Districts Redrawn

For Immediate Release: Monday, September 28, 2015

New Boundary Lines Are in Effect for County Commissioner Districts

A voter-approved process to change the Washington County commissioner districts is now complete, at least until the next federal census in 2020. Washington County activated a web-based tool this week where the public may enter street addresses and view a map showing which commissioner represents them. The new boundary lines are based on public input and action this summer by the Board of County Commissioners that took effect on September 17, 2015.

Last November, voters approved a change to the Washington County Charter that lowered the population triggers requiring new commissioner district boundaries to be drawn. If, after the decennial census, any of the four commissioner districts is more than 5 percent bigger than any of the others, the new Charter language now requires county staff to recommend boundary line adjustments. Additionally, once the borders are redrawn, the new Charter language requires that no district have a population more than 3 percent bigger than any of the others. The Board of Commissioners must vote to approve the new district lines before they can take effect.

In the spring of 2015, the board of commissioners identified a set of criteria to guide the process for completing the district redraw. Each district, to the extent practical, would:

• Be contiguous and connected by transportation links,
• Be of equal population,
• Utilize existing geographic or political boundaries,
• Not divide communities of interest,
• Not be drawn for political purposes,
• Not purposely dilute the voting strength of any language or ethnic group,
• Maintain District 1's urban-suburban focus,
• Utilize transportation routes for boundaries, and
• Share areas established for new growth.

The board directed staff to work with the Population Research Center (PRC) at Portland State University (PSU) as an expert and independent third party to explore a range of options for the boundary changes. PSU conducted a detailed redistricting analysis of the four electoral districts (Commissioner Districts) and developed five proposals based on that analysis. A sixth option was developed by staff in response to early public input and feedback from the commissioners.

Community engagement was sought through four traditional open houses and a web-based input option. Public comment strongly supported the proposal that the board ultimately put into effect.

Washington County reviews the population balance among its four commissioner districts every 10 years following the decennial census taken by the U.S. Census Bureau. The last time a commissioner district redraw occurred was in 2000.

No reapportionment of commissioner districts occurred after the 2010 Census because the population differences under the old Charter language were not large enough to prompt reapportionment. The new Charter language gave Washington County a one-time chance to complete a mid-census-cycle update.

The next decennial census will be taken in the year 2020, after which the Washington County Charter will require another look at the numbers to see if new boundaries will need to be drawn.

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