The planning commission briefed Tampa City Council on congressional and city council redistricting work ahead of the 2027 municipal election, walking members through the legal constraints, schedule and four map alternatives.

Yascha Gonzales, identified in the record as planning commission staff, told the council the process launched Oct. 15 and emphasized transparency: “Come January and February, we’re going to have open houses…Our first public hearing will be at that time,” he said. Gonzales said the office uses total population per constitutional and Supreme Court precedent as the basis for districting and seeks to reduce the current population range of 8.36% to approximately 5%.

Gonzales detailed constraints that limit how precincts can be moved — the city cannot split precincts and tries to preserve council members’ home districts. He walked through four alternatives that move between one and several precincts among council districts 4, 5, 6 and 7, and described outreach plans that include in-person open houses, virtual sessions and direct emails to high-frequency voters.

Craig Latimer, identified in the record as supervisor of elections, said his office works closely with planning staff to preserve precinct integrity and called the process routine: “This is actually a great process because it’s done every four years,” he said.

Why it matters: redistricting will change which precincts sit in which single-member council districts ahead of 2027 and can affect neighborhood representation. The planning commission expects to host public hearings in February and March and return adopted maps to the council in summer after the supervisor proclaims the new precinct configuration.

Next steps: the planning commission will present staff and alternative maps for public comment, then finalize a recommendation for adoption and proclamation by the supervisor of elections before the council considers the new boundaries later in the year.