By Carolyn Wall
Six committee members representing cities, towns and unincorporated communities north of Roosevelt Dam and six others representing the southern half of Gila County form a Redistricting Advisory Committee that will take on the task of carving up the county into voting districts based on the newly released 2010 census figures.
In order to qualify political candidates for 2012, the committee must get this done by the fall of 2011. This will give the Department of Justice (DOJ) 60 days to approve the plan that will redraw the boundaries for the supervisors, the community college and vocational education districts. The committee will do this with the help of experienced consultants Tony Sissons of Research Advisory Services and Bruce Adelson of Federal Compliance Consulting.
Sissons and Adelson were on hand Tuesday, March 22, in District 1 Supervisor Tommie Martin’s office to answer questions and share their expertise on the controversial matter of meeting the DOJ’s criteria for redistricting that will provide fair and equal representation – no easy task, as the State of Arizona found 10 years ago when the DOJ in Washington objected to the state’s redistricting plan.
“The numbers were less than they represented, 48 percent Hispanic voters, not 55 percent,” Adelson said. “There was a higher number of people under 18 years old.”
That is why Arizona is now one of 16 states that has to get approval for its redistricting plans from the DOJ.
“As long as we have Russell Pearce doing Russell Pearce things, we’re under a spotlight,” Martin said.
The way the county is split into districts now gives more weight to the southern half, according to Martin.
The Gila Community College Board, with five members, has two who represent the northern part of the county, and, of three County Supervisors, Martin is the only one whose constituency is comprised solely of the residents of the northern half of the county.
The DOJ looks at one person, one vote, and protects the Native American and Hispanic vote when it looks to approve a redistricting plan. Section V of the Redistricting Plan states that discrimination is whether people who are non-White have electoral opportunity.
“Ten years ago the state made a serious big mistake,” Adelson said, “And we’re paying for it.”
Census Populations in Gila County Cities, Towns, Places
Payson: 2010-15,301 (an increase of 12.34 %)
2000-13,620
Star Valley: 2010- 2,310
2000-n/a
Pine 2010-1,963 (an increase of 1.66%)
2000-1.931
Strawberry: 2010-961 (a decrease of 6.52%)
2000-1,028
Young: 2010-666 (an increase of 18.72%)
2000-561
Globe: 2010-7,532 (an increase of 61%)
2000-7,486
Hayden: 2010- 662 (a decrease of 25.78%)
2000-892
Miami: 2010-1,837 (a decrease of 5.11%)
2000-1,936
Winkleman: 2010-353 (a decrease of 20.32%)
2000-443
San Carlos: 2010-4,038 (an increase of 8.67%)
2000-3,716
In Gila County, the Hispanic population in District 1 for 2010 is 1,467, an increase of 86.88 percent. District 2’s Hispanic population for 2010 is 4,916, an increase of .36 percent and District 3 is 18,341, an increase of 6.96 percent.
The American Indian population for 2010 in District 1 is 357, up from 128, and an increase of 178.91 percent. District 2 has a population of 715, an increase of 72.29 percent, and District 3 has the largest American Indian population at 6,903, up 17.62 percent over the last census.
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