Fort Worth schools Dallas when it comes to redistricting
Some northern Texas cities may be weeks away from momentous redistribution decisions. Residents should pay particular attention to this in the coming months.
The US Census Bureau is expected to release block-level data on August 16, less than a month from now. Another publication with more user-friendly data will follow in September. Cities will have months to plan before districts have to be determined for local elections in spring 2023, but some cities are already setting up commissions and community engagement events.
In Fort Worth, city officials hosted a series of 11 public redistribution meetings. Five of these are training workshops that provide residents with the knowledge and even the software tools to redraw the city council’s boundaries. Participants are encouraged to draw their own maps and submit them to the city.
“All of this is in line with the intention of the city council to make the reallocation process as transparent and participative as possible,” said Deputy City Director Fernando Costa to the participants of the first workshop on July 12th.
In addition to these meetings, Fort Worth has what Lorraine C. Miller, Chair of the Redistricting Task Force, calls a real and concerted effort to publicize the process.
“Sometimes the city will post things on the city’s website and say, ‘Okay, we let the public know,'” Miller said. “But how many people visit the city’s website every day? If you don’t, you won’t know a flat-flying fajita about what’s going on with the city. “
So their task force carried out a media flash. They sent out press releases. Miller was interviewed by KXAS-TV (NBC5).
Fort Worth communications and public relations director Michelle L. Gutt said the first public redistribution hearing in January was viewed online by more than 7,800 people.
“We’ve had a lot of discussions lately about how we were going to capitalize on the Fort Worth Awakening. Because of the summer of the protests, I think people are a lot more conscious overall, ”Miller said. “We wanted to piggyback that to let people know what was going on.”
In Dallas, efforts are well below this pace, but city officials say there is plenty of time.
Brett Wilkinson, the director of the city’s government affairs office, said 10 of the 15 seats on the reallocation commission were filled and he expects that body to be operational by the end of August.
“If we keep talking about it after the start of the year, it would be alarming,” said City Councilor Paula Blackmon.
Wilkinson said news will be made available on the city’s website as the process progresses. We encourage readers and residents to participate and stay tuned to ensure they know more than “a flat-flying fajita” about what’s going on in their city, to use Miller’s phrase. Miller told us, “Redistribution is such an important function of local government. It really affects people’s lives and how they are represented. “
Fort Worth’s socially conscious, proactive approach will benefit from increased community engagement and public trust. When the government is transparent and connected to the electorate, it can be more effective.
“I think we had a lot of pressure on an independent reallocation commission because people thought the council would go to a room for itself and then start trading horses,” Miller said. “The public loses in this scenario.”
She is right. We encourage Dallas and other cities to follow Fort Worth’s lead here to build a robust community engagement program that invites participation and dispels skepticism.
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