New Floyd County Council district map faces bipartisan criticism – 89.3 WFPL News Louisville

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Floyd County officials from both major political parties vote against the County Council’s new district map.

Floyd County Commissioners redraw the seven-seat County Council map every 10 years. The county is divided into four districts, which receive one seat each, and there are three general seats.

The most significant changes in this year’s process occurred in Districts 1 and 4. Previously, District 1 included most of New Albany, while District 4 included rural and suburban communities like Georgetown and Greenville.

“These really are some of the most square, straightest boundaries with mapping that we’ve had in a long time,” said Shawn Carruthers, chairman of the commissioners. “Now when you compare it to what it used to be, it’s a lot easier for the candidates for elections to know where their limits lie. “

Franklin Township has always been in District 4. But, on the new map, Republican-controlled commissioners grouped it together with New Albany in the more urban District 1.

Carruthers said the change will make room for the expected growth in Georgetown in the years to come.

“There is a lot of construction there,” he said. “We wanted to be able to absorb this population growth in this area and make sure that we always maintained the population balance with all the districts. “

But local officials on both sides of the aisle have spoken out against the redistribution process.

Floyd County Democratic President Adam Dickey said commissioners should have drawn the map based on current populations, rather than speculating on the future.

“It’s supposed to reflect today, with the idea that in 2030 we’ll do another enumeration and readjust those districts,” Dickey said. “Maybe by then Greenville or Georgetown will have had an explosion of growth, and we will have to scale it down even more. Or maybe at that point we’ll see that people have decided they don’t want to move [Georgetown and Greenville]. “

Before the new map, the populations in the four districts were almost equal. But the new District 1 now has nearly 2,400 more inhabitants than District 4. The population of District 1 has increased by almost 5%, while the population of District 4 has decreased by almost 7%.

Dickey said the change in population creates an imbalance in representation that could affect elections.

“We’re supposed to approach this with the idea that we’re creating equal districts, so everyone has an equal voice, and we’re not doing that.” [in the new map], “he said.” We cancel the voice of some and we accentuate the voice of others. And it is not a real system of fairness that we want in our democracy. “

Republicans have also criticized the new neighborhoods. Connie Moon, a general member of the Floyd County Council, disagrees with the Commissioners’ demographic projections, arguing that Georgetown’s infrastructure cannot handle much more growth.

Moon said New Albany and Franklin, where she lives, have different demographics, so different needs that will be difficult to balance if they are in the same district. She said the commissioners should have sought more advice from council members and residents.

“They didn’t take any of our thoughts or ideas into consideration, or even really reach out,” Moon said. “We don’t want to control what they do. We know it’s their job to do it. You would just think they would ask the people who live here.

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