Orange County redistricting panel hears Pine Hills residents urge single-district representation; accepts late map for review

ORLANDO — The Orange County Mid Decennial Redistricting Advisory Committee on April 10 accepted a late map submission for review and heard repeated public pleas from Pine Hills residents who urged the committee to keep the neighborhood whole within a single county commission district.

The meeting, held at the Multicultural Center in Orlando, combined public comment with administrative business including a vote to deem Member Mark Arias’s map timely submitted so staff and the county’s mapping consultant can review it before it is placed on the committee agenda for discussion in a following meeting.

Why it matters: Orange County voters approved adding two new commission districts, expanding the county commission from seven to nine seats. The advisory committee’s work to redraw district lines will determine how communities such as Pine Hills are represented when the new districts take effect after the maps are finalized and certified.

Public comments focused on Pine Hills, a densely populated unincorporated area. Anthony Jackson, identifying himself as a Pine Hills resident, said the community “should be a part of 1 district,” adding that having two commissioners has diluted attention: “I feel like she’s neglecting it,” Jackson said, referring to perceived uneven engagement by one commissioner. Vernice Jean Baptiste, a Pine Hills resident, told the committee: “This all seems like a very deliberate and systematic way of instituting gerrymandering … Pine Hills should stay as 1 with 1 commissioner.”

Students and other residents echoed that message. Elijah Jean Baptiste, a freshman at Evans High School, described how the split identity of North and South Pine Hills weakens community cohesion and said, “Combining Pine Hills into 1 district, a community is a group of people together.” Marvin Mondesir, a senior at Evans, warned that dividing the neighborhood could separate students and schools that currently serve the same community.

At the meeting Dr. Latanya Nichols, a Pine Hills resident and researcher, urged committee members to examine minority-population metrics in proposed maps and pay attention to the distribution of groups that are 60 percent or more minority when assessing potential districts.

Map submission and committee action

Member Mark Arias told the committee he attempted to submit his map before the posted deadline but encountered a technical restriction preventing a zip file from being accepted by the county upload email. “I spent two days on it,” Arias said. He said he ultimately sent the file from his private law office email and then was later able to submit the same file through the county-designated portal once the issue was fixed.

Member Rishi Baga moved to accept Arias’s submission as timely for the committee’s purposes; the motion was seconded by Member Jimmy O’Faunt. Baga said the attempt to submit was made in good faith and that accepting the map would allow staff and consultants to begin their review. The committee voted in favor of the motion; staff said the submission will appear next week as an informational item and then be available for full discussion at a subsequent meeting.

Technical fixes and process notes

County staff described changes to the submission process after Arias’s difficulties. Scott (county staff) said the county will move away from accepting zip-file attachments and instead provide a shared link the consultant can download, and he said staff will circulate updated instructions to committee members.

Legal and data constraints

Attorney White, advising the committee on legal matters, reiterated that the committee must start with decennial census data as the statutory baseline for districting and may supplement that baseline with American Community Survey estimates; he noted the most recent ACS data available to the committee is 2023. “We have to start with the decennial census data as a baseline. That is required by law,” White said.

The supervisor of elections staff attended and displayed materials about precincts and “islands” on maps to help the committee avoid drawing lines that would divide small precinct populations into separate voting units. Dan Helm of the supervisor of elections office urged the public to review the office’s displays and reminded those present that keeping precincts intact reduces election administration costs and voter confusion.

Next steps and public participation

Attorneys and staff reminded members of the public that maps created by residents must be endorsed and sponsored by a committee member before they can be considered; staff will publish Arias’s map as an informational item and then analysts will run legal and technical compliance checks before the committee discusses it at a later meeting. The committee’s next meeting location was announced for April 15 at the Goldenrod Recreation Center in District 5 (4863 N. Goldenrod Road, Winter Park). The next map submittal deadline announced by staff is April 16.

The meeting ended after brief additional discussion; the committee noted the volume of public comment on Pine Hills and said it will visit other districts before finalizing maps so that all communities have the opportunity to be heard.