Kane County Redistricting: Taking More Time to Get it Right

They say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and that appears to be what the prescribed for the latest draft of the 24-seat County Board district map last night when it continued the meeting yet again, this time to get buy in from the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund (MALDEF).

Task Force member Jesse Vazquez (D - Montgomery) met with representatives from MALDEF earlier in the day to review six or seven districts drawn to represent majority Latino populations in Elgin and Aurora. MALDEF provided data on Latino populations, and those were compared to the Task Force's  proposed maps.  After reviewing the data, Mr. Vazquez suggested that a few "tweaks" may be warranted in the Aurora area to improve Latino districts and secure MALDEF support.

While MALDEF does not have a formal role in the redistricting process, Task Force members anticipated that the organization would scrutinize the map on behalf of their constituents anyway and they could pose a legal challenge if they are not satisfied that Latinos are adequately represented.  So the Task Force determined that additional time spent to involve MALDEF and to gain their support for the map would be worthwhile, and it could prevent having to defend a legal challenge at a later date.

Final revisions in the Aurora area are expected within two weeks at which time the Task Force will schedule another meeting for what most believe will be the last time.

Districts in the north and central portions of the County appear to be set with most County Board members outside of Aurora satisfied or accepting their fate, as the case may be.

Earlier today (Tuesday) the Kane County Board passed an ordinance to officially reduce the size of the board from 26 to 24.  The vote was 21-4 with members Deborah Allan (D - Elgin), Bonnie Kunkel (D - Aurora), Myrna Molina (D - Aurora) and Monica Silva (I - Aurora) voting no.