(Alex Driggars/Floyd County Record)
LOCKNEY — During its regular meeting on Tuesday morning, the Lockney City Council extensively discussed its options for redistricting its single-member council wards — or doing away with them completely.
The council was presented with three options for redistricting the town, each of which would bring the population difference between the districts following the 2020 Census within acceptable margins, according to attorney Bob Bass of Allison, Bass & Magee, who joined the meeting via Zoom.
Bass said that the city’s districts were currently sitting at 21.7 percent total deviation, which is a metric used to determine population balance between districts. The legally acceptable margin under federal voting rights law is 10 percent, Bass added.
The three plans would each bring total deviation to under 4 percent, with the latter two bringing total deviation under 2 percent. All three of the plans would result in three wards with a majority of each of those wards’ populations consisting of minorities.
Bass said that the next step for the process would be to hold a public hearing on the redistricting plans and then vote to accept one (or none) of the plans.
During the conference, city manager Buster Poling brought up the possibility of abandoning the single-member districting in favor of an at-large election system, noting that it would be more efficient and simpler to elect aldermen to the council. Under the current hybrid system, which Bass noted was unusual and even “somewhat suspect,” aldermen do not have to live in the district which they represent, but voters may only cast a vote for the district they live in.
Alderman Donnie McLaughlin hoped that an at-large system would help alleviate low voter turnout, but Bass strongly advised against moving to at-large representation, noting that such a system would leave the city vulnerable to litigation under federal voting rights legislation. Rather, Bass said that the safest option for the city would be to move to a standard single-member district system where aldermen must live in the ward where they are elected. A true single-member district system would give a greater voice to minorities in the city, Bass added.
Poling told the Record that he is not concerned about litigation and said that the possibility of someone suing the City of Lockney over federal voting rights law is “minute.”
The aldermen also weighed the possibility of taking no action on redistricting, and leaving the wards out of balance. City Attorney Mitch Williams advised against that move, citing the risk of litigation, recommending instead that the council adopt one of the proposed plans.
The city council is expected to hold a public hearing to discuss the three redistricting plans, the possibility of moving to at-large representation or taking no action at 7 a.m. on Jan. 18. The public is encouraged to show up and voice opinions on the options.
Mayor Michael Deleon and Alderman Saul Rodriguez were absent from Tuesday’s meeting.
View the proposed plans:
