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Charter committee backs more frequent reapportionment, asks attorney to draft 5‑year/ACS language and 37,000 trigger for 7 seats
Summary
At its Feb. 3 meeting the Edgewater Charter Review Committee asked the city attorney to draft charter language tying reapportionment to a five‑year schedule or Census Bureau/ACS population averages and to draft ballot language for a possible trigger (37,000) to expand the council to seven members.
The Charter Review Committee voted to ask the city attorney to draft language that would allow the city to reapportion council districts every five years and to craft a ballot measure tying a seven‑member council to a population trigger.
Chair opened the discussion by saying the city is projected to double in size in 10 years and that "we need to get ahead of that," then asked Mr. Rollins to draft viable language for the group to consider. City Attorney Rollins described options for an independently verifiable metric, noting that "the Census Bureau has a rolling yearly average" and that local governments sometimes use American Community Survey figures between decennial censuses.
Committee members debated two approaches: (1) a standing five‑year reapportionment tied to ACS or a similar verifiable measure, or (2) a population trigger that would expand the council to seven members once the city reaches a defined population threshold. One option discussed would trigger expansion when the city reaches about 37,000 residents; proponents argued it provides a clear, objective threshold. Rollins cautioned about ballot design and single‑subject rules, and staff recommended preparing separate ballot questions — one on reapportionment timing and a second on council expansion — to maximize clarity for voters.
Members discussed operational details: whether to benchmark to total population, voting‑age population or registered voters, and whether expansion would require special elections or occur at the next scheduled election. Committee members said they favor using regular scheduled elections rather than special elections to avoid extra cost.
The committee concluded by directing Mr. Rollins to return with draft language that: (a) specifies the chosen metric (ACS or similar), (b) outlines the five‑year reapportionment process, and (c) drafts ballot language for a separate question to enact a 37,000‑resident trigger to expand to seven seats if the membership so chooses. The committee will vote on the draft before sending any measure to city council.
