By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
By midnight on Saturday, Bowling Green residents submitted 24 maps of how City Council’s four wards could be divided.
On Monday evening, City Council’s Committee of the Whole narrowed the field to the top three maps in the running for redistricting the wards. The three map options will be posted on the city’s website, with an opportunity for local residents to unofficially vote for their favorites.
The final map will be introduced and given its first reading on Oct. 5, at the regular meeting of City Council. The second and third readings will be on Oct. 21 and Nov. 2, with a vote to be taken on Nov. 2.
The creation of new ward maps is necessary since the city’s current council wards are not evenly divided.
“We are out of compliance,” Council President Mark Hollenbaugh said.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that state and local districts must be “substantially equal” with the population difference between the largest and smallest districts being no more than 10% of the average district population. The total deviation in Bowling Green is sitting near 29%.
On Monday, City Council reviewed the 24 maps submitted showing possible ward boundaries. Some had minor shifts, with a focus on getting rid of the current “hockey stick” shape stretching Ward 3 eastward to even out the population split.
At the request of the Wood County Board of Elections to limit confusion for BGSU students, some made an effort to keep all of the campus in Ward 1. And most avoided splitting areas of common interests.
The goal was to draw maps that were contiguous, compact, and constitutionally correct.
But some of the suggested maps created even greater population deviations. One left off 548 residents, and one created a fifth ward. That was rejected since City Council is required to have an even number of wards.
Some maps shifted the lines so the downtown area was represented by one ward, rather than being divided among four as it is now.
While some attempts focused on straight lines with contiguous properties, others looked like abstract modern art. And some maps moved council members out of the wards they currently represent.
The last time Bowling Green City Council drew new lines for its four wards was in 2002, following a long drawn out battle from BGSU students seeking fair representation.
Twenty-four years later, the ward maps have remained the same while the populations have shifted. The ward representation on City Council is now lopsided, with the most populous ward having 2,235 more residents than the least populous with 6,790 residents.
Bowling Green isn’t alone in its delayed redistricting efforts. Wards often naturally fall out of compliance because of local population shifts.
The League of Women Voters in Ohio recently reached out to council members in Bowling Green about the disproportionate representation.
Now council members are in a time crunch to draw new wards so they are in effect by next year’s elections. City Council must pass an ordinance that is effective 150 days before the next municipal primary election. The new ward map must be forwarded to the Wood County Board of Elections by early December.
Last week, two public forums were held to explain the purpose of redistricting, discuss communities of interest, and receive assistance with creating maps. Local residents were given until midnight on Saturday to submit their suggested redrawn maps.
The new wards must have nearly equal population totals to each other, must not discriminate or otherwise violate the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and must be composed of adjacent and compact territory.
Bowling Green City Council is currently made up of three at-large members – Mark Hollenbaugh, Jeff Dennis and Katelyn Elliott – who represent the entire city, and four ward members who represent their wards. The ward lines basically run along the community’s main thoroughfares – Main Street and Wooster Street – except for a conspicuous swath the shape of a hockey stick along East Wooster Street that shifted over to the Third Ward in the last redistricting.
The first ward, represented by council member Jordan Musgrave, sits northeast of the intersection of North Main and East Wooster. The second ward, represented by Joel O’Dorisio, is located southeast of South Main and East Wooster. These two wards include the bulk of BGSU students in the community.
On the west side of the city, the third ward, represented by Kathleen Dennis, sits primarily southwest of South Main and West Wooster. And the fourth ward, represented by Bill Herald, is northwest of North Main and West Wooster.
According to the numbers from the 2020 census, the city’s second and fourth wards have too many residents compared to the first and third wards. The city’s total population of 30,808 should be divided into roughly 7,702 per ward. That would put the city in compliance with a target deviation of approximately 5%.
But the current lines divide the population as follows:
- First Ward: 6,790 residents, which is an 11.8% deviation.
- Second Ward: 9,025 residents, which is a 17% deviation.
- Third Ward: 7,009 residents, which is a 9% deviation.
- Fourth Ward: 7,984 residents, which is a 3.6% deviation.
The only elections that will be impacted by the new lines are the four ward council member races.
In Ohio, municipalities typically must redistrict either following the decennial census, or when the number of voting wards or total seats on council changes. Municipalities can also redistrict at any time if the city wards do not have substantially equal populations.
For questions or comments, contact Katelyn Elliott, Council Member At-Large, at kelliott@bgohio.gov; Jeff Dennis, Council President Pro Tem, Member At-Large, at jdennis@bgohio.gov; or Mark Hollenbaugh, Council President, Member At-Large at mhollenbaugh@bgohio.gov.
