Residents urge keeping communities intact as Orange County redraws commission districts

A wide cross-section of Orange County residents and community leaders urged the county's redistricting advisory committee on April 15 to keep established communities intact as the county redraws its commission districts.

Speakers including Commissioner Kelly Simrod and residents from rural east Orange County, Pine Hills and the University of Central Florida area pressed the committee to consider local identities, infrastructure needs and population types such as people experiencing homelessness when drawing new district lines.

Why it matters: The committee is creating eight commissioner districts and must remove roughly 70,000 people per district from current boundaries. How the committee defines communities, counts transient populations and groups neighborhoods will determine who voters can elect and how effectively commissioners can represent residents.

Commissioner Kelly Simrod, who introduced herself and greeted the committee, told members the work is “more than just lines on a map” and urged them to “listen to the public feedback that's coming in from the constituents.” She described District 5 as sprawling, with needs ranging from access to clean water to transit funding across areas that include Maitland, College Park, Downtown Orlando, UCF and Wedgefield.

Residents from rural east Orange County asked the committee to protect agricultural lands. Pamela Seibel, who identified herself as living east of the Econ and as a rural resident, said the area already faces flooding, failing roads and developer drainage impacts and warned that simply “look[ing] at a map, circle it, and say, oh, this would be good” will miss local needs.

Multiple speakers…