The DuPage County Board on Tuesday agreed to move ahead with an amended version of a district boundary map, put together by the county’s redistricting committee.
About the Redistricting Plan
The new plan keeps the current board structure with six districts, and maintains three board members per district. But some residents may have new county board representatives as a result of the board’s decision.
The county is required to adopt a redistricting map every 10 years to account for population changes noted in U.S. Census data.
Board Member Jim Zay emphasized the importance of the county establishing a fair process to redraw the map, all while ensuring transparency with members of the public. He said both sides of the aisle achieved much of what they set out to accomplish.
“This is a good map,” Zay said. “It’s bipartisan. Did everybody get everything what they wanted? No. That means it’s a good map. You know who benefits? The voters of DuPage County.”
Public Input
Discussion on redistricting spanned 11 public meetings over the past year. In addition, the county had opened an online portal and hosted four open houses to give residents a chance to weigh in on the process and ultimately the proposed plan, which was made public earlier this month.
Several county board members commended one another for working together to redraw the map with attention to fairness. But not everyone was pleased with the county’s redistricting process.
County Board Opposition
Board Member Amy Chavez said she would have liked public comment to be better incorporated into the board’s decision-making. More than 100 residents provided feedback on the county’s redistricting plan, officials said.
“Unfortunately, I felt like things were a little rushed as a committee member,” Chavez said.
Chavez suggested an amendment to the original redistricting plan unveiled by the county should incorporate some of the feedback that she received from residents in her district. Chavez said the amendment is needed to, among other things, keep the Steeple Run subdivision whole instead of splitting unincorporated Naperville residents between county board district Nos. 2 and 5.
Ultimately, the county board approved the amended redistricting plan in a 13-5 vote. The dissenting votes were cast by board members Sadia Covert, Lynn LaPlante, Ashley Selmon, Sheila Rutledge and Chavez.
Naperville News 17’s Megann Horstead reports.
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