September 27, 2021
By: Dwayne Page
It’s a done deal!
The DeKalb County Redistricting plan, as recommended by the redistricting committee, was formally adopted by the county commission during Monday night’s regular monthly meeting.
Dennis Stanley, Administrator of Elections who served as chairman of the redistricting committee presented the recommendation to the commission. “It is my hope and desire that you pass this plan tonight” he said.
All commissioners in attendance voted in favor.
Only four districts and 264 people in DeKalb County will be affected by the redistricting plan which was prepared and proposed by John Thomas, GIS specialist with the Tennessee Comptroller’s office and recommended by the redistricting committee during a meeting on September 7.
The law requires that counties undergo redistricting every ten years following the US census count to ensure that each district is equally populated or as close to equal as possible. The overall deviation from the optimum population cannot be more than 10%. In DeKalb County’s case, the overall deviation based on the 2020 Census was 11% so minor shifts in population were made to comply with the law. By simply moving 158 people from District 3 to District 2 and shifting 106 residents from District 5 to District 6, the redistricting committee achieved its goal and brought the overall deviation down to 7.5%.
DeKalb County’s total population based on the 2020 Census is 20,080.
The following is a breakdown of the total population in each of the seven districts in the county and the deviation from the optimum in each. The optimum is the total population of 20,080 divided by 7 or almost 2,869 people per district:
District 1: Total Population- 2,860 (-9 people or 0% deviation from optimum)
District 2: Total Population- 2,691 (-178 people or -6% deviation)
District 3: Total Population- 2,992 (+123 people or 4% deviation)
District 4: Total Population- 2,948 (+79 people or 3% deviation)
District 5: Total Population- 2,945 (+76 people or 3% deviation)
District 6: Total Population-2,663 (-206 people or -7% deviation)
District 7: Total Population 2,981 (+112 people or 4% deviation)
During the September 7 redistricting committee meeting, Thomas explained that by law population shifts under redistricting must be done in census blocks which are statistical areas bounded by visible features such as roads and streams. Thomas further defined the boundaries in the districts where the population shifts would be made under this plan.
“We propose to move 158 people from District 3 to District 2. This area is bounded on the northeast by State Route 83; on the north by Vickers Hollow Road; on the southeast by Short Mountain Road; and on the southwest by Lee Braswell Road,” said Thomas.
“We also propose moving 106 people from District 5 to District 6. This area is bounded on the north by Turner Road; on the west by Jacobs Pillar Road; on the south by Cappy Springs Branch; and on the east by McMinnville Highway,” Thomas added.
Now that the county commission has adopted the redistricting plan, the election commission will go to work setting voting precincts and updating voter rolls in time for the 2022 elections.