City schedules individual redistricting briefings; attorney urges reliance on 2020 census and care on adjustments

Daytona Beach commissioners were briefed on redistricting logistics and legal constraints on June 4 as the city’s redistricting consultant prepares proposed maps. City Attorney advised commissioners that each member is scheduled for an individual meeting with the consultant and noted that it is common practice for elected officials to provide local boundary‑drawing input such as neighborhood boundaries and physical features. But the attorney cautioned commissioners to avoid discussions intended to favor or disfavor incumbents on the basis of residential addresses. The attorney also said the city must rely on the 2020 decennial census for baseline population figures. He discussed an approach sometimes used to account for growth by applying a percentage adjustment; he described 10% as a commonly used “safe harbor” for adjustments and said past city practice had used as much as 12% in an ordinance that was later repealed amid litigation concerns. The attorney said staff would provide more detail in public workshops and that the consultant needs local feedback to draw appropriate neighborhood‑based boundaries. What it does not do: the June 4 meeting did not authorize map lines; it scheduled the individual consultations and public workshops that will inform the draft ordinance and warned about legal exposure if maps are drawn to favor or disfavor specific incumbents.