Redistricting Quandary ... How Many Votes Are Enough?

To a Mouse
The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men, Gang aft agley,
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain, For promis'd joy!
(The best laid schemes of Mice and Men oft go awry,
And leave us nothing but grief and pain, For promised joy!)
Robert Burns, (November, 1785)

The above poem sums up my thoughts on this week. Several years ago, when the members of the charter committee drafted the rules related to redistricting for the county council, they did not (and could not) anticipate the difficulties our new government has grappled with this month.

The charter is very specific on deadlines for action related to the adoption of the Redistricting Plan. Within 60 days of publication of each census, the Redistricting Commission (the “Commission”) must be established. The Commission then has 60 days to submit to the County Council a Redistricting Plan that redraws the boundaries of the county council districts.

Within 10 days of receipt of the Redistricting Plan, the county council must either approve or reject the submitted plan “by the affirmative vote of All Council Votes”(Article XIV, Section 14.1.1.4). “All Council Votes” is defined in Article 1, Section 1.7.2 as “the number of votes that would be cast by Council Members on any matter if no Council Members’ seats were vacant and all Council Members were present and voting”.

When the charter was written, I’m sure the drafters of the charter did not fully appreciate the difficulties generated by a 10-day deadline for the county council, which also is subject to strict Sunshine Law rules that require a three-business-day notice of all council meetings.  

The redistricting plan was officially presented to the council on Monday, July 11 and the council agreed to interpret the “10 days” as meaning “10 business days.” As such, the 10th day fell on our next regularly scheduled council date, Monday, July 25. Due to unforeseen events, one of the seven council members was unable to attend due to a personal emergency and another was required to be out-of-town on unrelated business, so two of the council members were unable to vote on July 25. Another council member was unexpectedly called out of town on a personal emergency the week before the regularly scheduled July 25 meeting, so calling a special meeting the week before July 25 was also not an option.

Emergencies happen. Conflicts happen. In fact, this is the only time this year that more than one council member has been absent at a meeting.

The situation left the council with a decision to make. Should five council members vote on the redistricting plan on July 25 (Day 10) or miss this deadline?

What does “by the affirmative vote of All Council Votes” mean? Does this mean all seven must vote “yes” or all vote “no”?

On July 25, the five members of the County Council who were in attendance voted on Resolution 11-0703 as follows:

District 1 - absent

District 2 - no

District 3 - yes

District 4 – yes

     District 5 - yes

     District 6 - yes

     District 7 – absent

In the next several days, legal minds in Jefferson County will be contemplating what this all means. What do YOU think this means?