Dallas City Hall. Photo by Hilary Schleier.
Census data shared with the City of Dallas Redistricting Commission showed population increases in East Dallas that could prompt some changes in Council boundaries next municipal election.
In conjunction with the decennial U.S. Census, the City Council and the Mayor appoint a Redistricting Commission to factor in population changes as they consider redrawing council districts.
At a Sept. 13 meeting of the 15-member Redistricting Commission, representatives of the City Attorney’s office noted that “the number of city council single member districts in Dallas (14) does not change, but the number of people in the district does change, so the boundaries are redrawn to fairly equalize the population in the districts.” Other considerations from the City Charter are that “the districts shall be geographically compact, to the extent possible, and composed of contiguous territory.”
A Census data table (shown here) was shared with the Commission showing the overall population and the voting age population of each district. It also notes the “ideal population” for each council district is 93,170 people.
Blackmon’s District 9 has 90,023 people, fairly close to the ideal number. District 9 is also relatively compact. Significant changes don’t seem to be in the cards for District 9.
However, Paul Ridley’s District 14 population of 106,927 has the largest deviation of any other council district from the ideal number of 93,170. It is also oddly shaped and stretches from Oak Lawn through Downtown and past Lakewood Country Club to the 3G intersection, making for some very strange bedfellows. Changes could be afoot for District 14. One obvious option could move some of the easternmost neighborhoods of Ridley’s District 14 to Blackmon’s District 9.
The District 14 representative is Norma Minnis, and the District 9 representative is Brent Rosenthal. The chairman is mayoral appointee Jesse Oliver, former state legislator and District Court judge. The Commission will meet over the next year and eventually make a recommendation of a new map to the Mayor and City Council in time for the next municipal election in May 2023.
