Farmers Branch panel narrows redistricting options, sets June 7 council presentation and flags census blocks for review

The Farmers Branch Redistricting Advisory Committee agreed Tuesday to advance a primary map and save a second, preliminary option for City Council, and to submit a list of problematic census blocks for further review.

Committee leaders said they will present two options to the council at its June 7 meeting — the primary map the committee previously endorsed and a newly saved alternate labeled “map 6” — and will ask the council to consider requesting changes to several large census blocks that the committee says make fair districting difficult.

“We've unanimously agreed upon a map,” the Meeting Chair said during the session, adding that the group had produced a secondary option so councilors would “have more than one option to choose from.” The committee set its presentation for the Tuesday, June 7 City Council meeting, which the chair said typically begins at 6 p.m.

Why this matters: The committee told the council it wants to give elected officials both a primary choice and an alternate so the council can pick between compactness and other neighborhood-preservation goals. Committee members said some large census blocks — including one that follows a creek and others that run along railroad or highway corridors — prevent the panel from drawing contiguous, neighborhood-centered districts without splitting a single census…