Malia Riggs
Elmore Autauga News
Due to the recent 2020 census and a large population influx, the City of Prattville has begun the process of redistricting for the city of Prattville. The last redistricting was adopted in the last 2010 census, Prattville City Planner Scott Stephens stated that the redistricting needs to happen to ensure the one person one vote principle.
“The general concept for one person one vote is that you want equal representation. That’s why we need to reset the numbers and the lines to get as close as we can to that idea. The 2020 census told us that there are 37,781 residents in Prattville, the ideal population is working on the concept of one person one vote. The idea is to have as close as possible to the number of residents in each district,” Stephens said.
Stephens confirmed that the number breaks down to about 5,397 within each council district. However, the current districts house vastly different numbers than what the projected redistricting would house.
For example, district three is currently above the ideal number of people in that district by around 2,500 people. Stephens confirmed that through the redistricting process the goal is to be plus or minus 5%.
Currently there’s a benchmark plan in place with Slaughter and Associates Planning Firm for the new city council districts, using the 2020 census block numbers. The Benchmark plan is publicly available online and can be found here at Redistricting – City of Prattville (prattvilleal.gov). All input and suggestions will be recorded from the upcoming public hearings and via email redistricting@prattvilleal.gov
Slaughter and Associates is a full-service urban planning firm based in Mississippi with over 30 years of experience and has produced effective results for more than 150 cities, counties and school districts throughout Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama and Tennessee, according to their website.
The most recent public hearing was held April 9th, and while the upcoming meetings have not been announced yet, Stephens anticipates the next public hearing will be around June. All upcoming public hearings will be announced on the city website.
The public is encouraged to draft their own maps of the districts, following the guidelines as closely as possible or to submit their comments regarding the redistricting which can be found on the city website. All input and suggestions will be recorded from the upcoming public hearings and via email redistricting@prattvilleal.gov
“The public is going to know their neighborhoods better than anyone else. They live there, they know their neighbors, they see the landmarks. That’s why we seek the feedback from the public because they’re going to know better than we will, and it’s important to know what the public’s preferences are,” Stephens said.
