Lexington looks to overhaul council redistricting rules. Here’s why and the changes
The Lexington council is considering some substantial changes to how district lines can be redrawn and who can sit on the committee that oversees redistricting.
Some of the proposed changes were unveiled during a special Thursday Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council General Government and Social Services Committee meeting.
But a question about a section that would remove a prohibition against redistricting sitting council members out of their districts — and what that would mean for election laws — stalled efforts to move the changes in the ordinance forward.
The issue will be revisited at the committee’s meeting on Nov. 15.
Some of the proposed changes include not allowing people who are appointed to the committee that redraws the council district boundaries from running for a council district seat for three years after the committee meets. The committee members must also have voted in at least three of the last five general elections and live in the council district.
Legally, the city can’t prohibit someone from running. But council members can ask their representatives not to run, said Councilwoman Susan Lamb. “We are just asking them not to (to avoid) conflicts.”
The council district boundaries are redrawn every 10 years after the U.S. Census to account for population shifts in the city. Each of the city’s 15 councilors appoints a person to the redistricting committee.
Redistricting committee members would not be prohibited from running in the at-large race, which is city-wide and does not depend on district boundaries.
It’s been an issue in the past.
In 2021, Brenda Monarrez, who is currently running in the newly redrawn 4th Council District, and Rock Daniels, who is running in the 11th Council District, served on the redistricting committee and then later filed to run for office.
Monarrez faces Brack Marquette in the 4th District.The seat opened after Lamb announced last year she would not seek re-election. Daniels is running against incumbent Jennifer Reynolds and write-in candidate Britannie C. Price.
The 11th Council District lines were changed to include the Meadowthorpe area, which is where Daniels lives. Daniels said he did not propose the changes that moved him into the 11th District.
More details from proposal
Other changes include doing away with a provision that ensures sitting council members are not redistricted out of their current districts.
That prohibition proved problematic during the 2021 redistricting process because some council members live near each other, creating headaches when the boundaries were redrawn.
The work group also proposed removing language that prohibits neighborhood associations from being split or separated into different council districts. Another provision added to the ordinance would protect communities of interest, which would include neighborhood associations, city staff said.
The new ordinance would also make clear when the redistricting committee would meet.
Under the proposed changes, the vice mayor will appoint the members by Feb. 1.
This will hopefully allow the committee to begin its work earlier and seek more public input earlier in the process, said Jennifer Sutton, a research analyst.
In 2021, the redistricting committee started late because there was a delay in the release of the 2020 Census data.
There was also confusion on when people could give public comment.
Councilwoman Whitney Elliott Baxter, who was a member of the work group, said they did not want to put in the ordinance specific timelines about when public comment should occur because they were not sure what public comment would look like in 10 years.
During Thursday’s committee meeting, there were a lot of questions about removing the prohibition about redistricting sitting council members out of their districts.
Vice Mayor Steve Kay said if a council member is drawn out of their district, they would also not meet the residency requirements to run in the new district.
“They are booted out of office either way,” said Kay.
Evan Thompson, a lawyer for the city, said they would have to do more research to figure out what would happen if a council member is drawn out of their district.
Councilwoman Amanda Mays Bledsoe, who served on the work group, said because of Lexington’s growth boundary, many council members live close to each other. That makes it tricky for the committee redrawing council district boundaries.
“We tried to think of the community first,” Bledsoe said.
The committee agreed to have Thompson do more research on that issue and return to the committee in November.
