City introduces redistricting plan
Published 8:36 am Tuesday, September 13, 2011
A shift in population is forcing the Greenville City Council to redraw the city’s district lines.
Data from the 2010 census shows that Greenville’s population climbed from 7,220 to 8,135. It also shows that District 1 gained 463 people, while District 4 has added 104 people since the 2000 census.
“This isn’t something that we are taking action on right now,” Greenville Mayor Dexter McLendon said at Monday night’s city council meeting. “All we are doing is introducing our plan.”
The council’s plan involves shifting 510 residents out of District 1 and another 134 out of District 4, while adding 411 to District 2, 54 to District 3 and 179 to District 5.
Because the City of Greenville operates under what is known as a single-member district, meaning each of the city’s five districts is represented by one commissioner, federal law dictates that each district have the same number of voters or be within a 10 percent deviation of each other.
District 1 is currently the city’s most populated district with 2,090 residents. District 2 has the lowest population with 1,306 residents.
The proposed changes would decrease District 1’s population to 1,580 and increase District 2’s population to 1,717.
A public hearing will be held Sept. 26 at 4 p.m. at City Hall to discuss the council’s proposed redistricting plan.
Council Members
District 1 – Jean Thompson
District 2 – Ed Sims
District 3 – Tommy Ryan
District 4 – James Lewis
District 5 – Jeddo Bell
Current Population by District
District 1 – 2,090
District 2 – 1,306
District 3 – 1,584
District 4 – 1,731
District 5 – 1,424
Proposed Population by District
District 1 – 1,580
District 2 – 1,717
District 3 – 1,638
District 4 – 1,597
District 5 – 1,603