In a bipartisan vote, the Madison County Government Relations Committee approved a redistricting map that would reduce the county board to 26 members.
The map was proposed by committee Chairman Chris Guy (R-Maryville) at Monday’s meeting and would reduce the board by 10 percent. The resolution must now go before the Madison County Board.
The Government Relations Committee members include Guy, Judy Kuhn (R - Trenton), Dalton Gray (R-Troy), Robert Pollard (D-East Alton), Gussie Glasper (D-Madison), Erica Harriss (R-Glen Carbon) and Ryan Kneedler (R-Collinsville). Gray was not present at the meeting.
“Tonight we cleared the first hurdle with bipartisan support to reduce the board by three seats, save taxpayers 10%, and provide substantially equal representation throughout the county,” Guy stated in a press release. “Reducing government doesn’t happen too often. Pending approval by the full county board, a reduction to the county board will be a victory for the taxpayers in Madison County.”
The Madison County Board currently has 29 members.
During the meeting, Guy said he has been working on the redistricting map since the Spring with the help of other board members and officials. He previously proposed 29-district and 27-district.
“It’s fair. It’s reasonable. It’s good for the taxpayers,” Guy said.
The board previously rejected a redistricting map proposed by Chairman Kurt Prenzler in May that would reduce the number of districts to 25.
Prenzler’s map had been drawn by the University of Illinois Geographic Information Systems Lab at Springfield (UIS).
Several board members previously thanked Prenzler for initiating the process but criticized his 25-district map.
County Board district lines are adjusted every 10 years to reflect population changes and to ensure equal representation of residents.