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Min 07/25/2001 386 Wichita Falls, Texas Memorial Auditorium Building July 25, 2001 Items 1 & 2 The City Council of the City of Wichita Falls, Texas met in special session on the above date in the Council Room of the Memorial Auditorium Building at 3:00 o'clock p.m., with the following members present: Jerry Lueck - Mayor Bill Altman - Mayor Pro Tern Arthur Bea Williams - Councilors Linda Ammons James Esther, Jr. - Johnny Burns - Harold Hawkins - James Berzina - City Manager Bill Sullivan - Acting City Attorney Lydia Torres - City Clerk Mayor called the meeting to order. Councilor Hawkins gave the invocation. Item 3 The purpose of this meeting was to discuss redistricting and facts and figures resulting from the 2000 census. Acting City Attorney informed that in December the City retained Professor David Guinn and his partner Professor Mike Morrison to assist us in looking at the 2000 census and possible redistricting issues. Professor Guinn is here today to provide Council his initial findings. Professor Guinn gave an overview of the redistricting process. He informed that the State grew by about 4 million people, which is about a 22.8% enhancement. About 60% or better are related to our Hispanic community. It is projected that in 30 years Texas will have 34 million people and our minority profile will be about 63.5%. He went over the voting rights process. Since we elect from single member districts Avery V. Midland County mandates one person one vote, however, this is a misnomer because it does not deal with registered voters it deals with warm bodies. The census counts everybody whether children, registered or not, including aliens. The formula requires that we take the aggregate number of single member districts and divide that into the total population and come up with the numeric ideal and we shoot for balance within a tolerance level of 10%, 5% up or down. That is a Federal Constitutional requirement. Initially it has nothing to do with race or ethnicity, it is a question of balancing the population. It will be our obligation to divide 100,535 (population) by 5 (single member districts) which means each of you is supposed to have a numerically perfect ideal district of 20,107. That number deletes 3662 of incarcerated felons in the Allred Unit. In tandem with the equal protection obligation we must comply with the Federal Voting Rights Act which is a federal statute. Voting Rights Act, Section 5 states that all changes made in election laws must be pre-cleared through the Department of Justice. That is the process that we will go through. Section 5 keys around the word "retrogression" which means that we compare the old or existing plan and the new proposed plan and ask if the minority community district is 387 Item 3 continued worse off under the new plan than they were under the old plan. That means no "backsliding" in regard to minority participation in the process. The sole issue that the Justice Department will pass on is upon the issue of retrogression and backsliding. Justice O'Connor, principal author in regard to redistricting opinions, has said that it is perfectly appropriate to consider race but she said not to let race be the dominant motive. Essentially she has said to stay away from racial gerrymanders. In reviewing the maps provided by Professional Guinn, it was discovered that the maps were in error. Professor Guinn will look into this situation and correct it. He informed that the timeline was fluid. After an acceptable plan is obtained, they will publish public hearing notices in the newspaper. An ordinance will be passed adopting the plan and it will then be submitted to the Department of Justice for pre-clearance. He hopes to have this in place by the end of this year. He stated that the Wichita Falls Independent School District is a special purpose unit and the City is a general-purpose unit, therefore, the boundaries are not and will not be coterminous. County election precincts have to be self-contained within the City wards. Professor Guinn recommends an advisory committee be appointed but it is not mandatory. He stipulated that it is an advisory committee only and does not make the final decision. The Council makes the final determination on the plan. He informed that a council member is not prohibited from serving on the advisory committee. He provided the Acting City Attorney a copy of the new set of guidelines issued by the Department of Justice and suggested that they be given to the advisory committee. The committee meetings are open to the public but only the Council, Staff and committee members can participate in the dialogue. Citizens will have an opportunity to comment at the public hearing. Council can schedule as many public hearings as they want. Professor Guinn recommended that a meeting be held in the minority district. Any plan that is submitted has to be explained in a narrative with a copy of a map reflecting the plan. He noted that it is difficult to work a plan without the census geography. Normally, it takes a committee two meetings to complete the plan. He informed that he had contacted Dr. Richard Ingstrom, Louisiana State University, Fifth Circuit preeminent expert on regression analysis and asked him to get in touch with the City's election representative. Dr. Ingstrom addresses the issues of racial polarization and political cohesiveness, and his cost would be $2500 to do the analysis. Professor Guinn felt that Dr. Ingstrom was very essential in this process. The goal is to maintain the core of the existing districts, keep it compact and contiguous, honor the principal of one person one vote, narrowly tailor it to comply with Sec. 5, do as little damage as possible to our election precincts, and to the extent possible maintain incumbents in their districts and avoid pairing them with each other. Council consensus was to place a discussion item relating to the make up of the advisory committee on the August 7 Council meeting and then appoint an advisory committee at the August 21 Council meeting. Item 4 City Council went into Executive Session at 4:25 p.m. as authorized by Texas Local Government Code 551.071 City Council reconvened at 4:32 p.m. No action was taken. City Council adjourned at 4:34 p.m. 388 PASSED AND APPROVED this day of 12001. MAYOR ATTEST: Lydia Torres City Clerk NOTICE OF SPECIAL MEETING Special Meeting Of The Mayor And City Council Of The City Of Wichita Falls, Texas To Be Held In The City Council Chambers Of The Memorial Auditorium, 1300 Seventh Street, On Wednesday, July 25, 2001 , Beginning at 3:00 o'clock p.m. City Council: Mayor Gerald Lueck - Councilors Arthur Bea Williams, Linda Ammons, James Esther, William Altman, Johnny Burns, and Harold Hawkins 1 . Call to Order. 2. Invocation: Harold Hawkins 3. Discussion of Redistricting and the 2000 Census. 4. Other Council Matters: Executive Session: Briefing by City Attorney regarding pending litigation of Cause No. 7-01 CV-128-R; Dr. Allen J. Zarnow v. City of Wichita Falls, et al; as authorized by Section 551 .071 of the TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE. 5. Adjourn. Wheelchair or handicapped accessibility to the meeting is possible by using the handicapped parking spaces and ramp located off the east parking lot on the Sixth Street entrance. Spanish language interpreters, deaf interpreters, Braille copies or any other special needs will be provided to any person requesting a special service with at least 24 hours notice. Please call the City Clerk's Office at 761-7409. CERTIFICATION I certify that the above notice of meeting was posted on the bulletin board at Memorial Auditorium, Wichita Falls, Texas on the day of , 20 at o'clock (a.m.)(p.m.). City Clerk