2011-067 RES ADOPTING CRITERIA FOR REDISTRICTING OF POLITICAL BOUNDARIESRESOLUTION NO. 2011-067
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS;
ADOPTING CRITERIA FOR REDISTRICTING OF POLITICAL BOUNDARIES
WITHIN THE CITY OF PARIS IN ACCORDANCE WITH 2010 CENSUS DATA
ISSUED BY THE UNITED STATES CENSUS BUREAU AND STATE AND
FEDERAL LAW AND SECTION 8 OF THE CITY CHARTER; AUTHORIZING
THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE SAID ORDER AND THE CITY CLERK TO
ATTEST TO SAME; MAKING OTHER FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS
RELATED TO THE SUBJECT; AND DECLARING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Paris has previously retained the firm of
Allison, Bass & Associates, L.L.P. to conduct an Initial Assessment of existing political
boundaries and City Council districts of the City of Paris as a result of the issuance of 2010
Census data by the United States Census Bureau; and,
WHEREAS, the City Council has determined as a result of said assessment, it is
necessary to establish criteria for redistricting of City Political Boundaries; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
PARIS, TEXAS, THAT:
Section 1. The findings set out in the preamble to this resolution are hereby in
all things approved.
Section 2. The City Council does hereby authorize and direct the issuance of an
Order adopting Criteria for Redistricting of City Political Boundaries, and does further
authorize the Mayor to execute and the City Clerk to attest to same, a copy of which said
Order is attached hereto as Exhibit "A" and for all purposes incorporated herein, regarding
the criteria for redistricting of City Political Boundaries and ordering the necessary
processes to adopt the aforesaid criteria for redistricting of the City of Paris, Texas, in such
a manner as to comply with applicable State and Federal law and Section 8 of the City
Charter.
Section 3. This resolution shall be effective immediately upon passage.
PASSED AND APPROVED this 22°d day of August, 2011.
ATTEST:
- oao
nice Ellis, City Clerk
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
W. Kent Mc ya ,'ty Attorney
ORDER
AN ORDER OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS ESTABLISHING CRITERIA FOR
REDISTRICTING OF CITY POLITICAL BOLTNDARIES
The City Council of the City of Paris, Texas, meeting in a duly scheduled and posted meeting, does
hereby adopt the following criteria for use in the redistricting of all city political boundaries. Any plan for
the redistricting of the City of Paris, or election precincts should, to the maximum extent possible, conform
to the following criteria:
The plan should insure that all applicable provisions of the U.S. and Texas Constitutions, the
Voting Rights Act, the Texas Election Code are honored.
2. The plan should address minarity representation, and if at all possible in conformity with
constitutional standards, avoid retrogression in the percentage of population and voting age
demographics consistent with existing minority representation.
The plan should preserve minority communities of interest. These communities of interest should
be recognized and retained intact where possible. Only when the overall minority population of
the City is sufficiently large, should the City require more than one minority district, should
minority populations be divided and only then to the least degree possible.
4. The plan should not, however, attempt to unreasonably join geographically remote minority
populations into a single precinct unless there are strong and genuine connections between these
communities as reflected by common schools, churches, or cultural ties. For example, minority
populations in two separate towns, located miles apart, may not have sufficient links or common
political cohesion to justify joining these two minority population centers into a single electaral group.
Particularly when dealing with distinct minority groups, such as Black and Hispanic populations, a
general assumption that separate minority populations will vote in a"block" may be unsupportable in
fact.
The plan should seek compact and contiguous political boundaries. Physical boundaries such as
rivers, which tend to divide populations in fundamental ways, should be recognized and communities
of interest should be retained intact where possible. To the maximum extent possible, clearly
recognized boundaries should be used to facilitate ease of voter identification of boundaries, as well as
election administration.
6. Where possible, well-recognized and long used election precinct boundaries should be retained intact
(within the limitations imposed by state and federal law) or with as little alteration as possible.
7. Election precincts in the plans should be sized in conformity with state law. For example, in cities
that use traditional, hand counted paper ballots, no election precinct may contain more than 2000
voters. In cities with voting systems that allow for automated ballot counting, this number may be
increased to as many as 5000 voters.
The plan should afford incumbent office holders with the assurance that they will continue to
represent tlle majority of individuals who elected these incumbents, and all incumbents' residential
locations should be retained in their reformed precincts to insure continuity in leadership during the
remaining term of incumbents.
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The plan should address fundamental and necessary governmental functions, and to the extent
possible, insure that these functions are enhanced rather than impaired. Election administration should
not be unduly complex as a result of election boundaries.
10. The plan should insure that election voting precincts under such plan do not contain territory from
more than one of the following to provide to the greatest extent possible harmonious administration
of various election jurisdictions:
a. commissioners precinct;
b. justice precinct;
c. congressional district;
d. state representative district;
e. state senatorial district;
f. city ward; if the city has a population of 10,000 or more (this is a strict legal requirement,
but city election wards should be honored in virtually all circumstances, with city and
rural county voters being kept in separate voting precincts to the extent possible);
g. State Board of Education districts;
h. and where they exist other special election districts, such as water, hospital, ar navigation
districts.
11. The plan should attempt to locate polling places in convenient, well-known locations that are
accessible to disabled voters to the maximum extent possible. Public buildings should be utilized to
the maximum extent possible as polling places. Where necessary, buildings routinely open to the
public, such as churches, retail businesses, or private buildings dedicated to public activities, should be
used as polling places.
The faregoing criteria are deemed to be illustrative, but not exclusive, examples of fundamentally
important issues, which should be considered in any redistricting, plan. Therefore, the City Council expresses
its intention to measure any plan submitted for consideration by this set of criteria, and to base any eventual
exercise of discretion upon the foregoing criteria.
The criteria approved this date were considered in open session, following posting not less than 72
hours before any action taken on the same. Upon motion by Council member Edwin Pickle, and second by
Council member Richard Grossnickle, the Council adopted the criteria set forth herein by a vote of 5 tol.
Signed this 22nd day of August, 2011.
A.J. Hashmi, M.D., Mayor
ATTEST:
Janice Ellis, City Clerk
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
W. Kent McIlyar, City Attorney