Public input sought on redistricting Madison

By Staff
Thomas Tingle
Record Managing Editor
As a resident of the city of Madison, what is your opinion as to the way the city council should reconfigure its districts?
If you'd like to address the city council with your comments, a public hearing to discuss the issue will be held at 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 24. The public hearing will give residents the opportunity to provide input into the process of redistricting the seven council districts as required by law every 10 years. The council will adopt a proposed redistricting plan to the United States Department of Justice for its approval.
At the present time, a map illustrating the geographic arrangement of the present council election districts, along with a demographic profile of each such district is available for public inspection at City Hall.
Federal law requires that districts vary no more than 10 percent to insure equal representation and compliance with the one person, one vote requirement. Boundaries of the seven districts must be realigned to balance the population.
The 2002 Census showed that Madison, after accounting for annexations, had a total population of 29,353. The population has increased to more than 33,000 today.
A local citizens group has put a redistricting proposal together as a way to get involved in the redistricting process. Information obtained in the proposal came from the U.S. Census Bureau.