McHenry board OKs new redistricting map

A McHenry County redistricting map that narrowly passed through committee had an easier time in gaining approval from the county board.

County board members voted 18-4 in favor of a district map that the legislative committee approved 4-3 last month. The board voted down a motion to amend the proposed map in order to keep Algonquin Township intact.

Board member Anna May Miller presented an amendment to the map that would have left all of Algonquin Township in District 1, along with two Grafton Township districts.

The changes Miller brought forward, however, did not take into account the population shift and the affect on other districts.

“You cannot just change Algonquin,” board member Kathleen Bergan Schmidt said. “We have to pick up territory from somewhere.”

The approved map retains the current boundaries for largely rural Districts 4 and 6, the two largest districts in the county in terms of area.

The county’s southernmost district — District 1 — now stretches west to include all of Algonquin and parts of Huntley, as well as a handful of precincts in Grafton Township, said Brittney Venetucci, a county analyst.

Other modifications include five Grafton Township precincts shifting from District 5 to District 2 and three Algonquin Township precincts moving from District 1 to District 3.

The county is required to redraw district maps after each U.S. Census to account for population changes.

According to the 2010 Census, 308,760 people now call McHenry County home, a figure that reflects nearly 19 percent growth from 2000. Much of the growth has occurred in the Huntley area east of Route 47.