Malia Riggs
Elmore Autauga News
The Prattville City Council had another redistricting workshop for the upcoming redistricting map that has components due to the probate office as soon as this month.
Nathan Willingham with Slaughter and Willingham Urban Planning Consultants was at the meeting and was able to bring software to take a deeper look.
With this software, Willingham was able to move numbers and exhaust the possibilities of how and where to move district lines and how that would affect other districts, with the council members Tuesday evening.
Willingham estimates he should have preliminary map number three back to the council within two weeks.
Due to the recent 2020 census and a large population influx, the City of Prattville has begun the process of redistricting. That process started in June of 2021.
The redistricting map must be done prior to the city council election that will be held August 26, 2025, Council President Lora Lee Boone confirmed.
The last redistricting map was adopted in the 2010 census, Prattville City Planner Scott Stephens stated. The redistricting needs to happen to ensure the one person one vote principle within each district. This is to ensure that every vote is heard within each district.
Stephens confirmed that the number breaks down to about 5,397 people within each council district. However, the current districts house vastly different numbers than what the projected redistricting would due to the amount Prattville has grown since 2010.
For example, when this process started, district three was at that time above the ideal number of people by around 2,500 people. Stephens confirmed that through the redistricting process the goal is to be plus or minus 5%.
Once the map is voted on, and everything is submitted to the probate office, information will be sent to each voter in all districts. That will include information on where to cast a vote and other information they need to know.
Currently there’s a benchmark plan in place with Slaughter and Willingham Associates Planning Firm for the new city council districts, using the 2020 census block numbers, input from the council members and the community that have either given input or sent in their own district maps. The Benchmark plan is publicly available online and can be found on the City of Prattville website or by, https://prattvilleal.gov/redistricting-2024/.
