{"id":44657,"date":"2022-05-25T07:16:36","date_gmt":"2022-05-25T11:16:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/?p=44657"},"modified":"2022-05-25T11:58:42","modified_gmt":"2022-05-25T15:58:42","slug":"jamestown-reapportionment-commission-reviews-drafts-for-two-redistricting-maps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/jamestown-reapportionment-commission-reviews-drafts-for-two-redistricting-maps\/","title":{"rendered":"Jamestown Reapportionment Commission Reviews Drafts for Two Redistricting Maps"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Jamestown Reapportionment Commission member and city councilman Brent Sheldon points to an area of his Ward as he discusses redrawing Ward boundaries with his fellow commission members during the May 24 meeting.\u00a0<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Jamestown’s Reapportionment Commission<\/strong> reviewed the initial drafts of two separate redistricting<\/strong> maps during its meeting on Tuesday as the 11-member panel continues its work of bringing the city’s Wards into compliance.<\/p>\n

Commission members reviewed a draft redistricting plan that contains the current number of six wards, with all populations within 1% of one another. The commission also reviewed an alternate five-ward map – which also saw near-equal populations – after it was initially proposed two weeks ago by commission member Jim Walton<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Both maps were presented by Zach Altschuler<\/strong>, the mayor’s Executive Assistant who is also helping the commission by creating digital copies of the maps, based on the input of commission members.<\/p>\n

Altschuler said he focused changing the maps by starting with a portion of Ward 3 that extended into the center of the city, just south of the Chadakoin River.<\/p>\n

“That’s kind of what the starting point was, and that creates a whole list of downstream effects, so it was about 1,200 people in that little section there. It’s about a quarter of the ward,” Altschuler said, adding that he\u00a0was then able to shift other populations into Ward 3 to return it to balance, and worked to do the same to all other Wards until they all were within 1% of one another.<\/p>\n

Not only did the draft plan bring near-equal populations to all wards, it also utilized more of the city’s natural boundaries, including the river, railroad tracks and major roadways, as noted by commission chair Pete Johnson<\/strong>. “Well, the thing that jumps out right away to me about that map is just the optics test,” Johnson said. “The optics test very nicely.”<\/p>\n

Even though the revised map presented more uniform-looking wards, it was at the expense of making large adjustments to nearly every existing ward boundary. That’s something that didn’t go unnoticed by city councilman and commission member Brent Sheldon<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

“I just wanted for you to kind of tweak the wards to get them close and not do such drastic changes,” said Sheldon, who represents Ward 1. “Because there’s some pretty radical changes here. I mean, it does smooth out the wards, but I thought we were just going to do some small changes here and there, just try to equalize the population. I thought that’s what my motion was.”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Five Ward versus Six Ward Map proposals to Jamestown Reapportionment Commission (May 24, 2022)<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

The commission also reviewed Walton’s proposal to reduce the total number of wards to five – who again cited the city’s shrinking population and the call for smaller government as reasons for reducing the size of the city council. But not all commission members appeared in favor of the proposal, with council president and commission member Tony Dolce<\/strong> again saying it would only mean more work spread out over fewer council members.<\/p>\n

Commission member Ellen Ditonto<\/strong> also felt that regardless of how many wards the final plan will have, the commission needs to consider more than just whether or not the boundaries follow natural boundaries.<\/p>\n

“I like the natural boundaries, actually. I like using the train tracks and the river as a boundary, but when you look at the people who live in those areas, they’re very different. We have a lot of apartments in certain areas versus many more one-family homes in others. So, I think we need more discussion on some of those topics,” Ditonto said.<\/p>\n

At the conclusion of the meeting, all commission members felt the draft maps were a good first step, but would like to see a better comparison. As a result, Committee chair Pete Johnson said they will meet again Tuesday, May 31 to continue the discussion.<\/p>\n

“Our next opportunity to look at the maps, we’re going to try to hone in with greater detail on what these proposed changes might look like neighborhood to neighborhood. It doesn’t look like there’s any crazy gerrymandering type of thing going on, so from a purely eyeball perspective it’s a good looking map but the devil’s often in the details,” Johnson said.<\/p>\n

The commission has until September 1 to finalize a plan and present it to the full Jamestown City Council for its review and approval.<\/p>\n

The reapportionment process takes place every 10 years following the results of the U.S. Census, and the city commission is tasked with proposing new ward boundaries to get the average number of people within each ward to be as equal as possible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jamestown’s Reapportionment Commission reviewed the initial drafts of two separate redistricting maps during its meeting on Tuesday as the 11-member panel continues its work of bringing the city’s Wards into compliance. Commission members reviewed a draft redistricting plan that contains the current number of six wards, with all populations within 1% of one another. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":44659,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[4],"tags":[277,4879,11347,11348,10743,2269,10274],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/IMG_3114.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3YlJ4-bCh","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":44795,"url":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/city-reapportionment-committee-votes-to-move-forward-with-six-wards-versus-five-ward-maps\/","url_meta":{"origin":44657,"position":0},"title":"City Reapportionment Committee Votes to Move Forward with Six Wards Versus Five Ward Maps","author":"WRFA Radio","date":"June 1, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The Jamestown Reapportionment Commission has voted to move forward with creating a six ward map for new district boundaries. Following discussion on whether to go with a five ward map as proposed by Democratic Committee City Chair Jim Walton, including whether to have it go to a referendum, City Council\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Local News"","block_context":{"text":"Local News","link":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/category\/news\/local-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Jamestown-Reapportionment-5-31-22.jpg?fit=1000%2C750&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Jamestown-Reapportionment-5-31-22.jpg?fit=1000%2C750&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Jamestown-Reapportionment-5-31-22.jpg?fit=1000%2C750&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Jamestown-Reapportionment-5-31-22.jpg?fit=1000%2C750&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":48848,"url":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/city-council-approves-2-laws-on-ward-boundary-lines-livestreaming-meetings\/","url_meta":{"origin":44657,"position":1},"title":"City Council Approves 2 Laws on Ward Boundary Lines, Livestreaming Meetings","author":"WRFA Radio","date":"December 20, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Jamestown City Council has approved two local laws regarding new ward boundary lines and allowing video conferencing for public meetings. Council President Tony Dolce said the video conferencing law just codifies what the city has been doing for the last three years, \"So our boards, commissions, council meetings, everything is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Local News"","block_context":{"text":"Local News","link":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/category\/news\/local-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/City-Council-12-19-22.jpg?fit=890%2C611&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/City-Council-12-19-22.jpg?fit=890%2C611&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/City-Council-12-19-22.jpg?fit=890%2C611&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/City-Council-12-19-22.jpg?fit=890%2C611&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2035,"url":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/city-council-approves-reapportionment-plan\/","url_meta":{"origin":44657,"position":2},"title":"City Council Approves Reapportionment Plan","author":"WRFA Radio","date":"June 26, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"JAMESTOWN \u2013 the Jamestown City Council has given its unanimous approval to new ward boundary lines that will bring the city\u2019s ward populations into compliance with the 2010 census.\u00a0 The reapportionment plan, which involves minimal changes was drawn up by the city\u2019s reapportionment commission over the course of three meetings\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Local News"","block_context":{"text":"Local News","link":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/category\/news\/local-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":44641,"url":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/jamestown-reapportionment-commission-continues-ward-boundary-line-discussion\/","url_meta":{"origin":44657,"position":3},"title":"Jamestown Reapportionment Commission Continues Ward Boundary Line Discussion","author":"WRFA Radio","date":"May 24, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Jamestown's Reapportionment Commission will continue the process of redrawing ward boundary lines Tuesday, May 24. Reapportionment takes place every 10 years following the results of the U.S. Census, and the city's reapportionment commission is tasked with proposing new ward boundaries to get the average number of people within each ward\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Local News"","block_context":{"text":"Local News","link":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/category\/news\/local-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Jamestown-Ward-Map.png?fit=772%2C486&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Jamestown-Ward-Map.png?fit=772%2C486&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Jamestown-Ward-Map.png?fit=772%2C486&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Jamestown-Ward-Map.png?fit=772%2C486&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":43425,"url":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/city-council-approves-reapportionment-commission-appointments\/","url_meta":{"origin":44657,"position":4},"title":"City Council Approves Reapportionment Commission Appointments","author":"WRFA Radio","date":"March 29, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The appointments for the City's Reapportionment Commission have been set. Jamestown City Council approved the mayoral appointments of Ellen Ditonto, Alyssa Porter, and Billy Torres to the commission. Jim Walton will represent the Democratic Party, Peter Johnson will represent the City Republican Party, and Steve Muscarella will represent the Conservative\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Local News"","block_context":{"text":"Local News","link":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/category\/news\/local-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Jamestown-City-Council-3-28-22.jpg?fit=800%2C501&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Jamestown-City-Council-3-28-22.jpg?fit=800%2C501&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Jamestown-City-Council-3-28-22.jpg?fit=800%2C501&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Jamestown-City-Council-3-28-22.jpg?fit=800%2C501&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":46058,"url":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/the-jamestown-reapportionment-commission-has-approved-new-ward-boundary-maps-for-the-city\/","url_meta":{"origin":44657,"position":5},"title":"The Jamestown Reapportionment Commission Has Approved New Ward Boundary Maps for the City","author":"WRFA Radio","date":"August 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The Jamestown Reapportionment Commission has unanimously approved new ward lines for election districts in the City. City Council President and Reapportionment Commission member Tony Dolce said the commission chose to go with the plan with the least changes to ward boundaries, \"There weren't a lot to begin with. Most of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Local News"","block_context":{"text":"Local News","link":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/category\/news\/local-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/City-Reapportionment-8-9-22.jpg?fit=1000%2C750&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/City-Reapportionment-8-9-22.jpg?fit=1000%2C750&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/City-Reapportionment-8-9-22.jpg?fit=1000%2C750&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/City-Reapportionment-8-9-22.jpg?fit=1000%2C750&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44657"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44657"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44657\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44674,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44657\/revisions\/44674"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}