Champaign County Board Gives Redistricting Panel Preliminary Approval

An 11-member board that will redraw districts for the Champaign County Board has received tentative approval from board members.

The county's Redistricting Commission was supported in last night's committee of the whole meeting on a 23 to 2 vote. The concept of the panel is to have an open and transparent process for re-drawing boundaries based on 2010 census numbers. County Board Chair Pius Weibel selected the 11 names after interviewing 39 applicants. Democrat Brendan McGinty said it is unlikely that any other county board member would have chosen all the same names, but that's not his concern.

"I would have preferred to keep it completely non-political, but I do think that it's important to have some people on there with some experience at doing this," McGinty said. "It's not only the job of the other members to take into question how best to do this, but it's also our job and the community's job to watchdog how this takes place."

Republican Alan Nudo called this a groundbreaking decision for the county, state, and nation.

"This is not just a 6-month project, this is a 10-year project," Nudo stated. "The voting cycles from now through the end of 2020 will be affected by this. So we have to make sure that those seven citizens and the four County Board members look at it from the standpoint of what's right for the citizenry of the county and not the party."

The two 'no' votes from Democrat Carol Ammons, who said the group lacks diversity, and Royal Republican Ron Bensyl, who rejected it despite being named to the committee. Bensyl said he rejected two names on the panel, but other board members said they likely would have chosen different candidates among the 39 that applied.

The commission will consist of two Democrats and two Republicans from the County Board. Besides Bensyl, Republican Jonathan Schroeder, and Democrats Alan Kurtz and Michael Richards have been recommended. The seven at-large members include former State Senator Rick Winkel, former Urbana City Council member Esther Patt, and Unity High School teacher Diana Herriott of Sidney.

Meanwhile, a draft resolution has been prepared based on an advisory referendum approved by 74-percent of Champaign County voters last week. It calls for reducing the county board from 27 to 22 members, and changing from 9 districts of three members each to 11 districts of two members each. If the County Board follows through with the changes, they will take effect with the 2012 election. Board Chair Weibel said the next county board will likely review the plan in December.

Meanwhile, Weibel said he has not decided whether he wants to continue as County Board chair, but will announce his plans soon.