League wants public say on county districts

The League of Women Voters of Sussex County is working hard to ensure the public is part of the Sussex County redistricting process. The league has scheduled several meetings with various groups to get input, will draw its own county redistricting map and is lobbying county council to make the process open and transparent. County council is charged with redrawing councilmanic districts based on updated U.S. Census data every 10 years.

Members invited council members to its kick-off forum two weeks ago; Joan Deaver, D-Rehoboth Beach, attended.

The league would like to see council members hold hearings in their home districts and bring that information back to other members. They want the county to issue a request for proposals to hire a consultant to assist county attorney Everett Moore with the redistricting process. “The league might be interested in bidding on that,” said member Joan Sterns, who led an effort to change the redistricting process in Montgomery County, Md.

Carol Jones, another member of the league’s 24-member redistricting committee, said the league promotes fairer representation for coastal residents. Three current council members live west of Route 113 and two live west of Route 13.

“Resort area issues are different than issues in rural areas. It’s important not to dilute representation,” Jones said.

She said the league’s mapping process will start by creating a district in the center of the county as a base and then look at creating districts in each quadrant of the county. She said the league plans to have its map ready for presentation to council in May.

There is no doubt districts will change. Recent census data show a growth spurt in coastal Sussex. All five districts increased in population, but District 3 (Deaver) and District 4 (George Cole, R-Ocean View) increased an average of more than 10,000 residents. District 1 (Mike Vincent, R-Seaford) increased by only 2,800 residents.

All districts must contain about 39,000 residents based on the new county population of 195,000. Deaver’s district is 5,000 over average and Vincent’s district is about 6,000 under the average. The remaining three districts fall within the acceptable range.

Above all, the league would like to see the process open to the public. Right now, league members say, they don’t know what is occurring. “We have no idea what council is doing because they won’t tell us,” Sterns said.

Council has appointed Moore to head up the redistricting process. The county cannot technically start redrawing a new councilmanic map until after the General Assembly finishes its redistricting process. Council will provide a copy of the redrawn map during a public hearing.

“We are worried they will have the public hearing and then vote the same day,” said Sterns.

“We want to shed light, not heat on the process,” Jones said. “All should be invited to give input.”

Among upcoming league sessions is a public forum at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 5, at the American Legion Post 28 on Route 24 east of Millsboro.