district. The county’s larger population means that each district should include roughly 80,000 people.
These maps determine who represents you on the Manatee County Commission. Two commissioners are elected countywide, but the other five board members are elected only by the residents who live in their districts.
Board members voted during a public meeting Tuesday to seek resident feedback on two maps — one drawn by Guthrie and another drawn by Baugh. Both maps are subject to tweaks and changes as the board continues to review them.
What do Manatee’s redistricting maps look like?
Over the past several weeks, Guthrie has met with board members in public meetings to suggest ways to redraw the county’s five voting districts. He said the best way to level out the districts would be to remove residents from Districts 1 and 5 while adding more to the other three districts.
Both maps follow previous guidance from commissioners who wanted to see District 1 reimagined as the county’s rural district. Today’s map keeps District 1 north of State Road 64, but the draft maps cross that border to include Parrish and a large swath of agricultural land in Myakka City.
Guthrie’s draft map removes the western half of Palmetto from District 1. Instead, that part of the county is reassigned to District 3, with the goal of keeping coastal areas in the same district.
The western half of Palmetto is included in District 2 in Baugh’s map. She chose to expand District 3 by including more of West Bradenton, instead of adding Palmetto north of the Manatee River.
The maps also vary in their interpretation of District 4. Guthrie kept 34th Street West as the western boundary and used the Braden River as a geographical boundary on the east. Baugh’s map expands District 4 in both directions — bordered by 75th Street West on one side and Interstate-75 on the other.
The Braden River also serves as the western boundary line for District 5 in Guthrie’s map. The district stretches to County Road 675 on the east.
Baugh, the district commissioner, chose several different roads and geographic elements to serve as District 5’s boundaries on her map, including part State Road 70 in the east, a piece of U.S. 301 on the west and the Manatee River to the north.
Do the maps protect District 2’s minority population?
Drawing new lines for District 2 is especially sensitive. Because the district has historically had a strong minority population, federal law prevents county officials from “diluting” the population by significantly decreasing the percentage of minority voters in the district.
“District 2, because it is a minority-performing district, gets special attention,” Guthrie said.
Today, District 2 is made up of parts of downtown Bradenton, Palmetto and Ellenton. Commissioner Reggie Bellamy, the only Black representative on the board, represents the area.
In order to expand the district while accommodating his district’s minority population, Bellamy suggested expanding District 2 south toward Oneco, cutting into territory that resides within Commissioner Misty Servia’s District 4 today.
“When I come back to how we need to protect District 2, I think it’s appropriate,” Servia said. “It has to grow south, so the Oneco boundary of 63rd Avenue West makes sense. I don’t have a problem with it.”
According to the demographic data included in the draft maps, Guthrie’s proposal includes a slightly higher percentage of minority voters than Baugh’s proposal.
In previous meetings, leaders of Manatee’s Black community urged the board to proceed with caution and ensure that District 2’s minority representation isn’t affected by the changes.
“We understand that District 2 needs to expand. However, we are concerned about the way new boundaries will be drawn and we want to ensure that the voting strength of minority voters is not harmed in the process,” Carolyn Manson, a member of the Bradenton chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, told commissioners at a recent meeting.
County Attorney Bill Clague said his staff members have already reached out to a third-party legal firm that is willing to review the county’s maps to ensure that they meet state and federal requirements.
Where can residents see Manatee’s redistricting maps?
While both maps are intended as drafts, Manatee County officials plan to post them online and in community gathering spaces throughout the county, such as libraries and parks.
The online maps will allow residents to zoom in and scroll through the map for specific details about which areas and neighborhoods will be located in each district.
The physical maps located in libraries will be printed on large-scale posters for those who prefer to inspect the maps in person.
According to County Administrator Scott Hopes, staff members began posting these maps in public areas on Friday. A link to the interactive online maps has also been posted online. Click here to view the draft maps and demographic data for each district.
When will Manatee’s redistricting maps be approved?
Florida law requires commissioners to send their maps to Tallahassee for state officials to review by the end of December. The board will host two public hearings on the maps before a final vote.
If a map is not approved by the end of the year, state law would require the county to hold off on redrawing lines until 2023. The redistricting process usually starts earlier in the year, but the population data wasn’t released until Sept. 30 due to COVID-19 delays.
An agenda has not been set, but board members will discuss the proposed redistricting draft maps throughout the month of December. Commissioners have also said they will hold town hall and community meetings to seek feedback.
This story was originally published November 22, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
