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STEELE CREEK NEWS
Steele Creek
Likely to Loose Influence on County Boards
(May
7,
2011) Before the 2012 elections, the six districts used to elect
district members of the Mecklenburg County Board of County Commissioners and
the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School Board must be redrawn to make their
populations more equal based on 2010 census counts. (Each board also
has three members elected at-large.)
The 2010 census
population of Mecklenburg County was 919,628, so each district
should have approximately 153,271 persons. The 2010 census population of Steele Creek
was 52,014, up 106% from the 2000 census count of 25,282. If Steele
Creek remains in tact in one district, it will make up 34% of that
district and could be in a position to have a major influence over
who gets elected from that district and would tend to be listened to
by its representatives.
Steele Creek
currently is within county commissioner and school board District 2,
represented by Vilma Leake on the County Commission and by Richard
McElrath on the Board of Education, but that likely will change. (See Current
Map and Table below.)
Mecklenburg County
has created a
Redistricting Tool that citizens can use to create
district plans and become partners in the redistricting process. New
districts must meet the following standards:
-
The population difference between the largest and smallest
districts must be no more than 10%, which means a range of
approximately 145,600 to 160,900.
Minorities must make up a majority of the voting age
population in two districts. A majority is defined as at least 53%
of one minority, either Black or Hispanic.
Three districts must likely elect Democrats and three must
likely elect Republicans based on the number of voters who voted a
straight party ticket in the last two national elections.
According to 2010
census data, 47.4% of the voting age population of District 2 was
Black and 15.9% was Hispanic, for a total minority percentage of
63.3%. However, apparently at least 53% must be of one minority. To
meet the standard, District 2 needs a higher percentage Black
population. The only apparent way to achieve this is to remove
Steele Creek precincts with high counts of White population from the
district.
Steele Creek
precincts have tended to vote Democratic, making them compatible
politically with District 2. All Steele Creek precincts had a
majority of straight ticket voters voting Democratic in the 2008
election, and all but two (200 - Berryhill Elementary School and 229
- Christ the King Lutheran Church) had a majority of straight ticket
voters voting Democratic in the 2010 election.
Several plan
suggestions have been posted on the Redistricting Tool site, but
only three (excluding the Demo) meet all three standards listed
above. (See below.) As the maps of the sample plans below show, all three plans transfer several
Steele Creek precincts to Districts 1, 5, or 6 and reduce the number of Steele
Creek precincts included in District 2. Based on any of these plans,
Steele Creek precincts would make up no more than 20% of any
District, including District 2. Several Steele Creek precincts
likely will
be lumped in with predominantly White, Republican areas in the Lake
Norman area of North Mecklenburg or in Southeast Charlotte.
Steele Creek is a
more diverse, middle-class area with little in common with Districts
1, 5, and 6. The bulk of the population and voters in those
districts would be far away from Steele Creek, and Steele Creek
could easily be overlooked by
whoever represents them. It would be preferable for Steele Creek to
remain united in one district. If it is split among three districts,
its influence over county politics will be severely reduced.
Sample Redistricting Plans
from
Redistricting Tool.
To
top
District |
2010 Population |
Optimum Population |
Difference |
Percent Variance |
1 |
199,449 |
153,271 |
46,178 |
30.13% |
2 |
143,172 |
153,271 |
-10,099 |
-6.59% |
3 |
167,077 |
153,271 |
13,806 |
9.01% |
4 |
121,614 |
153,271 |
-31,657 |
-20.65% |
5 |
127,800 |
153,271 |
-25,471 |
-16.62% |
6 |
160,516 |
153,271 |
7,245 |
4.73% |
Total |
919,628 |
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The City Council also
must update its districts.
The current city council
districts are shown below. New districts must be set before July 25, which is the beginning of
candidate filing for the November 2011 City Council elections.
To comment on this
story, please visit the
Steele Creek Forum.
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