Proposal could give Hispanic residents more representation on Kane County Board
Hispanic Kane County residents may have a chance to elect as much as one-third of the county board if new district boundaries win approval.
The 24-member county board currently has eight districts where Hispanic residents comprise the majority of the population. But only three of those districts are represented by a Hispanic board member. The proposed new map also creates eight districts with a majority Hispanic population, but each of those districts would have a population that is at least 63% Hispanic, a total the county's redistricting consultants deemed an "effective" population that gives Hispanic residents a true chance at electing their candidate of choice.
The move to create such districts stems from the federal Voting Rights Act requirement that says if it is possible to draw an effective majority-minority district, then that's what must occur.
The proposed eight districts would be in Carpentersville, Elgin and Aurora.
The plan drew concern from Ron Ford, the only Black county resident on the current board. His current district is part of the eight new proposed ones. Consultants said they were unable to create a majority Black district in the county because the Black population is too small and spread out.
"I know for a fact that's not what the community's going to want to hear," Ford said. "There's an African-American district that works as it is."
Street-level images of the proposed maps were not yet available to determine what the new demographics of Ford's district would be. Phil Luetkehans, a lawyer for the consulting team that created the proposals, pointed out Ford's current district is about 15% Black and 50% Hispanic.
"From what I can tell, you're the candidate of choice for the community in that area," Luetkehans said.
The full county board must approve the new boundaries before they are locked in for the 2021 primary election.
The proposed districts are based not on actual census data but American Community Survey estimates. The county board filed a lawsuit seeking a delay of the July 13 deadline to redraw the boundaries in hopes of getting full census data by Oct. 1.