Palatine redraws boundaries for village council districts

At least a couple thousand Palatine residents will find themselves with new representation in village hall now that boundaries have been redrawn for each of the council's six districts.

Council members this week approved the new map, an action taken every 10 years after the release of detailed U.S. Census data.

“We tried to maintain geographic integrity,” Village Manager Reid Ottesen said. “There aren't a lot of significant or radical changes within the map.”

Boundaries were changed to evenly distribute Palatine's population among the six districts so that each has close to an average of 11,426 people. The old map had become disproportionate due to annexations and other growth, with one district having as many as 3,000 more residents than another.

Councilman Aaron Del Mar thought not enough changes were made, however, and voted against the new map.

He said the northeast section of Palatine, where there's far more ethnic and economic diversity than the rest of the village, should be consolidated into one district. He thinks a single council member would be able to better address challenges.

“That area needs a lot of work,” Del Mar said. “It has the most police calls and yet it's split up into four different (districts).”

Ottesen responded that while combining the region into a single district wasn't a priority, the northeast is now divided primarily into two districts instead of four.

Freshman Councilman Kollin Kozlowski praised the changes, saying the new map does a better job of keeping neighborhoods together. He recalled canvassing homes during last spring's campaign and finding next door neighbors split between different districts.

To publicize the changes, which officials wanted to finalize well in advance of the 2013 local election, Ottesen will explore mailing notices to affected residents. A map with the new and old boundaries can be found online at dailyherald.com.