Council to tweak district boundaries

DONALDSONVILLE — The City Council will review ways to alter its five districts to move closer to ideal populations in each, councilmen said after receiving updated district demographics.

The first of two public hearings on redistricting was held before a nearly empty council chamber during the council’s regular meeting Tuesday, with no members of the public making comment.

John Diez, of the Gonzales-based demographics company Magellan Strategies, said that the public hearing process is required by federal law, but also is intended to help both elected officials and the public learn about the redistricting process.

“Many citizens are not aware of what goes into the process of how districts are formed,” he said.

Governmental entities use data updated every decade by the U.S. Census Bureau in order to keep district populations as close to an ideal figure as possible, Diez said.

Donaldsonville’s ideal population figure is derived by dividing the total population of the city by the number of council districts, he said.

According to Diez’s statistics, Donaldsonville saw a 2.2 percent decrease in population during the past decade, dropping from 7,605 residents in 2000 to 7,436 in 2010.

Using 2010 census figures, each district’s ideal population figure should be 1,487 residents, Diez said.

There is also a 5 percent deviation higher or lower than that figure allowed by the U.S. Department of Justice, which oversees district formulation.

“In this case, you can be plus or minus 74 people,” Diez said. “It’s not a huge number.”

While three of the city’s five districts are within the 5-percent deviation margin, Diez said, two council districts — Districts 3 and 4 — are both more than 200 residents away from the ideal figure.

District 3, which covers the southeastern portion of the city, is 251 residents — or 17 percent — below the ideal figure, Diez said.

Meanwhile, District 4 is 252 residents — or about 17 percent — over the ideal number, he added.

The district encompasses a large portion of the city stretching from the Mississippi River south to La. 945.

Diez said that along with the city’s loss in population, its ideal population figure for each district decreased as well, a factor which could contribute to the drastic population shifts.

The city must also address two instances in the Port Barrow area where census blocks are split by district lines, which is not allowed, Diez said.

The second public hearing on redistricting will take place during the council’s Feb. 14 regular meeting in the city’s municipal building on Railroad Avenue.