Madison County board members rejected a redistricting map proposed by Chairman Kurt Prenzler, which would reduce the number of districts from 29 to 25.
The board rejected the map at Wednesday’s meeting with only board member Valarie Doucleff (R) voting in favor of it, according to a press release.
Board member Jack Minner was the only one to comment before they took a vote.
“Mr. Chairman, I have been on the county board for over 20 years. I think that the county board government should be an example for the county,” Minner said. “I’ve been very pleased with the government. I think we need 29 members. I can’t vote for anything other than 29. I think we will lessen the service that we can get. And I don’t think it saves that much money.”
Previously, several board members thanked Prenzler for initiating the process but criticized the map at Tuesday’s public hearing.
Board members also expressed concerns over the potential costs and work load of reducing the county districts to 25. They also said a larger board allows for diverse representation and less power per individual.
County Board district lines are adjusted every 10 years to reflect population changes and to ensure equal representation of residents.
According to a previous press release, the final plan for redistricting must be adopted by July 1.
Prenzler’s map was drawn by the University of Illinois Geographic Information Systems Lab at Springfield (UIS) under a $4,500 contract. Prenzler previously said the contract instructed the university to create a fair map without bias, except in regards to minority neighborhoods. The contract required that minority neighborhoods could not be broken up “to ensure that minority representation is not diluted disproportionately.”
The map also adheres to townships, precincts and municipalities and maintains approximately equal populations in each district in a compact manner.
“That was basically the recipe for where this map came from,” Prenzler said Tuesday.
Prenzler said he originally asked for two maps - one with 20 districts and one with 25 districts. UIS would only draw one map for less than the budgeted $5,000, so they completed a map with 25 districts.
Following Wednesday’s meeting, Prenzler said in a press release that when he ran for office, he promised a “fair” map “in contrast to the gerrymandered 2011 map.”