County Redistricting: Glimpse of Shifts

St. Louis County Council Reapportionment Commission members spent most of Monday's meeting in Clayton listening to a presentation on St. Louis County census figures and sketching details for the next two July public hearings. Only one audience member spoke out about how to rearrange the map before the commission adjourned.

Keeping the process tranquil will be the challenge for the commission, a 14-person body evenly split between Republicans and Democrats. The body is tasked with drawing new boundaries for the St. Louis County Council based upon the 2010 census, and four of St. Louis County’s districts have decreased in population. That means the boundaries for those areas will have to expand.

• District 7, which includes Wildwood, Eureka and portions of Chesterfield, experienced 3.8-percent growth. Ballwin resident Greg Quinn represents the district.
  
  

• District 3, which includes Town and County, most of Kirkwood and most of Creve Coeur, grew by 1.4 percent. Town and Country resident Colleen Wasinger represents the district.
  
  

• District 6, which encompasses most of southern St. Louis County, experienced a 0.3 percent population boost. Steve Stenger, a resident of unincorporated St. Louis County, represents the district.
  
  

The color-coded map showcasing population changes in council districts showed decreases in the other four areas:

• A 1.9 percent population decrease in District 5, which includes Clayton, Richmond Heights, most of Ladue and portions of Crestwood; Richmond Heights resident Pat Dolan represents the district.
  
  

• A 3.6 percent population decline in District 4, which encompasses cities such as Florissant, Black Jack and Bellefontaine Neighbors; Florissant resident Michael O'Mara represents the district.
  
  

• A 7.7 percent population decline in District 1, which includes Berkeley, Ferguson and Jennings; University City resident Hazel Erby represents the district.
  
  

• A 4.3 percent decrease in District 2, which covers Bridgeton, Overland, Maryland Heights and Hazelwood. Overland resident Kathleen Kelly Burkett represents the district.
  
  

Commission members planned two public meetings:  The first one will take place at 7 p.m. Monday at . The second will take place at 7 p.m. July 25 in the J.C. Penney Conference Center at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Allen Icet, a former Republican state lawmaker from Wildwood, said the commission has until Thanksgiving to pass a reconfigured map. It must receive nine votes to go into effect. If the commission can't reach a consensus by the deadline, courts will end up drawing the new boundaries.

An effort to reconfigure Missouri’s congressional districts proved arduous, and redrawing lines for state legislative boundaries could end up being decided by judges.

“If you look at the demographic shift, it’s just a couple of percent,” Icet said. “What’s going on in St. Louis County is you add a percent or you take away two or three percent. It’s not radical line shifts because of significant demographic shifts.”

“Hopefully it won’t be as contentious as (drawing state legislative boundaries),” Icet said.