Aurora forms committee for ward redistricting

Aurora has redrawn its wards before, but officials say the committee charged with redistricting after the 2010 census will be more inclusive than in the past.

Instead of only including aldermen, four nonelected residents are members of the redistricting committee the city council approved unanimously Tuesday night.

“We believe that seeking community input on this committee will make sure the process is transparent and open,” said Chuck Nelson, assistant chief of staff.

The residents — Gloria Bunce, Manuel Cordero, Juan Reyna and Courtney Wade — are joined on the committee by Aldermen-at-Large Bob O’Connor and Richard Irvin and Aldermen Lynda Elmore, Juany Garza and Mike Saville. The group plans to meet twice monthly beginning Jan. 9.

Even with residents on the committee, not all of the city’s 10 wards are represented, said Alderman Rick Lawrence, whose fourth ward lacks a representative.

“We really looked at getting representation from sections of town rather than wards,” Nelson said.

The east and west sides of Aurora are represented as well as the city’s far east side in DuPage and Will counties, he said. The committee welcomes the input of aldermen not appointed to it and plans to meet with each other alderman individually, O’Connor said.

When drawing the new wards, the committee will aim to have about 19,790 residents in each area to equally divide the city’s 197,899 population. Wards 2, 4, 5, 6 and 8 have fewer than 19,790 residents, while wards 1, 3, 7, 9 and 10 have populations larger than 19,790.

By law, wards are supposed to be continuous and follow natural boundaries such as streets, railroad tracks and streams as much as possible.

“We wish it were as simple as drawing lines and trying to be fair in numbers all around,” O’Connor said.

But the city’s attorneys said the committee also should consider minority population distribution when drawing wards to minimize the potential of a lawsuit claiming the map is unfair to any group of voters.

The ward map the city developed following the 2000 census was challenged in a lawsuit alleging it split the Latino population into five wards and did not give Latino voters a fair chance to elect a candidate of their choice.

The map was determined to be fair and not in violation of the Voting Rights Act because two wards had at least 65 percent Latino residents.

Considering minority populations as well as natural boundaries when redrawing wards should help the city avoid lawsuits or defend against them if necessary, officials said.

“I don’t predict the committee making any Z-shaped wards,” Alderman Stephanie Kifowit said.