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RESOLUTION NO.
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DENTON ADOPTING
CRITERIA FOR USE 1N THE 2021 REDISTRICTING PROCESS; AND PROVIDING AN
EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, the City Council has certain responsibilities for redistricting under federal and
state law, including but not limited to, Amendments 14 and 15 to the United States Constitution,
the Voting Rights Act, 42 U.S.C.A. § 1973, et seq., and Tex. Gov't Code Ann. §§ 2058.001 and
2058.002; and
WHEREAS, the City Council has certain responsibilities for redistricting under the City
Charter; and
WHEREAS, on review of the 2020 Census data, it appears that there is not a population
imbalance such that redistricting of the City Councilmember Districts is required; and
WHEREAS, the City Council desires to consider redistricting in order to optimize district
boundaries; and
WHEREAS, it is the intent of the City to comply with the Voting Rights Act and with all
other relevant law, including Shaw v. Reno jurisprudence; and
WHEREAS, a set of established redistricting criteria will serve as a framework to guide
the City in the consideration of redistricting plans; and
WHEREAS, established criteria will provide the City a means by which to evaluate and
measure proposed plans; and
WHEREAS, redistricting criteria will assist the City in its efforts to comply with all
applicable federal and state laws; NOW, THEREFORE,
THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DENTON HEREBY RESOLVES:
SECTION 1. The recitations contained in the preamble of this resolution are incorporated
by reference as findings of the City Council. .
SECTION 2. The City Council will observe the following criteria, to the greatest extent
possible when drawing district boundaries:
1. Easily identifiable geographic boundaries should be followed.
2. Communities of interest should be maintained in a single district, where possible,
and attempts should be made to avoid splitting neighborhoods.
3. Districts should be composed of whole voting precincts. Where this is not possible
or practicable, districts should be drawn considering county election precincts.
Avoid splitting census blocks unless necessary.
4. Although it is recognized that existing districts may be altered to reflect population
distribution, any redistricting plan should, to the extent possible, be based on
existing districts.
5. Districts must be configured so that they are relatively equal in total population
according to the 2020 federal census. In no event should the total population
deviation between the largest and the smallest district exceed ten percent as
compared to the ideal district size.
6. Districts should be compact and composed of contiguous territory. Compactness
may contain a fiinctional, as well as a geographical, dimension.
7. Consideration may be given to the preservation of incumbent -constituency
relations by recognition of the residence of incumbents and their history in
representing certain areas.
8. The plan should be narrowly tailored to avoid racial gerrymandering in violation of
Shaw v. Reno.
9. The plan should not fragment a geographically compact minority community or
pack minority voters in the presence of polarized voting so as to create liability
under the Voting Rights Act.
SECTION 3. The City Council will review all plans in light of these criteria and will
evaluate how well each plan conforms to the criteria.
SECTION 4. Any plan submitted to the City Council by a citizen for its consideration
should be a complete plan—i.e., it should show the full number of City Councilmember Districts
and should redistrict the entire District. The City Council may decline to consider any plan that is
not a complete plan.
SECTION S. All plans submitted by citizens, as well as plans submitted by staff,
consultants, and members of the City Council should conform to these criteria.
SECTION 6. This resolution shall become effective immediately upon its passage and
approval.
The motion to approve this Resolution was made byGe—cc ZA JIuC\SVgAb and
seconded by 0 C b R f M', azr:c. - The Resolution was passed and approved by
the following vote L-7— - Q] :
Page 2
Gerard Hudspeth, Mayor:
Vickie Byrd, District 1:
Brian Beck, District 2:
Jesse Davis, District 3
Alison Maguire, District 4:
Deb Arrnintor, At Large Place 5:
Paul Meltzer, At Large Place 6:
Ayp
Nay_ Abstain Absent
PASSED AND APPROVED this the Z O*Vt 3' day of ®GA-Qe , 2021.
ATTEST:
ROSA RIOS, CITY SECRETARY
APPROVED AS TO LEGAL FORM:
MACK REINWAND, CITY ATTORNEY
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RA ETH, MAYOR