The Peoria City Council and Mayor Rita Ali unanimously approved the pending council redistricting map, titled Version 2.3. A public hearing may be soon as next week.
Senior Urban Planner Josh Naven gave a summary of three modified maps of version two and one additional map, version four. The map two variations mark a north-south orientation for districts one, two, and three.
In all three map two versions, the Moss Bradley Residential Association would be split between districts one and two.
“One of the things that we looked at was minimizing that as much as we possibly could,” City Manager Patrick Urich said to council members. “I do think though in the versions 2.1-3, where you have the Moss Bradley neighborhood, is predominantly the one that gets split. You do end up with two city council district members representing that area. Just so happens we have two at-large council members who represent that area as well.’
“What we were really trying to do is meet the population requirements as best as we possibly could with all three of those versions, 2.1-3, that would try to minimize the amount of work that maybe one district might have over another.”
Urich mentioned map four had the first district overseeing a significant amount of the riverfront as an example of overloading a district with work.
Council members agreed that map two, version 2.3, provides a redistricting map that is clear for residents to understand with the map using major thoroughfares.
“So just by making a few tweaks, we were able to minimize the impact for the constituents and keep them in the same council district,” Third District Councilmember Timothy Riggenbach said to council members. “I really like this 2.3 because of the clear definition of the boundary lines. I think that’s really nice and crisp.” Riggenbach says he was inclined to map two at the initial meeting.
Second District Councilmember Chuck Grayeb agreed with Riggenbach that 2.3 minimized the “dismemberment” of neighborhoods. He noted the change of district boundaries as being painful with current constituents and projects changing hands, calling current constituents “family members.”
Councilmembers Denise Jackson (District 1), Zach Oyler (At-large), Sid Ruckriegel (At-large), and Andre Allen (District 4) agreed map version 2.3 is the best map moving forward.
At-large Councilmember Beth Jensen wondered if map one could work because Moss Bradley stayed largely intact. Mayor Ali notes the prior discussion of map one facilitating a heavy load of work for district one - district one would absorb parts of the East Bluff at the riverfront.
Council members hope to adopt the district map by Feb. 28, the council’s second regular scheduled meeting of the month. City Manager Urich says he needs to check in with corporation counsel before establishing the public hearing date, which is currently set for next Tuesday’s meeting.
